I had an Oscar for about two years (A friend bought him for me not knowing what he was, but I fell in love.) When I moved I could not take him with me so I found him a good home. I recently went out and bought two Oscars, a tiger and an albino, about a month ago. Because money was tight I put them in a 30 gallon tank with a pleico. They have grown to about four inches and I want to get them a new and much larger tank with a good filtration system. Can anyone help me find the best way to do this when money is tight? I love my Oscars and want the best for them. I'm mostly concerned about the filtration because I know from trial and error how important it is. Thanks a lot!

i know in north america there are sites like craiglist and kijiji that are like online classifieds that you can get some good deals on used equipment from. these should be checked very carefully though priior to buying to make sure that they are indeed water tight. however, as for filters, i beleive the only way to go is new. i've gotten some good deals off ebay for new filters at a good price.

Thanks =D

What filter would you recommend for an 80 gallon tank with two Oscars and a pleco? I've noticed that my HOB filter in a pain to deal with and I don't want filtration problems when I upgrade to an 80 gallon tank.

firstly with two oscars and a pleco i think you should aim for a tank in the 110 gallon range and not an 80. that being said you could look into getting maybe something along the lines of 2 fluval 405(or comparable) for adequate filtration for life. the plus side to getting 2 of them is if one breaks down you still have the second but also you can purchase one, then a month or so later the other to help in reducing the "up front " costs of gettting properly set up.

i recomend you look on ebay ...a new fx5 went yesterday for £77 pounds and 404s which are prety good are realy cheap now... there is a pump and impeler upgrade kit for the 404 now available for about a tenner and with a good media set up two of these can be quite sufficient for very little money also a lot of sellers are giving FREE postage now hope this helps ......

Thanks bunches guys! That helps a lot, hopefully I'll have my new set up soon!

Hey guys, I'm back and I finally got my new tank(had to save up some serious money). My boys just moved into a 60 gallon tank that I got from a friend at work while I wait for my 100 gallon my sister in law is giving me in about four months. I have a new rena 110 gallon filter (so much nicer than my POS hob). I had a few questions regarding my Albino Oscar. When I got my tiger(Rock) and albino(Bull) oscars, bull was a good bit larger. In the last four months I have noticed that he has not grown near as much as Rock, so now Rock is a good deal larger than him. He has also developed a rather timid personality. I have not changed their food and the pH lvls are good. The only other thing I've noticed is the tips of his fins are a bit darker than the rest of his body. Does anyone have any advice on what may be causing this?

Thanks

welcome back! nice to know you've a new set-up.
it is common to most oscar to have definitive lining
in their fins specially the lutino specie. as long as
they have vibrant body color, no need to worry, it shows
they are healthy.

Ok, good to know. Any ideas about his groth and personality?

I have gone through the same thing, I have an albino that use to be the tank show off, recently he/she has become a tad timid. I have found nothing to attribute this to sickness, it eats well and all is normal, I have noticed that he/she tends to hang out with my jack dempsey a little more than the other oscars, hmm not so sure about that, I have caught them sleeping together on occasion.

xsilvereternityx wrote:

on juvinile stage, oscar can grow at an average of 1 inch per month for the
first 6 months or so and slow down as they matured. they tend to become
moody and try to re-arrange everything inside the tank, establish territorial
domaine, and pair off if do have tankmate

Ok, I've had them both for about six months. My Tiger will explore with all his fins up. My albino Oscar on the other hand keeps all his fins down and almost has a sad look. Both Oscars are inseparable and I've never seen even a sign of aggression. He doesn't even come up to the top of the tank to eat like he used to and is only sometimes interested in food. I'm really getting worried.