Em Posted April 8, 2007 Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 Seeing as Lilli posted a lovely picture of her African's tank I thought I'd share with you all my new 6 footer; future home of my Oscar. Yes it's a second hand tank and we found a use for all those brocolli box lids All the gravel and rocks we "picked up" from a nearby freshwater river and for now I'll just be running a filter in it to clear it up and get it into shape. As it progresses I'll post more pictures here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 8, 2007 Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 That will be very cool Em - your Oscar will love a 6' all to him/herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooshoo Posted April 8, 2007 Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 wish i has a 6' to fill with girlies! you must post more pics when Mr/Mrs Oscar is all set up and at home :dance: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Em Posted April 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 I'm hoping that Fang (still not sure what sex it is) will enjoy it and grow to full size, has 'him' for around 2 years now and 'he' is still around 4 to 5 inches long and not he's not stunted or deformed. :dance: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 8, 2007 Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 Just a dumb question - do you have lids for the tank? What filter are you planning to run on it? Bet your mum's stoked to have another tank in the house! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted April 8, 2007 Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 Just one oscar, you could do so much more with it! but anyway lol What colour is ur oscar? Theres so many different ones. Have you thought about a 'big fish' community? i think they always look cool :dance: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 8, 2007 Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 don't go overcrowding her tank, Phil! :dance: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Em Posted April 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 I do have lids for the tank Lilli, although the ones I was given for it are a bit too big, luckily the mother has done a lot of glass cutting in the past and is willing to cut me some that fit. I got mother's OK before getting it, she even drove with me to pick it up (good old stationwagons) and it's now set up in the study behind my computer where it's sitting on a concrete slab instead of on the wooden floor... she doesn't seem to mind as she likes Fang. As for filters I'm thinking of a 950lph canister filter as well as a 600lph HOB (big AoA order at the end of the month) Fang as a baby (May '05) Fang not so long ago Phil, what else do you suggest that I could stick in there It's 65 UG gallon and apparently too small for another oscar (according to all these oscar forums). And remember that I'm heading off in about 4 to 5 months and don't want to make it too hard for the house sitter to look after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 I'd honestly just stick with the oscar. They are nitrate factories and IME you'll be hard pressed keeping nitrates under 80 ppm with 50% weekly water changes, even in a 6' tank. That was what I went through when I used to keep big cichlids, anyway. And mine ate pellets primarily, so it wasn't the case that I was dumping a ton of beef heart in there every day. Give him some ping pong balls to play with or other floating stuff he can move around, and he won't be lonely, and while you're away, tank maintenance won't be a nightmare if you keep it lightly stocked. With big cichlids you can a lot of aggression too, which is pretty unrelaxing to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Em Posted April 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 Fang lives on his Tetra Cichlid Sticks as well as the odd worm or block of bloodworms. I'm quite content to just keep him in the tank and maybe put some sort of aquatic plants in there that he can't wreck. Fang has one of those practise golf balls with all the holes in it and although he doesn't play with it often he gives it the odd nudge. He also jumps for his food and occasionally knocks himself out. Would it be overkill if I had a canister filter (maybe a small output) in each corner so all the water gets moved around? He's staying in his current tank until I come back from my jackaroo/jillaroo school on the 27th. (heading out next Sunday) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 Actually I have a 55g with a 10 inch oscar and 2 silver dollars (*runs and hides from overstocked tank police*). I think the SD's actually help the nitrate situation, as while they produce it, they eat 100% of whatever Buzz wastes out of his gills (messy creature!). Idealy you should have a school of them, so 3 or 4 for your size tank. I used to have 3 but one died. They are pretty as well with cute little faces. Initially your oscar might chase them, but the SD's are too fast. He'll give up when he works out he can't catch them. Sometimes oscars even try to school with them. I would steer clear of pleco's, since many of them grow up HUGE, and all you end up seeing instead of oscar poo is huge pleco poos. That's just my preference though, I don't like plecos. Your tank, you do what you want! Anyway, good buy, hope he will grow to full size. They say that oscars are done growing by 12-18 months, but mine had a huge growth spurt since i moved house and he's going to be 3 this year! Mine had his growth spurt after I started giving him treats of frozen krill on weekends. He loves it and has developed even more orange spots on him. I also feed Hikari Cichlid Gold, and I've just started a new packet of Hikari Cichlid Bio Gold, which is supposed to help