hello my name is andres and like many other made the mistake of buying 4 oscars thinking that they would be ok on a 20 gallon as told by the lady at petco....lol.......i wish i would've came to the website and done research before buying......

I think a lot of people wish they had done research into Oscars before buying them. Anyway, I hope we can help you from now on

Thats part of the big problem. They probably had double that amount of Oscars crammed into a small 15-20 gallon tank at the store right? It gives a false and very bad impression and combine that with a sales clerk making minimum wage and who has had a full weeks training to sell pet supplies and wha - lah, you wind up with alot of bad inforrmation and too big of a fish population for your aquarium. But on the positive side the store is moving fish out keeping the store owners and fish breeders happy. One thing you will notice though in most stores is a high flow filtration system that helps their situation with overcrowding. I have to admit though that it is sad to visit some fish and pet stores and wonder about the fate of most of their livestock.

I had just one oscar, and kept it in a 55 gallon tank. He (or she) banged her head against the glass and light fixture so much that it caused grave injury.

That oscar died.

I bought a new one. I decided to break down and get a new tank--you REALLY need a 75 gallon MINIMUM for one oscar. I ended getting a 125 gallon tank which will be delivered to my house tomorrow!!! Then I have to move that ONE INCH oscar into that 125 gallon tank and that will be THE ONLY FISH IN THERE. Can you imagine a 1 inch fish in a 125 gallon tank? She's in a 55 gallon tank now and is in hog heaven.

I want NO REASON for this fish to fuss and complain. Further I feed it a very varied diet...I have bloodworms, frozen brime shrimp, cricket pieces, flakes and pellets. Ironically her favorite is flaked food. Can you beat that! She likes the cheapest food the best LOL.

I FEEL REALLY GUILTY FOR PUTTING MY FORMER OSCAR IN A 55 GALLON TANK. I FEEL LIKE IT WAS MY FAULT THAT IT DIED. I should not have believed what all the aquaium experts allege--TRUST ME A MINIMUM SHOULD BE 75 GALLONS FOR A SINGLE OSCAR...you will be sorry later. If you want two oscars, then you will need a 110 or 125 gallon tank.

A 55 gallon tank is about 12" width. The oscar will be about 14" long. It's CRAMPED in a 55 gallon tank.

I miss my former oscar. Despite its moodiness it really was a very very sweet fish and greeted me in a special way (I put my eye against the glass and she would swim right up to my eye and we would be eye-to-eye for a lONG time and she loved that!! When she died I cried and cried and cried. And I'm feeling guilty. I should have put her in a 125 gallon tank. So I'm going to make sure my new oscar is happy. But I still feel very sad about my previous oscar.

Imagine how many die before they even get delivered to the Pet Shop.

Imagine how many more die while AT the Pet Shop.

Imagine how many die before they ever make it home from the Pet Shop.

Imagine how many are killed by first time fish keepers who set up their aquariums the day before buying their fish.

Imagine how over crowded the survivors are at the Pet Shop.

Imagine how over crowded the survivors are once they are brough home.:angry:

Imagine an Oscar Fish in a 55 Gallon Aquarium. I'd imagine there are far worse things that could have happened to that fish.

Imagine that I bought two smaller Oscars and will put them into a 75 US Gallon Tank together and now IMAGINE had I took only the one that the other may have been purchased by someone else who placed it into a 20 Gallon aquarium.

We do need to continually express the importance of proper aquarium sizing but we need to temper that by realizing it is a learning curve that even you yourself probably once went through. I've seen people who didn't deserve to have a spouse. I've seen people wh didn't deserve or care for their children. I've seen people who didn't deserve to have a dog or cat as a pet. Worst, I've seen people who don't or can't care for themselves. If you really care about your pet tropical fish, STOP buying them and let them live in their natural god given environment and you go visit them there. Otherwise, you (we) do the best we can with what we have and we try (try) to educate others how to do their best too. Not everyone's best will be equal though.

im looking at a 125 gallon wich i'll prolly get in 2 months this time im going to do it right andcycle the tank lol.........i'll keep the convicts in the 35