Oscar

Subject: Oscar Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:41 pm

Well their was this oscar at about 3-4in and wanted to know if I can put in in a 16 gal tank with a red tail botia. The reason why it so small is because I divided my 60 gal tank and have a 16 gal part for my red tail botia which may or will eat my small comunity fish. So is it okay to have an oscar with that condiation in a small tank? Reason being is because I will get my 100 gal tank within 2-3weeks.

Subject: Re: Oscar Mon Mar 08, 2010 7:32 pm

If it is only temporary quarters until you get a 100gal it should be fine for a few weeks. However I wouldn't recommend putting it in with the loach. You should keep new fish quarantined for 4 to 6 weeks before introducing them with other fish. I wouldn't take the chance of introducing something to any of my existing fish if I was you.

Subject: Re: Oscar Mon Mar 08, 2010 7:44 pm

Why do I have to do that? What does that do? How come I have to do that?

Subject: Re: Oscar Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:04 am

When you bring in new fish you never know if they are carrying something that may transmit to your healthy fish. Especially if it comes from a pet store. Even if the fish looks healthy it may still have a disease. It is just a good idea so you don't infect your stock of healthy fish and/or a healthy tank.

Subject: Re: Oscar Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:09 am

Ic so how would I set one up?

Subject: Re: Oscar Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:42 am

Just like any other tank....could even be just a bin with filter heater etc.

_________________
"There he goes - one of God's own prototypes -
a high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production.
Too weird to live, and too rare to die".

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Subject: Re: Oscar Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:19 pm

Ic thanks but lets say Im putting new fish in a tank. What should I do first?

Subject: Re: Oscar Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:38 pm

Well, acclimate them accordingly to what your putting in. In a QT tank you can pretty much just put them in as long as temps and PH are close to one another. Lighting should be the same as other tanks, on at least 8 hours a day...feed them as you normally feed other fish and do plenty of water changes to keep water pristine. Make sure to use a established filter or if using a new filter put some gravel from an established tank or a filter pad from an established filter in to seed the tank with good bacteria. This way you wont have to worry much about cycling.

_________________
"There he goes - one of God's own prototypes -
a high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production.
Too weird to live, and too rare to die".

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Subject: Re: Oscar Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:26 am

...and get a test kit Wink

Subject: Re: Oscar Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:21 pm

dirtydawg10 wrote:

If it is only temporary quarters until you get a 100gal it should be fine for a few weeks. However I wouldn't recommend putting it in with the loach. You should keep new fish quarantined for 4 to 6 weeks before introducing them with other fish. I wouldn't take the chance of introducing something to any of my existing fish if I was you.

Just noticed this agian............Why is it bad to put the loach with the Oscar? Also is it bad to mix the loach and a arowana? BTW my loach is about 5inches.

Subject: Re: Oscar Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:19 am

The Oscar will eventually get large enough to make a snack of the loach.

_________________
"There he goes - one of God's own prototypes -
a high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production.
Too weird to live, and too rare to die".

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Subject: Re: Oscar Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:27 pm

I see. I was wondering lets saw I have my 100gal tank set up and already have 2 oscar and wanted to add 4 jds who are small abou an inch would they be okay or should I put a divider till their big enough? Also how many fish do you guys think can I put in my 100gal tank? Because I was thinking of putting 2 oscar,4 jds,2 jaguars, and maybe a flowerhorn or arowana.

Subject: Re: Oscar Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:43 pm

ninjastar wrote:

I see. I was wondering lets saw I have my 100gal tank set up and already have 2 oscar and wanted to add 4 jds who are small abou an inch would they be okay or should I put a divider till their big enough? Also how many fish do you guys think can I put in my 100gal tank? Because I was thinking of putting 2 oscar,4 jds,2 jaguars, and maybe a flowerhorn or arowana.

Absolutely not!

That is way too small of a tank for that many fish of that size. And a 100 gallon tank has too small a footprint for an arowana! The arowana will likely end up deformed due to a repetitive pattern in its swimming in too small of a tank. Not to mention, I've seen nothing on filtration. At that stocking rate you would have to have phenomenal filtration and willing to do 30-50% water changes daily. Are you willing to do that?

