Is It Ok to Buy A Pair of 6" Oscars?

[GT3050]

I was at a LFS today and they had a two oscars, one an albino tiger and the other a tiger, they are both about 6 inches long. I have a 90 gallon tank and was strongly considering buying them and was wondering if it was ok to buy them or if I should buy juveniles instead. I would like to buy them because they would fill up a lot of the space in the tank right away rather than having to wait 6 months for a pair of juveniles to grow. They looked like they were in good shape, but I will go back another day to take a closer look and find out some other info like what size tank they were kept in etc. Thanks for any help

[DarthV]

Another option would be to get 4-6 juvi's and grow them out and keep your favorite 2 :) But if you want instant tank fillage, then yeah...check out what conditions the larger fish have been kept in...and if it checks out, go for it.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

as long as ur prepared to feed 2 fast growing fish yeah go for your life kick *** fish i loved watching mine breed at about 4 in the morning lol and for some reason they did it more often with a moonlight(so i could see my synadontis)

[peifc]

Here is some info about oscar. This guy gave pretty detail of tank size and other info you might be interested to know.

If that 2 oscars can live in your tank, they gotta count themselves lucky while they are still in 6" size. I've seen LFS treat those oscars so badly that I wanted to lecture them. In one LFS, I found 4 8" Oscars live with 5 12" Pacus in a 55 gallons tank. If that's not abuse...I don't know what's that call.

http://kingsoftheaquarium.tripod.com/oscars.htm

[dcallen]

Hi,

The only thing that would concern me would be your tank size. I think one adult would be fine in your 90 gallon tank, but IMO it would be best to house 2 adult Oscars in at least a 125 gallon tank. That way they would have more swimming room and generally be happier in the long run. Others here may disagree, as this is just my opinion for what it's worth. Whatever you decide good luck!



HTH

[peifc]

Originally posted by dcallen
Hi,

The only thing that would concern me would be your tank size. I think one adult would be fine in your 90 gallon tank, but IMO it would be best to house 2 adult Oscars in at least a 125 gallon tank. That way they would have more swimming room and generally be happier in the long run. Others here may disagree, as this is just my opinion for what it's worth. Whatever you decide good luck!



HTH

I'm surprised that you were the only who mentioned this. :)

The website I attached on my last message mentioned the same thing that if kept more than one Oscar, have to have bigger tank, 180 gallons since Oscar do grow 1' or more, need room to turn.

I mean while they are 6" are great in 90 gallons, but Oscar grows fast. Then tank upgrade will be necessary. dcallen is totally right.

Personally, 6" from LFS...you never know what these fish have been fed. I just don't trust the fish store clerks. That was another reason I got a juvenile Oscar. It is more fun to watch it grow to a massive fish. :)

Another thing is that if oscar is grown from juvenile, owner can monitor how much food in take the Oscar should have. Owning a big fish from the start, it is hard to understand and know how much an Oscar should eat. It really depends on the Oscar daily eating habit.

I usually put 3 cichlid sticks for my 2" Oscar. He can only take 2 cichlid sticks a day. The 3rd one he always left on the bottom of the tank for later snack.

[dcallen]

Peifc,

I agree. I don't put much stock in what the LFS employees say as I have yet to find a really knowledgeable person in this town that knows about Cichlids, and we have quite a few LFS in the area to choose from. I tend to lean heavily on what I learn here at AC from experienced fishkeepers and from what I read on the Internet. I also enjoy watching juveniles grow into adults, it's nice to see the fruits of your labor. To reiterate on what peifc said. Two 6" Oscars would be fine for now in your 90 gallon setup but there would come a day in the not too distant future when you would want to move them into a larger home. A 90 gallon tank is a very nice setup but you may be surprised at just how small it will look with two 10-12 inch monster Oscars in it. I have 8 smaller Cichlids in my 70 gallon tank and I'm already saving for a 125 gallon tank as mine is starting to look too small for my fish, and they are not yet adults.


Good Luck! :)

[dbcb314]

id go with the juveniles, it is fun to watch them grow and interact with each other.

[nolemite]

Originally posted by peifc
Here is some info about oscar. This guy gave pretty detail of tank size and other info you might be interested to know.

If that 2 oscars can live in your tank, they gotta count themselves lucky while they are still in 6" size. I've seen LFS treat those oscars so badly that I wanted to lecture them. In one LFS, I found 4 8" Oscars live with 5 12" Pacus in a 55 gallons tank. If that's not abuse...I don't know what's that call.

http://kingsoftheaquarium.tripod.com/oscars.htm

Think about it. Do you really think that LFS ordered in those Oscars and Pacus? I doubt it. More likely is that these were trade-in fish whose owners had nowhere else to take the fish but the LFS. What's the store to do, chuck the fish? No, they house them as best they can hoping that someone will eventually buy them. Most LFS's don't have large tanks for holding livestock.

Anyway, next time use your head before you label people as "abusers".

