Oscar tips...

[420Loach]

anything that one should know for taking care of Oscars? im going to get one for my 55 gal in about a week (im cleaning my 35 and building a stand for it so i can put my clowns, kuhlis and corys in it)

i already bought a better filter for the 55 and the 35 gets the hand me down(which isnt that old anyways)
i was gonna use sand as the substrate and rock and driftwood in the 55 gal (take the plants out so the oscar doesnt destroy them) and sand and the plants in the 35 gal with some old castle deco stuff my cousin gave me.(lots of hiding places)

do oscars destroy plastic plants, or just try to move them?
should i make hiding spaces for my oscar?
can i possibly get two?
what else can go in a tank with an oscar?
are algae eaters or pl*cos good at helping clean the tank?(not lazy just want a little help)

un-oscar related:

what fish would go good in my 35 gal with the clowns and kuhlis?? thank you for your help!!

 

[Orion]

I have never had mine destroy any plastic plants, or real one for that matter. They do however love to redecorate the tank to there likeing, so more times than not, any live plants die due to the oscars constant rearanging.

Hiding places make the oscars feel more secure. It dosent have to get them totaly out of sight, but as long as they think they are, thats all that matters. Ours used to hide when ever we had company over, but now he reconizes just about everyone, and will only hide if some one new come to our apt. They are very smart fish.

You could try two in a 55, but I would not recomend it. Most of the time the more dominate one will make the others life a living hell. Plus, they need there 'elbow' room. As for any other type of fish in with it, that probably wouldnt happen in a 55. Either the oscar will eat it, or try to eat it, stressing out the fish and possably causeing an outbreak of something in your tank, or the other fish will pick on and stress the oscar. I once tried a 3in convict in with a 8 in oscar, and the convict made the oscar his own personal b*tch. I would really sugest nothing under 150gallons for one or two oscars with other tank mates. But like many fish, a lot depends on the personality and temperment of the individual oscar. So you might get lucky and get away with it, trial and error is the only way to truly figure it out.

 

[420Loach]

hey thanks orion! im trying to look for a really good one and im taking my time. so only one in my tank, that will be cool with me, better not to stress the fish out and it will get bigger! thanks again for the advice!

 

[Franky099]

I have 1 oscar in my 55 gallon. His only tankmates are 1 pictus cat and one spotted pl*co. The tank was previously a planted tank, and has flourite for substrate....if you have ever used flourite, you can imagine the mess an oscar can make with it! I think course sand or crushed coral would be a great choice for an oscar tank. Mine digs a big hole in the middle of the tank and sort of rests there. There is some river rock in the tank, he picks it up and moves it to any place he pleases. There are a few smaller pieces of drift wood, which he moves around daily. He is a really cool fish.....I call him "Os" lol. Ive had him about a year. He was 3 inches when I got him, he is well over a foot long now.
Good luck, Im sure you will love your oscar.

Amy

 

[420Loach]

hey thanks! of course now that i want one, im having a hard time finding a nice one, last week my lfs had some tiger oscars that were healthy and very colorful, yesterday when i went they were sold out! oh well, they said more are going to come in the next week and my tank isnt set up how i want it for him yet anyway. yes... all in good time.

contemplating a name hehe...

 

[Antwan]

Yes, I think you could compare oscars to dogs. I love my oscars. Mine is always terrorizing my plants. Eating them, moving them, displace them, etc. If you do get 2 and they get along fine, the only thing you'll have to worry about is space, cause they get huge! I have a couple right now. One albino tiger and one red tiger. I love em. I would get a really, really good filter. You can't go cheap on the filter. And one that oxygenates the water good, too. And I'd use a small pebble gravel too, even sand. Its up to you on the hiding places.

 

[420Loach]

hey thats great, i love dogs! i went to home depot to look at wood prices today. i should be able to set up another stand for about $20(buy wood tommorrow, assemble it and paint it the next day, and set up the tank by friday!) once the 35 is set up i can drain and clean the 55 and set it up for my oscar. thanks antwan!

im gonna go look for some rocks...

 

[Antwan]

Just be careful if your gonna build a stand. You gotta have a lotta faith and nails in your stand. That stand, at the least, has to hold 550-600 lbs. Unless you want a pissed off oscar flopping on the ground and 55 gal. of water in the room, then you could half @$$ it all the way. I welded a stand not to long ago for my 29 gal. and it came out great and I'm about to build another for my 90 gal. Well, good luck, and choose your oscar wisely. Your gonna love your new oscar !

 

[420Loach]

hey, thanks again antwan! the stand is actually for my 35 gal, and im gonna use the same design i did with the 55 gal just a bit smaller. and i use bolts to hold it together my other stand is standing strong! and i made it out of scrap peices. yep,yep...2x4s', plywood and bolts do the job well. (must admit i was squeezing at first, 55 gal is alot of water and weight)

whats your 90 gal tank dimensions, i could help figure out a stand for it if you want!

 

[Antwan]

Maybe I just might make one outta wood. The 90 gal. is 48" x 18" x 24"

 

[420Loach]

hhmmm...90 gallons is 720 pounds full, not including gravel/sand and deco. id recommend a tripple shelf styled rack you would need these materials

im not sure if its 48Long 18Wide 24High

6-47 inch 2x4's
6-20 inch 2x4's(26 inches if the tank is 48L 24W 18H)
4-30 inch 2x4's or 4x4s if you want to be really safe!(legs, they can be changed to make it as tall or as short as you want, 2 1/2 feet should be fine for a 90 gal)
12-4 inch Long 3/8 of an inch Wide bolts
24- 3/8 inch washers
12- 3/8 inch bolts
Screws of these sizes 3", 2"
3-3/4 inch thick plywood sheets that measure
50L 20W( if tank is 48L 18W 24H)
50L 26W( if tank is 48L 24W 18H)

the plywood are the table tops which sit on "boxes" that you make out of the 2x4's, it has 4 legs which can be any length and you add more table tops or legs as you go higher in gallon size to make the stand stronger. the legs sit in the corners of the boxes and are bolted to the boxes to add stability and support to the legs. the tank sits on a plywood top. the one i made for my 55gal is 33 inches high and has two shelfs, one at the top that holds the tank and one closer to the bottom to hold airpumps/canister/ filter/books/whatever. i reccomend three for your 90 gal just to add stability. similar to mine but with a shelf in the middle.

tools:
an electric drill with a 3/8 inch bit
a socket wrench with 3/8 inch attachment
an adjustable wrench or a 3/8 inch wrench
electric screwdriver attachment also helps but if all you got is a hand one, youll be putting in some work!

im tired now and its 2:08 am here so im going to bed, but ill post again tommorrow and ill try and work out a diagram and email it to you. even if you dont use the idea youll still have it.


peace out antwan!*PEACE!*

 

[420Loach]

heres how it will look (pardon the idea)
______________________
=B================B=
= ================ = B=bolts
= =
= = = = 2x4's
------------------------------------ ----- = plywood
=B================B=
= ================ =
= =
= =
------------------------------------
=B================B=
= ================ =
= =
= =

its a bad image but you can get a rough idea.

 

[420Loach]

ugh... never mind that looks really horrible. ill just draw it out by hand and scan the picture onto my computer.

 

[420Loach]

oops... i forgot that 2x4's are actually 1-1/2"x3" im re-editing the above post to show the right measurements.