The oscars are going to average 12-13", up to 15" plus. The JDs will average 10", up to 12". The jags will average 11-13" up to 16" or more. Plus a flowerhorn at 10-13" or more depending on its lineage. I'm assuming you have a standard 100 gallon tank, which IIRC has a 72" x 18" footprint. You are asking for problems of a magnitude I suspect you cannot handle based on your level of experience, as I perceive it from the questions you have asked.

I have 5 oscars (from 5" to 9 1/2") in a 90 gallon tank right now, future home is a 180 gallon. I have 600 GPH of water turnover through 3 HOB filters, and do a 40% water change 6 days out of every 7. I barely keep up with keeping the tank clean! I hope to have their new home up in a coupla more weeks, right now the 90 is for quarantine and treatment purposes due to the poor condition I acquired these fish in. Large cichlids are messy feeders that produce a lot of metabolic waste. You will be in over your head instantly with the stocking rates you are suggesting. My example is 5 fish currently smaller than the eventual growth of the 9 fish you are suggesting you will keep in the 100 permanently. My tank is only 10 gallons smaller. Think of the work yer gonna hafta do. The fish will be the ones that suffer.

Not trying to be a hardass, but I'm going to reccomend that you need to stock less than suggested on forums and such until yer understanding of aquariums and livestock increases and yer maintanence habits are well established.

You'll save yerself a lot of heartache. My advice? Put the two oscars in the 100 and maybe add a pleco, with a lot of filtration, and be satisfied with that for now.

WYite

_________________
One can never have too many fish tanks.

Subject: Re: Oscar Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:41 pm

Wyomingite wrote:

ninjastar wrote:

I see. I was wondering lets saw I have my 100gal tank set up and already have 2 oscar and wanted to add 4 jds who are small abou an inch would they be okay or should I put a divider till their big enough? Also how many fish do you guys think can I put in my 100gal tank? Because I was thinking of putting 2 oscar,4 jds,2 jaguars, and maybe a flowerhorn or arowana.

Absolutely not!

That is way too small of a tank for that many fish of that size. And a 100 gallon tank has too small a footprint for an arowana! The arowana will likely end up deformed due to a repetitive pattern in its swimming in too small of a tank. Not to mention, I've seen nothing on filtration. At that stocking rate you would have to have phenomenal filtration and willing to do 30-50% water changes daily. Are you willing to do that?

The oscars are going to average 12-13", up to 15" plus. The JDs will average 10", up to 12". The jags will average 11-13" up to 16" or more. Plus a flowerhorn at 10-13" or more depending on its lineage. I'm assuming you have a standard 100 gallon tank, which IIRC has a 72" x 18" footprint. You are asking for problems of a magnitude I suspect you cannot handle based on your level of experience, as I perceive it from the questions you have asked.

I have 5 oscars (from 5" to 9 1/2") in a 90 gallon tank right now, future home is a 180 gallon. I have 600 GPH of water turnover through 3 HOB filters, and do a 40% water change 6 days out of every 7. I barely keep up with keeping the tank clean! I hope to have their new home up in a coupla more weeks, right now the 90 is for quarantine and treatment purposes due to the poor condition I acquired these fish in. Large cichlids are messy feeders that produce a lot of metabolic waste. You will be in over your head instantly with the stocking rates you are suggesting. My example is 5 fish currently smaller than the eventual growth of the 9 fish you are suggesting you will keep in the 100 permanently. My tank is only 10 gallons smaller. Think of the work yer gonna hafta do. The fish will be the ones that suffer.

Not trying to be a hardass, but I'm going to reccomend that you need to stock less than suggested on forums and such until yer understanding of aquariums and livestock increases and yer maintanence habits are well established.

You'll save yerself a lot of heartache. My advice? Put the two oscars in the 100 and maybe add a pleco, with a lot of filtration, and be satisfied with that for now.

WYite

Really nothing more to say besides I couldn't agree more....Excellent post wyite!

Oscars get big and messy. If you want to get a tank full of Cichlids in a 100g you can but not the species you have suggested. If you want a few larger Cichlids that's possible too but the stock you are talking about will set up failure.

_________________
"There he goes - one of God's own prototypes -
a high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production.
Too weird to live, and too rare to die".

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Subject: Re: Oscar Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:33 pm

I understand your point. But lets assume that I will get a larger tank when they get bigger maybe a 200gal tank. Would that be okay? Because what Im thinking is if it would be okay since their just babies? Because at the lps the oscar are about 3 inches and the jds about 1-2inches.