# Setting up a new Oscar tank



## NewGuy22 (Sep 26, 2013)

Hey all,

I am fairly new to the fish world and looking for assistance. I have a 120 gallon (48Lx18Wx32H) tank that is filled to about 80 gallons and I have 2 75 gallon filters running on it. I now have two questions...

First I would like have oscars, I was thinking about putting a tiger, albino tiger, a red, 3 parrots and 2 Jack Dempseys. Is that too much or will they all be able to get along? There are plenty of plants and caves for them to swim through. I was going based on the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule, based on the maximum length I found online, these length would be 86 inches and being in 80 gallons of water, I thought this would be ok.

Second, my girlfriend really likes turtles so I was curious if I could put a African Side Neck or a Map in with them. I know everyone says turtles + fish = bloodbath, but I have heard if you have them grow up together they will be ok. I am planning on getting the fish around 3-4 inches and the turtle will be about 4-5 inches. Will the oscars and other be aggressive enough to defend themselves?

Any help would be appreciated


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## earled (Jan 3, 2013)

Welcome to the cichlid forums.

Great tank for a Oscar, but far too small for 3 Oscars and the other fish you listed. The 120 can hold 2 Oscars fairly comfortably. I wouldnt add anything else to the tank other than maybe 3-4 smaller dither fish.
You can get one Oscar and the parrots, but no JD. IMO, Oscars generally do better as a single wet pet or mated pair. The 1" per gallon rule is only for small tetras and such. This "rule" has killed many fish.
Remember an Oscar can grow to 16" and weigh over 3lbs. Thats a big fish in an aquarium. I have a single Albino Oscar witha pair of fire mouths in my 90 gallon.

Remember most O's generally aren't very aggressive, just always willing to see if something in their tank is edible. JD are much more aggressive. Parrots are not very aggressive either.

What kind of filters do you have? Oscars are VERY messy fish. You should have lots of filtration. I run an fX5 and 2 emperor 280's on my 90 gallon. I am getting ready to replace one the 280's with a AC110.
Oscar tanks require large weekly water changes( I do 75% every Sunday) You can never have too much filtration with Oscars.

Feel free a ask any other questions, I love helping out new Oscar fans


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## NewGuy22 (Sep 26, 2013)

I have two of the AquaClear 70 Power Filter. Each one is supposed to pump about 250 GPH. The tank we have was meant to be a salt water tank so it has an overflow box, we covered that and put rocks on it and let the filter run on top of that for a waterfall effect, it is a pretty cool setup in my opinion, the other one is just running normally into the water. Is that enough filtration for them?

When you say 3-4 smaller fish, how small do you think, and any suggestions? I've heard Oscars need to be with fish about the same size as them, wouldn't the Oscars harm the smaller fish?

And I didn't realize the JD's were so aggressive, thank you for the tip. Any thoughts on Red Devil or Black Convict Cichlids?

And do you know anything about them living with a turtle?


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## earled (Jan 3, 2013)

I wouldn't put a turtle in the tank. Just asking for problems.

Red Devils can be brutally aggressive, not a good match for Oscars. Convicts are probably ok as it is a pretty good sized tank.
They can be pretty aggressive when they breed, if you get a M/F they will breed.

For dither fish I would try Silver Dollars(3-4), giant danios(5-6), maybe a pair of smaller easier going cichlids(fire mouths are good).
The giant danios are fast fish and the O probably wont be able to catch them. They are cheap fish to replace if the Oscar does
catch one.

Any chance you can post a pic of the tank setup, im curious to see the waterfall effect. Sounds pretty neat.

Do you have a fresh water test kit yet? The API master FW kit is great. How long has the tank been set uP? Is it cycled yet?


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## NewGuy22 (Sep 26, 2013)

I can post a picture when I get home, I am currently at work 

We have had the tank up and running for about a week now. We do have a test kit and measured everything, the levels seem to be where they need to be from what I have found online in reagds to the pH, hardness, nitrate and nitrite.

With the Parrots or the Convicts, since we might have multiples of these, is there a way to tell if they are male or female?


