Set-up of tank

[gonefishing]

I am wanting to set-up my 46 bow tank that has been in storage for about 2 years. Previously I had a variety of freshwater fish in it and now, I would like to put a couple of oscar in it. Will this tank big big enough to sustain oscar or should I look at other types of fish.

Also, we just moved into a new house and it has soft water. How will this effect freshwater fish??

[ntt]

they should be fine in there i had 2 in a 35 and were fine

[PumaWard]

Please excuse ntt, he is a troll and gives out very poor "advice".

Two oscars should not be kept in anything less than a 90g, one can go in a 75g. An alternative could be a pair of convicts, severums, or other medium sized cichlid, but be sure to research heavily before you buy. You coud also do a nice community.

Most fish can adapt, although, if you don't want to fiddle with your water perameters, I would avoid rift lake cichlids.

Here are some good places to start researching:
http://cichlidae.com (articles section)
http://aquaworld.netfirms.com
Http://badmanstropicalfish.com
Also, don't be afraid to google or come on here and ask about specific species.

[stingray25]

what 2oscars can be fine in a 46 my freind bill has 1 in a 30gallon thats is 10in and fine! no oscar needs 75gallons ok

[gonefishing]

Thanks guys!! What about the soft water?? Will I need to add chemicals??

[stingray25]

These Cichlids have no special requirements when it comes to water conditions. A neutral pH and common water temperature will suffice. They are hardy fish that thrive under most conditions.

[FreddytheFish]

I wouldn't keep two oscars in a 46, but there are plenty of other cool fish you could put in.

[reiverix]

what 2oscars can be fine in a 46 my freind bill has 1 in a 30gallon thats is 10in and fine! no oscar needs 75gallons ok
Well yippee for Bill the fish stunter. Let me know in 10 years if the fish is still alive.

gonefishing, what fish have you decided to go for? Someone here will give you all the advice you need and more. Generally most people avoid water adjusting chemicals.

[stingray25]

heres every thing u need to know
they like to be in groups
Oscars are very popular aquarium fish. These intelligent Cichlids are preferred by many aquarists because of their great individuality and character. Oscars are oval in shape; the dorsal, caudal and anal fins forming a rounded end to the fish. The main body color is black with patches of olive green and orange. Several varieties of Oscars have been bred over the years including Tiger Oscars, Long-Finned Oscars and Red Oscars. An Albino strain is also available. All varieties require the same care. Oscars are suspect to hole-in-the-head disease and body deformities as they age, due to the overbreeding of the species.
Decorations must be durable enough to withstand the abuse that this fish is capable of dishing out. Oscars are very curious fish and will often take it upon themselves to see just what that hot, tubular device in the corner of the tank is doing there. Large rocks are recommended for decorations, with sand for the substrate. A powerful filtration system is a must when keeping these messy fish.

Typical of large South American Cichlids, Oscars are carnivorous fish and thus need a diet based on meat and meaty foods. Recommended foods include beef heart, live fish, earthworms and night crawlers. Oscars are very messy eaters so delicate foods are not recommended as the fish will often spit the food out only to take it back in and spit it out once more, clouding the water.

These Cichlids have no special requirements when it comes to water conditions. A neutral pH and common water temperature will suffice. They are hardy fish that thrive under most conditions.

Oscars are sexually mature once they reach a length of approximately 5 inches. Fish pair off and often stay together to breed several times. Females lay up to 2000 eggs on previously cleaned flats rocks. It is recommended to provide Slate rock to the breeding pair. The eggs are carefully guarded by both parents and hatch just days later. Sexing of these fish is impossible without dissection.

[pbrack]

Sure, an oscar can even live in a 10 gallon. But it will be stunted, it's development will be off, and it most likely will die within a few months. If I were you, I wouldn't even consider an oscar in a tank under 75, and even there I'm pushing it!

You can get a nice setup with angelfish, or you can get a few small cichlids to put in that tank! You've got endless possibilities to go for with your tank.

As for ntt, at first, I just thought you were trying to give out information correctly, but was slightly off. Now you're just misleading people on purpose. Haven't we had a conversation like this before on oscars and pacu's in small tanks?

[reiverix]

These powerful fish, like most Cichlids, require a large tank with plenty of swimming space.
Need I say more.

[stingray25]

its 8 years old and in 10 years it will be dead by the way its not stunted at all unless you call 12in stunted its always been in a 30gallon

[pbrack]

How can a 12 inch fish look right in a 30 gallon tank?

[Holly9937]

my freind bill has 1 in a 30gallon thats is 10in and fine!

