Oscars fitting in a tank

Question
QUESTION: Could two Oscars fit into a 55 gallon tank?How do you cure hole in the head?Also,what type of decorations should I have in my tank?

ANSWER: Hi Alan,
  As a short-term thing, that might be okay but it will not be okay in the long term.  An adult oscar is 12 to 16 inches long and two of them will need a much larger tank than a 55 gallon.  

  Oscars are very susceptible to hole in the head. The principle cause seems to be poor water quality.  Oscars eat a lot and are messy eaters. That puts a lot of waste into the water. You need to be changing 25% of the water in the tank, once a week, every week, to control hole in the head. Many oscar keepers do more frequent water changes than that.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Could I have any other fish in that 55 gallon tank?And if yes, what type?

ANSWER: Hi Alan,
  Do you mean if the oscars were not in there?  If so, then there are hundreds (maybe more) kinds of fishes you could keep in there, though not all at once.  As for which ones, that is a very long list and depends mostly on what kinds of things you want to have.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yes, with the oscar.

Answer
Hi Alan,
 You are going to find that very few if any fish can coexist with an oscar in the long term.  Oscars are wonderfully interesting fish, but they are also superb predators and an oscar will eventually eat any fish that can fit in its mouth.  It might not do it today or tommorrow, but eventually it will do it. This is why almost all people who keep oscars ultimately keep their oscars alone.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>