[peifc]

Heck! Of course I thought of the fact that those Oscars were traded in by previous fish owner, but I doubt that was recently since I've seen those fish in that same tank for a year or so. How I know? Because they are just around the block where I live. And it happens that LFS is a chain petstore. I will not name the name, but they have always been treating the fish badly.

Does it make sense to you that small 1" Blood Parrots of less than 10 live in 55 gallons tank while gigantic fish of 8 or 9 live in the same size of tank?

There are good LFS. And there are bad LFS. And this LFS is one of the bad one.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

Originally posted by nolemite


Think about it. Do you really think that LFS ordered in those Oscars and Pacus? I doubt it. More likely is that these were trade-in fish whose owners had nowhere else to take the fish but the LFS. What's the store to do, chuck the fish? No, they house them as best they can hoping that someone will eventually buy them. Most LFS's don't have large tanks for holding livestock.

Anyway, next time use your head before you label people as "abusers".

i think you should ly down have a beer you seem hot headed at the moment ok this is a friendly forum no need for it

[peifc]

Dragon_Lord_Tia, I felt the same way when I read that post. I was thinking...did I offend they guy some how? That's strange because all I was saying is that some LFS didn't care about the fish. Oh well!!! :D

[somefinnfishy]

get 4-6 juvis and pick your fav 2 :eek: :confused: :mad:

All of you who told him to get new small ones are just promoting the problem of more unwanted oscars.
Buy the 6" as you'll see any HIH or deformitys now instead of a year and a fifty bucks in food later.Plus avoid those 4-6 juvis from entering the hobby and eventualy being "abused"
BTW I work a BIG LFS and will take big fish if not they will end up in lakes:eek: We take any fish in we have 180s but not enough sometimes so when we say no what do you think happens they go across the street and let if free in the lake.
One other store in town takes them allso but once in awhile they will have 30 1'-2' fish in their 1500 gallon tank then only 5 the next day do you think they sold them?Or killed them all?
Anyway their is nothing wrong with buying any fish as long as you are willing to buy the $1000 dollar tank they will need in the next two years and keep your commitment to your new pets LONG TERM.

[somefinnfishy]

Originally posted by peifc
Dragon_Lord_Tia, I felt the same way when I read that post. I was thinking...did I offend they guy some how? That's strange because all I was saying is that some LFS didn't care about the fish. Oh well!!! :D

Should they kill them?

[peifc]

No...I didn't say that "that" LFS should kill the fish. I'm just saying...heck, did anyone read my post at all?

"Does it make sense to you that small 1" Blood Parrots of less than 10 live in 55 gallons tank while gigantic fish of 8 or 9 live in the same size of tank?"

That's what I said.

And for the record, I went to another LFS...that place treat the fish very nicely. 3 Pacus in 90 gallons tank. 2 Oscars in another 90 gallons tank. Frontosa in 55 gallon tank...my point is...this LFS care about the fish space. This place didn't stuff all those fish together.

And I also said, "There are good LFS. And there are bad LFS. And this LFS is one of the bad one."

I never said that "all" LFS are like that. I said I've seen LFS treated the fish like that. Or should I named the store's?

Goodness...I've offended everyone or what? Gee...stating a fact about LFS (local fish store) and got jump. Please read...I said local, a store in my neighborhood.

[somefinnfishy]

Ok you ran it to a bad one.
Some jerks around here will leave a fish in a bucket at our door before we open strange things happen and we have to make do sometimes.
Does the evil LFS have larger tanks.And if so are the other bigger fish compatible.
I know we not could afford to set up a new 125 everytime we get a swarm of trades from people who buy BIG fish for their "future big tank purchace".
Why must every guy with fart can mufflers and tattos wants a tank busting fish but only want them for a year in their 20g or made them ugly from weekly bouts with ich and fungel infections from their tragic over feeding of only feeders.

Basicaly comedown on the former owners for dumping thier fish in that store as much if not more than the store its self.

[peifc]

I don't think is that particular store. That chain petstore is just plain rotten. All their chain stores are like that.

Well, they have 20 gallons tank...they could try to move the parrots in that smaller tank...and move that big oscars in that 55 gallons...better than having 8/9 fish in one 55 gallons tank.

If you noticed my previous post...I mentioned that I've seen all those fish around for more than a year in that 55 gallons tank. That just unseemingly 'cause...within a year...the store can at least move those fish to another tank. And you know what's the clerk's excuses? He said it is too much work to move the fish. Ok!!

[somefinnfishy]

now thats just wrong.I flip fish all the time also dividers are easy to make to keep agression under control.
We sell our big 8"to 14" for 14.99 so we dont have them long.It allso helps that we stock 180s and 220s and we sell a few a week:D so parting with a big fish isnt to hard at my store.

[peifc]

I think that LFS just only care about how much money coming in. They would not care if the fish is stress or sick. Heck! I bought a severum from them...she died the next day. And I still had no idea what was the cause (while my other fish isn't sick).