New Pics...please comment

A 55 gallon is not really ideal for an Oscar. I do have 1 Oscar in a 55 and let me tell you he is miserable.

Get a breeder tank for your Oscar, or a 75. This way the fish can turn around easily. The 55 gallon tank is only 12 inches from front to back. That is rather small. If you had him in a breeder tank that was even smaller than a 55, that would be better.

55 gallon tanks are not all they are cracked up to be. They really are not big, they more-so look bigger then they really are.

That Oscar still looks young though so it may be a while before you need the larger tank. If I were you I would wait a bit more and get something larger.

That is a HUGE amount of fish in a rather small tank. I kept 2 Oscars and a Pleco in my 125 I am now using for my Discus. That was even a small amount of room. I have kept 2 - 8 inch oscars in a 55 with a pleco. I will tell you from my experience the more you see them together in that small of a tank when they get that big, the more you will understand you NEED something bigger. The other fish.... I would not even put them in with the Oscars. Water changes for 2 half grown oscars in a 55 is more often than you may think (especially with HOB filters!)... When I had my 2 oscars in my 55 I ran 2 HOB filters and changed the water 2 times a week to be sure my nitrates did not get up high.... sometimes that seemed like a hopeless cause as I seemed to do 50% water changes 2 times a week to keep my nitrates down and they just seemed to go up and up.

Like uncwells said.... I am not ragging on you, I just want you to understand what having a full grown oscar entails. They are very dirty fish (great pets but dirty eaters) and they get very large.... the 1 I have left is about 14 inches long and weighs almost 3 lbs. His mouth is large enough to swallow a half dollar the hard way, his head almost 3" across eye to eye.

I made the comment on another topic on this board that I wish people understood what a little oscar would go into when they go into petsmart and buy them along with how large Pacus get.

Also 2 oscars, heaven forbid that they are both males. If they are you WILL end up with 1 dead or severely maimed fish (I got 4 to find a pair, 2 of them killed 1, the last 2 males, my least favorite bonded to a female and beat the crap out of the other male to the point I had to give away the 3rd to leave me with my pair)

Again I am not ragging on you, just beware.

 

Yeah HUGE fish as adults too!

 

here is the oscar i had, he was about 13 inches long.. i had him in my 100 gallon when my piranha we babies.. i sold him back to the local fish store cause he was too cool of a fish to see die in my tank.. I could hand feed him large cichlid food.. he would snap minnows in half and just leave them..

he was very happy in the 100..

 

a well fed oscar will grow a inch to a inch and a half a month, i know i had 6 in a 350 gallon outdoor pond and you could watch them grow overnight

 

The inch per gallon rule doesn't always apply, especially with cichlids.

 

Sean, I have A LOT of experience with Oscars..... I am not attacking you for the tank size.... I am trying to say that a 55 is TOO SMALL for even 1 Oscar! You have planned 5 fish living in a home the size of 1 fishes home.

That 1 inch rule DOES NOT apply to those fish you have there. I know you love your fish..... I would too if I had them..... dont think about YOU with this we are talking about THE FISH!

Each Oscar needs a 75... for 1 fish (oscar) a minimum. That Jaguar... another one that needs a 75 for 1 Jaguar... a pike another one a 75 gallon tank.

What are you going to do when you have 2 oscars, a pike and a Jaguar 14 inches long (they wont live to be that big in a 55 but as an example)

All of those fish are VERY DIRTY EATERS. They WILL throw your nitrate up to sky high levels quicker than you can keep up with. ALSO they will all put off the hormone that will stunt their growth.

Even more importantly they will not have enough room to establish territories of sufficient size for each fish.

Let me put this in people terms! How would you like living in a 400 square foot studio apartment with 1 other of the same sex and gender as you, 1 of a different sex and race, another the same sex and different race, and 1 of a different race, same sex, and different sexual orientation...... how uncomfortable would you be....... you COULD live that way but do you WANT to?

I am not bashing your tank... I just want you to THINK. I dont know you so I cant say I like you or dont..... BUT YOU made a bad choice buying those fish knowing you do not have the space to house them. It is one thing to put an oscar in a 29 gallon knowing you will buy a 55 for him in a few months a knowing you will buy a 75 or larger for him in 9 months. BUT YOU bought 5 fish that all grow larger than 12" full grown.

YOU cant handle what you got in to and YOU know it which is why you are so defensive over it. You were the one that started it with mentioning on the FIRST POST YOU made that you did not want people to yell at you for your tank size. You should have just kept your mouth/keyboard shut if you did not want us to criticize you.... BUT you asked for it off of your first post.

Again.... I dont dislike you, I am not bashing you, I mean NO disrespect, but either A: you were naive buying those fish and now realize and want to reassure yourself that you were naive.... B: Naive buying those fish and just never realized how dumb that was putting all of them together with no idea what to do later (I dont believe this option.... you do seem smarter than this)... C: Want the fish and know what you are getting and want a reason to convince you or someone you know that thinks you are wasting money on tanks to understand that you NEED a few more tanks.

I honestly think it is C. Get more tanks or loose a few predators.... its not that hard of a choice... You cant do it all.... nor can I... most cant and only a few can!

I break down and say... I have 1 Oscar that I cannot take care of! He is in a 55 and MISERABLE! Imaging 5 of my fish in a 55.... its hell

 

lol was that a mexican joke ??

 

lol, I was thinking about that when I typed it, but it was not meant to be.

 

yeah man you coulda not typed that book and just said do you want your fish living like a bunch of illegals in a 400 square foot apartment.. see how easy that was.. .lol

 

lol, yeah I know it was wordy...

 

just sale all your fish and fill that 55 with guppy's,tetra's,mollie's, and don't forget the dwarf frog to swim up and down the front glass