Fishbeme Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Hi all I am saving up to buy myself a nice big tank. I will have approx $800 to spend. I saw a nice tank in the lfs today and it was a 254 litre. What I am wondering is this....would this be big enough for one Oscar? Plenty big enough, or just enough room? I didn't get the tank measurements but it was a big deep one with a curved front :oops: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enzoom1 Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 For one oscar by itself, for it to have enough space to move around and be happy, I would say a tank around the 300 litre mark would do fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishbeme Posted January 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Oh okay....up goes the saving price :lol: If he was in a 300L would I be able to put any other fish in with him or just him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enzoom1 Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Depending on filtration, since oscars have the ability to get quite hugeand are messy, I would say 1 bottomfeeder. You would need to make sure that the bottomfeeder wouldn't fit in the oscars mouth or it would become a quick meal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Litres are only part of it, IMO 4'x18"x18" is the minimum for any cichlid that gets to a foot long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 If you shop around you can get a very large tank for a lot less than $800. I bought A 2.4mx600mmx600mm. for $450. I bought another for $53 online and spent $300 fixing it.I also got A 3mx500mmx350mm for $450. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deno Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 I have a breeding pair of Oscars in a 300L 5 foot tank. They are happy, healthy and having babies about every 4th week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 A 300 L tank should be OK for an adult Oscar. Even a pair if you have realy good filtering. Shop around for a basic tank, build a stand with some 4x2s and plywood, lights dont have to be fancy as you aren't grwoing plants. I am still in the process of building a stand for 2 X 300 L tanks I have got for a good price. Might be out $500 once I have them set up and running with basic filtering. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishbeme Posted January 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Thanks for all the comments. I will hopefully be getting a tank that comes with the filter, lights etc all included with the tank, so fingers crossed that the filtration will be suffice for that particular size tank? I have one Oscar, two Pleco's, two Angel's and One Blue Acara. It would be nice one day to have them all together but obviously Oscar is going to get too big. All my fish are babies at the moment so I'm doing some planning now (and money saving ) so that by the time they all get too big I will have my new tank and everyone can be rehomed accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simian Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 I'd say they would be fine together IMO, as long as you grow the angels big and fast. IMO Oscars arent as aggressive as many people think, yes they are messy, yes they are greedy and will eat anything they can fit in their mouths but aggressive? not particularly. I find that my smaller fish clean up Oscars mess almost before it hits the bottom, heres a tip dont feed him a whole lot of food at once otherwise he will fill his mouth up and end up spitting most of it out again. I feed mine 2 pellets at a time and make sure he's swallowed before feeding more (only takes about 30s longer than dumping them all in at once and it will help him bond with you). Make sure you give the smaller fish places to hide. I even have a jewel and geo's with my Oscar and have no issues at all with them at all. The most aggressive fish I have is my gold Severum. My option would be get a 4 or 5' tank a good second hand canister filter (or 2) and a cheap light for the top. You could get that for $800 easy. DIY a stand and you will be sweet! Go New world Cichlids! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Conkout Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 If you want value for money then getting a bare tank and/or 2nd hand would probably be best value. Factoring throwing some sealant in and the cost of getting it shifted to your house. The real cost for most large tanks is the filtration and lighting (I've found). But if you are going oscars you won't care about the lights' specific spectrums... so you can use 2+ T8 old style fittings and who-knows-what bulbs which shouldn't cost more than $40-50 2nd hand all up. Or free if you scrounge... My 6ft hood I made out of wood and I'm no handyman (I'm shocking infact) but it looks black and professional and supports two T5 lights ($200+) and 2 floods ($15ea), if you don't need specific spectrums you could just go floods - I'm using 2x80watt which is a little more than 2 T5s but they look much cooler (not as bright though). Cause you won't be having a lot of plants adding to your filter loads you just need enough for whatever fish are going in. Cheapest way to filter a large tank could be a sump or generous daily water changes (or combination..). If the tank is big enough you could divide the tank into a sump section and just pump the water in and let it travel through the media and spill back in over the divider... Getting a big tank plumbed and hooked up to some cheap 2-3 foot tank with a decent pond pump (nows the time to pick them up on tm) would be good too if you don't want the filtration in the tank... I'm totally off canisters btw, I have 2 - they cost a small fortune and need too much upkeep. 2nd hand BIG tank, cheap T8's or just floods, wood for hood + some nails and glue, big load of pummice for the filter or a whole heap of plastic mesh/whatever. I reckon doable for around $800. Don't trust a large new Jebo for around $800 to give you enough filtration to be worry free. Even with the noodles replaced they're not up to it. In my humble opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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