something about oscars?

Question

i was wondering (without people being stupid) how long an oscar fish can live in a 20 gallon tank by itself. do oscars really need a huge tank all to themselfs. i dont think any fish that is small enough needs a huge enourmous tank. its only about 2 inches at the pet store.

Answer 1

After thinking about it, this is really a good question. So many people go to the fish store, see a 2 inch fish and plop it in a 10 gallon tank thinking it will be fine. Hopefully other new aquarists will read this before they buy their Oscars!

You could keep it in a 20 gallon tank for only about 3-5 months. If you buy it at 2 inches, in about a year, you will have a fish that is around 14 inches. When fully grown, they are more than 16 inches and require a minimum of 55 gallons. If you put a fish that needs to grow very large, into a tank that only allows it to grow half that size, it will become stunted, leading to organ failure and premature death.

Nosoop4u

Answer 2

Wow so many answers good luck with this one.

I have had many oscars over the years. I started out with a small oscar in a 20 gallon tank. In about a year she outgrew it. I moved her into a 55 gallon tank and she lived there for a few years until she could not turn around easily. I now have a 9 year old Oscar in a 125 gallon tank. I don't think I will need a bigger tank now. Which is good because they are expensive. However I do know no matter what a 20 gallon tank will not last for long. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

As adults an oscar will need a 55 gallon tank. A baby could live for 3-6 months at most in a 20 gallon tank.

Answer 4

Oscars can live for a very long time 20-25 years. Like all fish they will continue to grow as long as it lives. I have 6 oscars in a 55 gal. tank and it seems crowded. They are about 2 years old and are all 6-8 inches long. The larger the tank the larger the fish will become. If you only have one or two fish in the 20 gal. tank it will be fine for some time to come. However there will come a time when you will need to think about upgrading to a larger tank. I love my oscars they are in my opinion the most intelligent fish. They seem to recognize me when I come into the room. I've even trained them to jump out of the water and take food from my hand. The only drawback is that they are very aggressive and only compatible with other cichlids or maybe a plecostomis catfish.

Answer 5

Well you could probably keep a baby for about 3 months in a 20 gallon tank. As adults they need around 50 gallons per fish.

Answer 6

Oscars are large species of cichlid and grow very fast. Mine outgrew a 55g tank in less than a year. They really should be housed in 75-100g tanks. They are large fish and if given enough space very active swimmers. My little guy went from 2" to 8 Inches in about 8 months. They grow so quick.

Luckily I found a person who could adopt him, they had a 300g tank and a mate for him.

Answer 7

20 gallon tank is too small..Oscars can grow very fast..They normally grow up to 1ft..But ive seen some past the 1foot mark around 12-15 inches etc..so a 50gallon tank must be the standard for oscars

Answer 8

It's nice to know that there such person who care oscar fish beside me. I do have mine almost 2 yrs. from now. When I bought it at the petshop it just sized smaller than my pinky finger.. Well after 2yrs up today its bigger than joined palm...
Oscar grow so fast they are greedy eaters.. I fed them Flowerhorns food but sometimes alive anchovies. Well I observed that oscars as growing needs a large aquarium filled with 65 galloons of water... yap i think my oscar fish riches its maximum growth....... its better to have a big aquarium while the fish is still small thats for faster growth well.. haha keep your oscar fedat least twice a day..

Answer 9

It is only two inches at the petstore, but in two months it will be four inches, and in six months be like six or seven inches -- already getting way too big to live reasonably in a 20 gallon. I suppose it is true, you can get a new tank every time your fish grows a littl ebit, but that seems like quite an expense -- why not just buy one tank and allow him to enjoy t he extra room as opposed to ownin ten tanks over his growth period (plus if you dont get the adequate tank for his adulthood, something could alter come up and you may never get it, and end up killing him by stunting him or poisoning him). I hope that helps! If you have a lot of money to spend and know it wont run out, you can upgrade once every month or every two months, but to me it makes econmic sense to have a bigger tnak from the start.

CRYSTAL -- WHY ARE YOUR OSCARS SO TINY -- DID YOU STUNT THEIR GROWTH, OR ARE HTEY STILL BABIES? IF SO, DO YOU PLAN ON UPGRADING? I HAVE A SIX MONTH OLD WHO IS ALREADY THE SIZE OF THOSE FISHIES AND HE HAS A LOT OF GROWING YET TO DO...(your tank is so small, those poor things look like they have no room to move. why do you give so much space to your clown fish and torture your oscars? I hope Karma gets you back for causing suffering on a living creature)

JOE P, YOU ARE SO CRUEL! YOU FISH ONLY TRIPLED IN SIZE! HOW INSANE, THEY SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN FAR BIGGER THAN THAT, PACU GET TO BE TWO FEET. tHE FACT THEY ONLY LIVED THREE YEARS, AND DIED AS BABIES, SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

DBL, THAT IS CRUEL ALSO. YOU PEOPLE ARE SICK AND TWISTED! SIX INCHES FOR A GROWN OSCAR! SHAME ON YOU FOR MAKING THEM SUFFER. JUST FYI, THEIR ORGANS KEEP GROWING UNTIL THEY DIE, SO YO UR FISH ARE CURRENTLY SUFFERING A SLOW AND CRUEL DEATH. I HOPE KARMA GETS YOU BACK.

Answer 10

Most likely what will happen if you keep it in a 20 gallon, will be hole in the head, followed by growth stunting, and eventually he might jump out of the tank or break the glass. If you want a fish that acts like an oscar but doesn't get huge, get convicts or firemouths. The firemouths are beautiful and you should be able to keep a pair in a 20L.