with the nitrate levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooshoo Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 :dance: how does he knock himself out? thats one beautiful but weird fish you've got there :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 Lovely tank for your Oscar Em If you want companion for him, I would stick in a full sized Pleco.. expensive, but won't be eaten. What is the depth of the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Em Posted April 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 Fang jumps for his food (and no I didn't train him to do that) and sometimes jumps up at a bug on the otherside of the glass (at least I think they're bugs) and hits it so hard he sinks to the bottom and after a minute or two starts swimming again. The little SOB just tried to eat my fingers when I was moving his little plastic ball around And faewyn, the tank dimensions are 180cms L, 35cms W and 45 H. 296.46L according to Vicki's tanksize tool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 I've only got a single internal power filter on my O tank. It's rated at 2400L/h and it has no trouble moving the water around. If you wanted internal canisters, you'd probably only need one at one end. But then having 2 is good for the whole backup thing in case one's motor dies. Or if you don't like stuff in your tank taking up space and looking ugly, you could have a hang on back filter as the backup and a nice big external canister filter hidden behind the stand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 I'm not the overstocking police - I had a 318 litre tank with 2 full grown scats, 2 adult archer fish, a 12" saratoga and 2 12" salmon cats. But all it took was one blackout to do the lot of them in (suffocation, i think). Since Em's going to be away it's just less maintenance for the house sitter if there's only 1 oscar to worry about. And I agree that silver dollars aren't a bad match, size and poop wise, but I'd feel bad that they spent their lives being chased, even if he couldn't catch them. No offence Beano!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 oh no it so wasn't directed at you! I mainly talk about my O on another forum and they're are like the overstocking FBI over there... But I wrote that here just in case someone was going to flame me... I think the SD thing depends on your O's personality. If you've got a blind albino (seems like a lot of the albinos are vision impaired) then silver dollars will probably work great! But if you have super aggressive bites your hand at every opportunity, probably no tank mates for you... With big cichlids you can a lot of aggression too, which is pretty unrelaxing to watch. LOL! Hey Lilli, this is so funny... before I had Buzz, I had an O called Ernie who died suddenly. I was so heartbroken, I let the tank sit empty for a month, then decided to try a tank of female bettas. Since they were $10 each, I only got 5 (ouch). I was so stressed watching them, they freaked me out with all their bickering and fighting, wooo gees! I ended up trading them all in for another baby O (Buzz)... But alas, everyone has different experiences! Plus Buzz was alone initially, so you can't stress when they're not biting other fish... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Em Posted April 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 Lilli, the people on this other O based forum would tell anyone that they've overstocked a tank if they put 2 baby 2 inch oscars in a tank my size... you HAVE to have over 75G and no less according to them. They also seem to think that getting a 100G + tank is cheap and easy (most are in the US, where it seems tanks are cheap as chips!) The house sitter (aka mother) was even suggesting to me that I should get Fang a friend... but I'll wait and see, I don't want to burden her with too much. 2 cats, 2 dogs, 2 budgies, an ell, 3 yabbies, an oscar, 12 bettas and 5 fat goldfish. I think if I did have another oscar in there she wouldn't mind, she seems to love doing water changes. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 yeah people look at my 55g and say I should put more fish in there! LOL! Then I say "do you want to change the water everyday?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 I thought your new tank was 6 foot? It should be a lot more than 65g. It should be something like 110g. Are you sure you don't want another O (jokes). Another O wouldnt' be a good idea since you've had Fang for a while, he's bound to know he's the rule of the roost even if you did rearrange the tank and add the new O first. Maybe a single convict? They can hold their ground. Don't get a pair though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Em Posted May 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 Beano, I've found out my tank is around 75 US gallons. And so far the tank is still sitting mostly filled... I have to do a big order from Age of Aquariums when I pull my finger out (and save enough money). Am also thinking of another oscar, not sure if I want an lutino or what just yet. Admin, if you're reading this there's a thing with the tank volume converter... it gives the answer in UK gallons. Just wanted to let you guys know ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 *disregard* got confused, turns out my post was pointless anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 wouldn't we prefer UK to US gallons? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Em Posted May 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 I like UK gallons, it's just a bit confusing when almost everything seems to revolve around the yankees. I love litres, it's not confusing at all ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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