Chiclid colors (oscar)

[Austin.brehun]

Hello people. Im new to this site so if you could throw out auggestions thatd be great.

So i have a 28gallon tank with small silver dollar and small clown loach. I also have a large plecostymos and my fav. A tiger oscar. Ive had my oscar for 9 or 10 months and he is very happy in his tank. I hand feed him. I give him shrimp pellets, live fish, coloration chiclid pellets, and tropical flakes.

The thing im worried about is his colors tho. It seems as if his colors have faded and been taken over by a greyish color. His skin looks more smooth than rough now and i would really like to know why thia happened and how i can make it better. Any suggestions?

 

[chevy_guy2002]

IMO the tank is too small for all those fish. Probably a 55gal or larger. Oscar fish need lots of room.

 

[davePM]

The Oscar is stressed, that's the problem. The tank is far too small for what you have in it, even for the Oscar on its own it's too small. As clown loach should be in a school, an they grow big, they are also not suitable. You need to get a bigger tank or rehome them. You need to rehome the Pleco too.

 

[Austin.brehun]

Ive heard this a few times thank you very much

 

[steez]

28G is far too small for an Oscar as he reaches adulthood. These fish can easily get 15" when full grown. They really should be in 75g+.

Clown loaches also get very big, it takes a while though.

Large pleco? If you're talking about common pleco, they need even bigger. Something like 125g+.

Probably fading due to small tank, lack of filtration. The water quality in a 28g with that many big fish will be very very bad. He will get stressed out and live in toxic water, therefor dull out and typically get diseases or not live anywhere close to as long as he should. Also keeping fish in a small tank can stunt the fish, making their lifespan very short and severely hurting their immune system.


The best advice I can give you is re-home the fish you have, or get a bigger tank . You're stock list should be OK, but you'll need a very large tank, probably 125G.


Do you know your water parameters? Ammonia / NitrIte /NitrAte / pH / Temp?

What filter(s) do you run?

 

[Austin.brehun]

I will check when i get home. I have a 200$ giftcard to petsmart but it well be very hard to get a tank like that with only that amount. I will repost my filter now and put up a picture of my oscar tonight

 

[absolutangel04]

Ive heard this a few times thank you very much

If you have already heard this, then why are you asking? davePM and steez and chevy-guy all gave you good advice. I am not sure what else you think people will say... Sorry but I don't have a different answer than the ones you were given.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

why not go to that $ per gallon sale? is that still on over there?
its a big overload of info u probably dont want.
here's something to do in the mean time:
distract the oscar, give it a ping pong ball and some feeder fish that he has to chase to eat.
do a big pwc, 50% or more. it may be the parameters.
raise the temp a few degrees, sometimes this is all it takes.

the oscar has been in there 9-10 months, it may be too late and is probably stunted. by this time it could be about 12 inches but in a 28 gal its probably smaller and could be hurting it. we dont want to offend you, we all want whats best for the oscar as these are intelligent, big and beautiful creatures as you know

can we have the pictures of the oscar, pleco and the whole tank so we can see what you can happily hold in there?

you could actually sell the tank and use this money to contribute to a new tank while taking out a small loan to actually get the new tank. complicated but its very rewarding when the oscar does not die lol xx xx

 

[Austin.brehun]

I will put up pictures tonight and he is not even 10 inches i dont think

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

as i said on the other thread, the feeder can be like a danio, guppy adult or fry, goldfish (small), barbs, cichlid fry (i feed my oscars RZ juvies about 1in) and other small chase-able fish. but they will need quaranteening for at least 3 days to check for diseases, and even then there may be an unlucky one slip through.
all these fish including fry can be found at any good lfs or chain pet store, and can probably be sold as a bunch for a good deal. x

 

[steez]

28g is way too small. If he's almost 10 inches then you're really really hurting your fish by doing this, :/

You said you've heard this before, what made you think that it was untrue?

Do a google search, do ANY research! Don't ignore it, websites and experts don't tell you things for no reason.


I don't recommend ever feeding fish to your Oscar. It increases aggression, they aren't nutritious and spread diseases. A good pellet diet is much better, like NLS.


Here you go, I google'd Oscar care.


"I would actually recommend no less than 75 gallons for one adult Oscar." - http://www.oscarfishlover.com/tank-setup


" An Oscar fish can grow to be 18" or even larger and when they reach that size they would need at least a 55 Gal. tank. I recommend a 75 Gal. " - http://www.bbayaquariums.com/oscar-fish.html


" They can easily grow to a length that exceeds the width of a standard 55-gallon aquarium, and do so very quickly! " - http://www.oscarfish.com/

 

[GuppyLover]

Hello people. Im new to this site so if you could throw out auggestions thatd be great.

So i have a 28gallon tank with small silver dollar and small clown loach. I also have a large plecostymos and my fav. A tiger oscar. Ive had my oscar for 9 or 10 months and he is very happy in his tank. I hand feed him. I give him shrimp pellets, live fish, coloration chiclid pellets, and tropical flakes.

The thing im worried about is his colors tho. It seems as if his colors have faded and been taken over by a greyish color. His skin looks more smooth than rough now and i would really like to know why thia happened and how i can make it better. