Hello all,

I have a question regarding my newly acquired fish. About a month ago I got a 45gal tank with about a 9inch tiger Oscar and a pleco fish. Well just last week my neighbor gave me a flowerhorn, due to lack of interest, that is about 12inches; along with it he gave me a 30gal tank to put it in. So far the flowerhorn is doing alright in his new tank, but looks a bit big for it. The flowerhorn used to live in a 55gal tank before the move. Anyways, I'm wondering if I should switch the fish around to the other tank, but then is my tiger Oscar going to be upset about being put in a smaller tank since the 45 gal has been his home for forever.

Thanks!

Well, unfortunately you've got fish that require bigger tank then you've got. Flowerhorns can reach well over 12 inches as can Oscars and depending on what sort of pleco you've got, these can reach over 2 foot long.

It's difficult to know what to recommend it will Oscars need 55 gallons all to themselves. I don't like telling people that they must find new homes for the fish so I'm just going to advise you of the fact that your tanks are not big enough for the fish you've got. I'm afraid it's six of one and half a dozen of the other with the flowerhorn and the Oscar. Since the flowerhorn is already quite big, I would put it in a 45 gallon tank for the time being. Your Oscar sounds like it is probably over a year old. Its growth rate should have slowed down a little now. What sort of pleco have you on how big is it? Personally, I would get rid of that straight away, they are disgusting messy creatures that will only turn your water to crap.

Your situation is not good. If you can, you should be looking for a much larger tank. But in the flower horn and the Oscar together might end up with aggression but you won't know until you try. If you want to try it, you are much better off buying a large tank, giving them more space could help avoid aggression problems. Putting them all in small tanks will only make things worse.

Whatever you do, you are going to have to keep up with tank maintenance on a regular basis, probably more than once a week.

I thought flowerhorns were really aggressive. Not the sort of fish to put in with oscars. But I don't know so I might be wrong

I would do as OFL says and put the flowerhorn in the 45 and the oscar in the 30. But this is only temporary. You really need to think about getting bigger tanks for both of them. A 55 gallon each for both fish is the minimum.

While you are sorting out bigger tanks you need to keep an eye on your nitrate levels. If you havent got a tester then get one. I would do a 50% water change once a week. Test the water before doing the water change and if the nitrate is 40 or above then you need to do water changes more often than once a week

I dont know how much you know about keeping fish or oscars but just in case, do not over feed your fish. Feed what they will eat in about 3 mins and no more. Oscars will beg for food all day but don't give in

OFL, Yea that sounds like what I may have to do for the time being is switch the fish to the other tanks. As for the Pleco, I did some surfing on google and I guess its jsut a common Pleco. As of right now hes about 6 inches or so. Thank you for your advice and I'm going to see if I can find a larger tank. My neighbor has a 130 gal tank with stand he wants to sell, but I just can't afford it at this time (being. a full time student with only a part time job doesn't help)

DelBoy, I am relatively new to the whole aquarium thing. I've been looking for a fish tank for awhile, just so happened I stumbled across a someone graduating college and she couldn't take the Oscar and his tank with her. Then just recently my neighbor wanted to get rid of the flowerhorn and the small tank so I gladly accepted.

An issue I've found challenging is the fact my university is in a small town out in the boonies and all we have is a Meijer and Walmart for aquarium supplies (other than the internet of course). But I will definitely invest in a test kit, and stick to regular maintenance for the time being.

Thank you guys for your input, I will try to do something for my poor big flowerhorn but for right now I will just change his water very frequently.

If money is tight then just buy the nitrate tester. This is the one you will have to watch

Well I came across a 55 gallon tank in the past few days just brought it home last night. All I have to do now is clean it up and set it up and move the big guy into it!

Great! I'm glad to here you got a bigger tank. A 30 gallon tank is CERTAINLY too small for any kind of flowerhorn, sorry to say but they will require at least a 120gallon tank. An average flowerhorn can reach a size of up to 16 inches! Also, that pleco will get huge, like 2 feet or more. Mine has already grown to 17 inches, and doesn't really clean my glass much anymore unless I don't feed him for a while.

Get a water test kit, and keep your levels in sync. Luckily, flowerhorns are hardier fish, and can endure some water levels many cichlids and other aquarium fish cannot.

Oh, and you can't put the oscar right in or he will suffer from ammonia build up. You'll have to cycle the tank(which you can read about on this site.). You can speed it up by adding water from your current tank and gravel from your current tank into that tank. Good Luck!

Good one on the new tank. The best way to cycle the new tank is put all the water and gravel and the filter from the 30 in the 55. Instant cycle. However dont hang around and leave the filter turned off for too long




If your plec dont clean the glass unless you dont feed him then dont feed him. I never feed mine and they keep my glass clean and they grow slow