# how many oscars can fit in a 160 gal tank?



## purita (Jan 19, 2011)

need help guys... i have this 160 gal tank and im planning to put oscars and severums in it. any suggestions on how many should i put?


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

I would go with 6 young oscars and see how it goes. May end up with a breeding pair. Also if breeding is what you expect to do at some point then I would get them from different sources.


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## newcichlidiot (Jul 7, 2010)

One


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## mccluggen (Jul 5, 2008)

In a tank that size you may get a pair of female oscars to coexist with a severum or two but your mileage may vary. It is large enough to house a breeding pair of oscars, but may not be large enough for anything else once they start to breed. As with most cichlids well defined territory and sight breaks along with some "target fish" like a small school of silver dollars may help to lessen / spread aggression around and raise your chances at success.

Of all of the fish I have kept Oscars seem to have the most individual personalities. I have kept a couple that tolerated tankmates well, and others that attacked anything that moved. If you are set on keeping oscars as part of a community in that size of tank your best bet is to stick with a single individual and then add some larger and more peaceful cichlids like the severums.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

newcichlidiot said:


> One


Agreed. 

It is the safe option.


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## purita (Jan 19, 2011)

oh... 
here's what i have in my 160 gal tank now..

vieja zonatum 8"
oscar 7"
metae 
firemouth
texas
honduran red point
severum
t bar

there's no problem with the little ones. i'm concerned about the oscar being attacked by the zonatum. i need advice on which fish will i move to my other tank. i have to choose between the oscar and the zonatum. also, if i let the oscar stay, id like to add another one so that i would have a pair or hopefully 2 females.

here are some pics... can you guys tell if my oscar is a male or female? thanks.


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## purita (Jan 19, 2011)

here's my oscar when he was still cute.


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## Mastiffman (Jul 21, 2011)

I would say about 4 or 5 at the most, considering you are putting severum in the tank as well. It also depends on what type of filtration that you plan on using.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Please do not put foru or five in your tank. It's a recipe for disaster. It'd work for about a year...


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## purita (Jan 19, 2011)

thanks guys. how about if i keep the zonatum and oscar and all the others and add another oscar? that would be two oscars and zonatum... would that be possible?


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

> Here's some additional info on keeping multiple oscars:
> 
> Here's my take on the whole two oscars and tank size issues.... It's been my experience that no matter the size of the tank, even an 800, males will simply not get along. The problem comes when you have a tank smaller than 800 gallons one male WILL kill the other. Especially if a female is present. I currently have six oscars in an 800, three are mature, three are not and have not revealed their sex yet. Of the three that are mature only one is female. The two males still hate each other but there's room to run in a 14' tank, not a 240, or a 75. To get two males to get along is not an easy task but it's been done.
> 
> ...


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