CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

how many oscar per 75 gallon,
does anyone got turtles in the tank with there oscars?

Hi, Jenny, and welcome to the forum!  Opinions vary on questions like this, but in my opinion 2 Oscars would be all you'd want in a 75 long term.  You'll need good filtration -- Oscars are sloppy eaters -- and you'll need to keep up with your water changes.  I don't think a turtle would be a great idea in the same tank.  Most turtles need to climb out of the water from time to time, and providing for that would limit your Oscars' swimming space -- plus turtles are pretty messy as well.  It'd be tough to keep your water in good shape.  Best to let your turtle have its own tank.  Be sure and look thru our FAQ's for info on "cycling" your tank.  That'll help keep your fish healthy while the tank water chemistry stabilizes.  A lot of new aquarists lose their first fish by not attending to this detail.  Keep us posted, and good luck!

i clean my tank out every 2 days

I wouldn't put 1 in a 75 gallon. I wouldn't put 1 in any less than a 90 gallon. They need a lot of swimming room. They are also very messy, and a 75 gallon just can't handle that in my opinion.

I have 4 12 inchers currently in a 150 gallon and I am needing to upgrade THAT monster after only half a year. I'm going to be getting a 250 gallon-300 gallon.

DanRad is correct. Turtles need to climb out of the water, and your Oscar is going to need all of the water in that 75 gallon to himself.

I wouldn't put 1 in a 75 gallon. I wouldn't put 1 in any less than a 90 gallon.

There's nothing in aquaria prettier that a huge aquarium sporting a full-grown Oscar or two. Walk into a room, and you're faced with a big ol' 200g with a pair of Oscars -- awesome. As a general rule, the larger the aquarium the better when it comes to large earth-moving Cichlids like Oscars. -- "largeness" is the mistique of the species! Larger tanks are also always easier to maintain. Excellent post!

Mark Stone wrote: Larger tanks are also always easier to maintain. Excellent post!

Newbie here...

Have been doing some research on starting my own setup for oscars possibly 110-125 gal. But the biggest ive had before is a 55g tank.

Why do you say bigger would be easier to maintain?  It actually seems pretty intimadating.

Thanks.

Why do you say bigger would be easier to maintain?  It actually seems pretty intimadating.

Yeah, it does seem intimidating at first. The reason larger aquariums are easier is because the water quality and temperature are more stable. Changes to the water quality that would injure your fish happen more gradually than in a smaller tank, and are easier to fix. Same with temp -- if there is a power outage and the temperature in the room drops dramatically, a larger aquarium holds it's temp longer.

Obviously, some maintenance chores would take a little longer. But many of them do not need to be done as frequently. For example, if you keep two adult Oscars in a 55 gallon (which, as many of you know, I have done), maintaining water quality means constantly watching and testing and two-a-week water changes, etc. But the same two adults in a 200 gallon constitute a much smaller bio-load, and water changes/cleaning/gravel vacuuming/filter cleaning etc. can be done with much less frequency. With a nice, big, hungry Pleco to keep the algae at bay, I think tank maintenance on a correctly set-up 200 gal. with two grown Oscars is probably no more than 30 minutes a week. 

The only problem with that theory though Mark is:  Once you have the bigger tank you realise you can more fish in there. 

actually, the one i had before was much less than 55g so 100+g is a big step. But thanks for the info...cant wait..

altaaffe wrote:The only problem with that theory though Mark is:  Once you have the bigger tank you realise you can more fish in there. 

LOL!! But the problem is not with the theory, it's with the fishkeeper! 

dstdub wrote:actually, the one i had before was much less than 55g so 100+g is a big step. But thanks for the info...cant wait..

Keep us updated!!