What size tank do I need for 1 oscar?
What do I need for the tank?
I need a tank, a filter, a heater, gravel and what else?

welcome to OFL
okay, the absolute minimum for one Oscar is 55 gallons. This is a recognized and agreed size on many forums and also in books. However, if you can get a bigger tank, please do, don't just go for a tank of this size because you've read it on all the forums. If you've got the funds and room to house a 100 gallon tank done it really would be in your best interest to go down this road. remember that if you get a 55 gallon tank, you've only room for one Oscar, no other fish. and this is where problems often start, people day for the absolute minimum and then see other fish they like, and then they wonder why they start having problems with poor water quality. If you start out big you can save your self a lot of hassle in the long run.

you'll need a filter, a heater, and some lighting. I would strongly advise you to go for an external canister filter. You probably won't need anymore than a two or 300 heater.

You can go for gravel or sand for a substrates, personally I prefer the sand. You'll also need to get your self some test kits, although a shop will test the water for you if you would prefer not to.

What you've got to understand is Oscars are large messy fish, they are not the sort of fish that you you can keep in small community tank with a small filter. They produce loads of waste and need large tanks and big filtration systems. If you set the tank up properly using the correct equipment, you'll be able to sit back and enjoy your fish with a water change once a week. If you decide to go down the roots of using a small tank with inadequate filtration, you'll have nothing but problems.

that advice is 100%. The only other stuff you really need is what you want to add to make your tank look nice to you. Your fish will love a large flat rock and some food.

for decor you might want to think about some driftwood and maybe some large rocks. if your fortunate enough your oscar wont have a prob with plants and a couple of these can be nice as well. this of course is after you follow ofl's advice on tank and fitration.


btw welcome to the site

I've had artificial plants in my 300 gallon tank since it was set up last year and the Oscars haven't touched them at all. A planted tank can look very nice. However, keeping plants healthy is a job in its own. There are a few plants that are very hardy and do really well. I've got some are my 20 gallon tank, they are doing quite well, even though I don't leave the lights on all day.

if you want plants, get yourself some nice artificial ones, there are some very authentic looking silk plants around that will last for ages. You'll probably have to pull them out occasionally and clean the algae off, but at least it'll save you a bit of money since real plants can be very expensive.

Get your filtration rated for a tank twice as big as the one you get, And get a test kit, i wish i had when i first started keeping fish, it would of saved me a lot of money and heartache