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## Cichlidman14 (Jul 17, 2013)

Male cons are black with stripes and females have color on their bellies


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## NewGuy22 (Sep 26, 2013)

Awesome, do you know anything about the Parrots?


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## Cichlidman14 (Jul 17, 2013)

Really the only way I think is if their breeding


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## NewGuy22 (Sep 26, 2013)

Alright. Thank you for the help.


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## earled (Jan 3, 2013)

How did you cycle the tank? It seems kinda quick for a tank to cycle in 1 week. Usually takes 3-4 weeks for a proper cycle.

Keeping odd numbers of most SA/CA cichlids will result in problems. for example: if you get 3 firemouths the odds are you will get a pair and
the 3rd one will be abused by the others. Remember Oscars grow fast, that lil 3" guy will grow to 8-10" in no time at all. When thinking about
stocking levels remember to think about how big the fish will get when its an adult. Too many people dont give the fish the proper room the need
to grow properly and healthy. I am looking for a 120 gallon for my single Oscar and his 2 firemouth buddies.

What is your ammonia level?


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## NewGuy22 (Sep 26, 2013)

The ammonia level is < 2ppm. I know that is not ideal but it is fish safe and we plan to do water changes as we put fish in to get that down to 0.

I have attached a picture of the tank. As I mentioned in a previous post there is the rock wall with a filter on top for a waterfall effect. And there are plenty of places for the fish to swim through and enjoy themselves. We still have the land area in the tank for the turtle, we are not 100% sure if we are going to stick with the coexistant idea or not.


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## NewGuy22 (Sep 26, 2013)




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## earled (Jan 3, 2013)

NO don't add fish until ammonia reads ZERO. Then nitrites will start to grow and then nitrates will go up. When ammonia =and nitrites read ZERO and nitrates start to rise tank is cycled. there are many good post on fish less cycles.

Putting turtle in a Oscar tank is a huge NO. There will be problems

Since your tank is not really full I would not get an Oscar, its not the correct setup unless you had a huge tank. Oscars need room and will dig up every plant in the tank.
They are great for rearranging their tanks to their liking. Most cichlids will do this, bigger ones doing it much more


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## NewGuy22 (Sep 26, 2013)

The water is a little over 80 gallons. For reference, the pvc pipe in the picture is 22 inches high. I believe this is a larger tank. I have read other places that you can put 2 Oscars into a 75 gallon tank, so I think one in an 80 would be just fine.

As for the plants, it is not a huge deal if the fish move the plants around. It is their home, they can do what they need to with the plants and other decorations.

I appreciate all of your help and knowledge on the subject.


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## matt duarte (Aug 29, 2013)

I have the same size tank.. and have 2 Oscars in it.. personally id put the turtles in another tank and fill the rest of the tank up.. and Oscars poop a lot and make a mess.. I would suggest more filtration... when I first set up the tank a I had a pair of Oscars in it with a 370gph canister and it worked well but I needed more.. rehomed those Oscars when they were 9" long.. I redid the tank recently and put 2 new Oscars in it and added a 540gph canister so my tank is turning over a lil over 9 times a hr.. Oscars are nice when their small but as they grow they can get more aggression..the ones I used to have ate over 150$ in fish.. so Id say once the Oscar gets to size its gonna pick on the turtles


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## earled (Jan 3, 2013)

IMO, you shouldnt put 2 Oscars in a 75 gallon tank. If you lose the turtle idea, you can put 2 Oscars in a 120 gallon tank. You will need more filtration though.


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## NewGuy22 (Sep 26, 2013)

I realized that I made an error earlier, the ammonia levels read <.02ppm (not <2ppm). Sorry for that confusion.

We decided that we would put the turtle in a different tank and decided to fill the tank up more so that it is 110 gallons of water now. We got a tiger, an albino tiger, 2 parrots and 2 plecos (who we never see since they are always hiding in the plants and decor) in the tank. They have been in there for a few days and things do seem to be getting cloudy with the sand/pebble substrate so I think I will add another filter to bring it up to 750gph total.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me with this set up.


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## earled (Jan 3, 2013)

Keep an eye on yout ammonia levels, tank may not be fully cycled. You added a huge fish load.


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