BEFORE YOU SET UP AN OSCAR TANK YOU WILL NEED TO DECIDE HOW MANY OSCARS YOU WANT TO KEEP. THIS MAY BE INFLUENCED BY YOUR AMBITION TO BREED OSCARS IN WHCIH CASE I WOULD RECCOMEND YOU START WITH A GROUP OF SIX OSCARS. CHOOSE THE LARGEST TANK YOU CAN AFFORD AND REMEMBER" LARGER TANKS WILL REQUIRE LARGER FILTERS AND MORE MONEY". IF YOU CANT AFFORD A LARGE TANK THEN DONT BUY OSCARS. DONT START WITH THE IDEA TO BUY A BIGGER TANK ONCE YOUR OSCARS GET BIGGER ,THIS IS A FALSE ECONOMY AND YOU HAD JUST AS WELL SPEND THE MONEY NOW. I WOULD RECCOMEND AT BUYING AT LEAST FOUR OSCARS AND THIS WILL REQUIRE A MINIMUM 100 GALLON TANK. NEVER BUY A SINGLE OSCAR TO KEEP ON ITS OWN. OSCARS SHOULD NEVER BE KEPT ON THEIR OWN AS THEY DESERVE THE RIGHT TO HAVE OTHER OSCARS TO INTERACT WITH. TAKE AWAY THIS RIGHT AND YOUR OSCAR WILL NOT BEHAVE IN THE MANNER THAT IT SHOULD. FOR OSCAR TANKS I RECOMEND AN EXTERNAL POWER FILTER CONNECTED TO A LARGE UNDER GRAVEL FILTER WHICH OPERATES IN REVERSE FLOW. NOW THIS SOUNDS COMPLICATED BUT IT REALLY ISN'T. IT MEANS THAT INSTEAD OF THE WATER FLOWING FROM THE TANK DOWN THROUGH THE GRAVEL AND UP THE UPLIFT TUBES INTO THE EXTERNAL FILTER IT OPERATES IN REVERSE ,WITH WATER BEING BLOWN DOWN THE UPLIFT TUBES THROUGH THE GRAVEL INTO THE WATER ABOVE THE GRAVEL. THIS HAS SEVERAL ADVANTAGES OVER A CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM WITH JUST AN EXTERNAL FILTER. FIRSTLY YOU WILL HAVE A MASSIVE BIOLOGICAL FILTER ATTACEHD TO YOUR EXTERNAL FILTER AS THE GRAVEL IN YOUR TANK BUILDS UP BENEFICIAL BACTERIA. SECONDLY AS THE SYSTEM OPERATES IN REVERSE FLOW THE GRAVEL WILL NOT FILL UP WITH DETRITUS. THIRDLY, YOU WILL EFFECTIVELY HAVE TWO FILTER SYSTEMS OPERATING IN THE TANK WHICH COST A FRACTION OF THE COST OF INSTALLING TWO EXTERNAL FILTERS. TO SET UP A SYSTEM LIKE THIS YOU WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING: 1 UNDER GRAVEL FILTER A GRAVEL TIDY, ENOUGH GRAVEL TO FILL THE TANK TO A DEPTH OF 3 INCHES, AN EXTERNAL POWER FILTER SEVERAL METRES OF TUBING AND A PLASTIC T PIECE TO FIT THE TUBING

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