The dimensions of my 55 are 48x20x13". So unless you have a huge Oscar, it should be okay. Just my $.02
Sorry, 13 is what I meant.
Oscar can get to be around 2 feet in length when they are at their adult size. This is pretty much double the width of the tank which means they would have a very very hard time turning around...
Oscars max out at about 16' usually, maybe under, I doubt any in the aquarium have reached 2 ft
puffers are awesome fish but if you want to do the greenspotted puffer you would need to set up a brackish tank. i think your looking at it as a tank the fish can "fit" in. a betta can "fit" in a quarter gallon bowl. you know that is not a comfortable life tho. the gsp would probably get bored living in a small 20 gallon tank. the full grown oscar would probably hate not having much room in a 55 gal. if you have till christmas to get the tank and you really want a big fish with personality why not look for used tanks? you can get a bigger one for the same price as a new 55 and could give the oscar a comfortable life.
75gal for one oscar would be pefect imo
But would probably seem bare, you could get away with adding a few other fish.
The reason I can't get a much larger is because that is the space I have open and the stand that I already have. (I've moved so much furniture and stuff around making room for my tanks there is just no more left! LOL) I have a 29 gal and 5.5 gal sitting on that stand for now, but love to take advantage of the stand, which should hold a 55g if I measured correctly. It's about 48" x 12". If there is a slightly larger tank that could still sit on that stand safely then I would happily look for one of those, but I don't think there is.
I was really wanting an oscar as that's one that's always been on my wish list, but I won't get him if a 55 isn't large enough. I know I could always make a deal with the lfs to trade it for a smaller one when it got too big, but I know myself enough to know that if it has any personality at all I'll want to keep it and then I'll have a big problem!
So, I kind of am looking for a fish with personality that will fit comfortably in the 55. Whether that be a fw, bw or even sw.
Just to let you know, I have a marine tank (FOWLR), a community tank, a shellie tank and a turtle tank. I'd love to go with some sort of larger cichlid or puffer, I'm just not sure what kind exactly.
I appreciate all the help so far!
If it's a frame kind of stand ,(e.g metal, with no doors/storage) and you have space, buy a peice of plywood to fit a 75gal and place it on the top, I've done this before with a tank of an overlap of two, but you would be looking at an overlap of 4' on each side as 75gals are usually(atleast I think they are for 4footers) 4ft x 21' x 18.I'm not really sure it would work though, jsut a thought, plus you would have to be sure that the stand coudl hold the extra weight.
im sorry i dont know what "FOWLR" means, lol i also dont know what shellies are. If you got the oscar as a baby he could probably live comfortably there for a couple years. that would probably give you enough time to maybe eventually upgrade tanks. Im sure you could do the oscar tank. puffers are awesome fish tho. I always wanted to do a fahkha puffer tank but you need at least a 120 for those guys. I say go for the oscar. youll hvae plenty of time before he gets to big for the tank, and if you really get attached to him, by that time im sure you can upgrade
Fish only with live rock.Shellies-shellfish?
I somewhat agree, although I wouldn't say you could have years to spare.In a year oscars have been know to reach 9-10', some say even a 12' but with mine his growth has seem to slowed a bit since reaching 9', the guy had 4 oscars in an 80gal with 5 plecos and other fish so god knows what that must of done to them though.
I'd reccomend, for a 55 gal, a female texas cichlid though.I prefer them to oscars, imo they have nicer colouration and just as big personality, or aggression
(mine used to be a nutter and kill everything it was put in with)
