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.

Thanks for the help.