I Got Two Tiger Oscars!
I’m so excited. I got two Tiger Oscar Fish today. I’m going to start them off in my 46 Gallon Tank as they are just babies right now so there’s plenty of room for them at the moment. These fish grow really fast and really big so eventually I’ll have to either move one to the 55 Gallon I have or upgrade to bigger tanks entirely.
Most people with experience with Oscars recommend a 75 Gallon tank for one Oscar or a 125 Gallon for a pair, and they say that there really isn’t any way to tell the gender of the Oscars until later so I have no idea whether I have two males, two females, or a female and a male. If I ended up with two males, chances are I will need to separate them into two different tanks (ie. 2 x 75 Gallon for example) but if I have two females or a male and a female, I may be able to keep them together in one larger tank.
Here are some pics I snapped of the two Oscars:
jrwap
11:09 am on November 27th, 2008
Nice looking Oscars, I like the new tank set up as well looks very nice. Good luck with the Oscars
11:34 pm on November 27th, 2008
@Tracey: Thanks, I love them already!
2:11 pm on November 28th, 2008
So cute. The tiny fish that launched (eventually) a thousand four-foot tanks.
2:54 pm on November 28th, 2008
@AquaDaily: LOL, yup. That’s why the fish stores love selling them for cheap… they know you’ll be back for a bigger tank a few months later.
4:35 am on December 1st, 2008
Paul, how big do they actually get? How common are they in pet stores? Are they worth buying?
Thanks for the help.
12:31 am on December 3rd, 2008
@Ava: From my research, they are supposed to get to anywhere from 12 to 16 inches in size. Some people claim that they grow bigger inside bigger tanks, while others say that they’ll get to their full size no matter how big your tank.
The recommended minimum size for one fully grown Oscar is between 55-75 Gallons and for two you’re looking at about 120 Gallons. The reason people recommend 75 Gallon tanks over the 55 Gallon ones is because a 55 Gallon tank is usually only 12-13 inches deep (front to back) and of course if your Oscar is 16 inches long, it will be difficult for him to turn around. Kind of like a 3 foot wide human trying to turn around in a 2 foot wide hallway.
If you can accommodate the recommended tank size you might want to do more research and pickup an Oscar. They are pretty cool fish. One of the books I have on them said that they are the most intelligent freshwater fish you can get. You can even teach them “Tricks”. Definitely worth looking into. However, if you only have like a 33 Gallon tank or below, then I wouldn’t bother unless you’re willing to upgrade in a few months.
As far as how common they are in fish-stores, I’ve seen them in pretty much all the fish stores I go to and they are typically fairly inexpensive (I paid $9.99 for mine). I think fish stores sell them on purpose because they know how quickly they grow and they know you’ll come back and buy a bigger tank from them.
I think their strategy is to sell you the fish for cheap and then make their money on the new aquariums, the filters and all the other supplies and stuff you’ll need to keep it, hehehe.