Now its 12 inches?!?!
Stingray, the same place (this forum) where you got the species profile also says a minimum of 55g. You cannot pick and chose what information you like!!

gonefishing, please excuse the battle :cool: !! It would be really pushing it to keep a couple of oscars, along with other fish, in that size tank. That being said, it is your tank and you can do what you like with it. However, the oscars will not be as happy and healthy as they could be in that setup and with a size tank you are talking about you could have a really great setup and not ever have to worry about the fish you chose growing too large.

[Slappy*McFish]

Oscars are suspect to hole-in-the-head disease and body deformities as they age, due to the overbreeding of the species.

Overbreeding has nothing to do with it. Hole in the head and body deformities would be caused by poor water conditions and stunting from being kept in too small of a tank...which all too often is the case with many oscars kept in the hobby it seems. A 75g is the bare minimum tank anyone should attempt to house these fish in.

[Harry Tolen]

The advice provided by ntt and stingray25 is simply not correct, as a number of other members have been at pains to point out. A single oscar in a 46g bowfront would be a stretch; two would be impossible both because of the crowding and the overloading of the filtration system.

Stories of oscars raised to full size in 30 or 35 gallon tanks are not helpful, in that they may encourage others to keep fish in unhealthy situations. We should always err on the side of safety and responsiblity in providing information, especially to new or returning hobbyists.

gonefishing: when you say that your water is soft, do you mean it is low in total dissolved solids, or that it is being treated by a water "softening" system? If the former, please provide pH, GH, and KH readings; if the latter, your water is not really soft at all but has been treated chemically to make better soap suds. Please clarify. And plan on some smaller fish. If you would like a list of nice cichlids to try out in your tank, why not start a thread in the cichlid forum? I'm sure you will get plenty of responses.

Thanks.

[stingray25]

1 word holly TYPEOOOOOOOO

[stingray25]

ok harry now aquariacentral is wrong

[stingray25]

and whos is ntt

[PumaWard]

Sting, I kept 2 8'' oscars in a 20g long and they were *Fine* (I really hate this word because it means jack crap, and really is relative.... puppy mill breeding dogs are *fine* by the same standards you are applying to these fish). Do I advocate it? Do I even excuse it... not at all, because to do so is A.) Wrong, B.) Irresponsible, and C.) Cruel.

[nursie]

What you need to be looking at here, Gonefishin, when evaluating advice is length of membership and number of posts. The folks that have been around awhile in this case are giving the best advice.

[happychem]

Or, more importantly, how long they've been around, the length of post and the time that has gone into it. For example (since he's on this page) Harry Tolen has been around since 2000 (so he hasn't been chased away, as trolls or those who offer bad advice consistently tend to be chased off or banned), in that time he's made over 2000 posts (so he is active, but not posting a ton of useless stuff), and he wrote 3 paragraphs of more or less gramatically correct and properly spelled advice (as close as you can expect on a forum).

These are usually the signs of someone who can be relied on, or at least one component to knowing the reliability of a poster on the forum. Short, poorly spelled posts, devoid of shift key useage, absent of content (cf. posts 17 through 19) tend to be indicative of one who is not suited to providing advice. Am I saying that stingray is a troll? No, but he needs to learn to post advice properly, and he needs to learn to be critical of information, and to actually read that posts that he's copying (and reference the author of the article), before he will gain much respect on these forums.

These forums were described (paraphrasing Wetman NY's site www.skepticalaquarist.com) as a "group of self-critical aquarists". I can think of no better compliment to offer an online forum, it's what brought me here initially, and it has been shown to be true time and again. Note that "self-critical" extends beyond the fact that those who have been here for a while are always making sure that their knowledge holds up to the most current information and science, but it also extends to having little tolerance for those who do not.

Yeah, a little off topic, but hopefully it will help Gonefishing decide who is providing him with the better knowledge and help stingray become a more competent and "self-critical" aquarist, or simply decide that a "self-critical" board is not the place for him.

[Harry Tolen]

Happychem: thank you for your complimentary observations. Of course, I could say the same about you. Long-term, cool-tempered, experienced members are the most valuable resource this board can have. Correct spelling and grammar may just be the icing on the cake, but they do make posts much easier to read and understand.

I was somewhat concerned, however, by your reference to my "more or less grammatically correct" advice. Anyone who quotes Strunk needs to be taken seriously in this regard; I will have to go back and review my post later for errors.

[happychem]

Hehe, don't stess it Harry. Your posts are, by far, some of the gramatically best of those to be found on these forums (the fact that you know who Strunk is undoubtably contributes to this). I doubt that I can claim better, but I do try. I was perhaps a little too picky on my grammar checking, I just submitted draft 2 of my thesis to my committee, so I'm a little grammar/spelling/writing crazed right now.