what is the average growth of an oscar?

Answer 1

I don't care what anyone says but ONE oscar needs a lot of filtration and a lot of room. You should never think that it's okay to put an Oscar in anything less then a 55gallon tank. Their growth is stunted and it's not fair to the animal.

Tank size needed; A 55 gallon tank for 1 Oscar, 75 gallons for 2 O's, 125 gallons for 3 O's etc... For information on overstocked tanks. This will explain why the tank sizes are what they are. (these are minimum requirements)

Tank cycling is a must... The fishless method is great and easy to do. For this you will need a good test kit for NitrAte, NitrIte, Ammonia,[/url] (pH, kH, gH would be nice)

Tank filtration sufficient to handle your given tank size. 10x is the recommendation when using HOB (Hang On Back) filters or 3-5x turnover when utilizing a canister or wet/dry. I.E. 55 gallon tank = at least 550 gallon per hour filtration with H.O.B. filtration. 250 gallon per hour filtration with a canister or wet/dry sump.

A medication kit

Oscars live comfortably at a temperature of 78-82* a good aquarium heater is a must. The general rule for heaters is 3-5 watts per gallon I.E. 65 gallon tank = 200w heater... Also a good quality heater will let you select the temperature you want not just select low medium and high. When you buy your heater also purchase a heater guard as O's sometimes attack their heaters.

Store bought feeders are not a good food source for Oscars, they carry diseases and are not balanced nutrition for an Oscars lifestyle... For info on how to breed your own feeders. Feeders should only be used as a treat you will need a good staple food such as Hikari Gold pellets.

For detailed information about Oscars and about aquariums in general please read the Oscar Articles and Freshwater Articles.

If you are confused on the lingo of this Fish Site this is a good place to go.


Owning larger aquariums for the most part is not inexpensive and it is in you and your fishes best interest to start off right, this not only saves you money down the road but saves you grief from seeing your new pet suffer because the LFS told you some bad information.

Answer 2

Oscars are large fish with a larger than normal bio-load on an aquarium. Mature adults can reach lengths of up to 16 inches. 12-14 is much more common.

The adult size, of course, depends on what type of food and how much is fed to the fish, as with all fish. A poor diet when young will stunt the growth of any creature and nothing that is done later will change the end result.

With regular partial (30-40%) weekly water changes and a good, high protein (45-50%) diet, an oscar will grow an inch a month up to about 12 inches. Then it slows down for the last 2-4 inches. The reason for needing a large tank is, with the bio-load an oscar puts on a tank, a small tank's water quality will deteriorate very quickly. They are very messy eaters.

I kept 5 in a 125 gallon tank for about 5 years. The largest one was almost 15", the smallest, a little over 12". The dominant fish will always be the biggest, it typically eats first and doesn't let the others eat until it is full.

Answer 3

Assuming they are brought up in the right environment, a typical Oscar will reach about 7-8" in it's first year, about 10-12" in its second year. From here growth slows down drastically and it takes the rest of the fishes life (15-20 years potential and they never stop growing completely until they die) to reach their maximum size of 14-18" - larger for males then females.

Answer 4

Most oscar fish can grow 10 to 16 inches depending on the size of your tank i say minimum tank is about 30 gallons most people say 55 i have had three different oscars in three different 29 gallon tanks and all have live about 15 years and were 12 inches long and weighed about 3.5 pounds.

Answer 5

Oscars raised in a large tank get between 9 inces and a foot, but don't believe that crap about they only grow to fit the tank that the are housed in.Oscars kept in a small tank will be stunted because of toxic water conditions,not some magic growth controlling hormone. Keeping them in a small tank is like keeping a human in a small box full of his or her on poop. Don't do it, it's cruel. PeeTee

Answer 6

Depends on the size of your tank---most will grow to fit the size of their tank so if its a small tank they will grow very little.Large tank they will grow quicker.We put our daughters in a 40 gal tank when he was a little fella .In a year he was almost a foot long.

Answer 7

they can get to about a foot give or take a few inches

Answer 8

They grow quite quickly.And about 1.5 ft long.

Answer 9

They get huge.My sister had one in California.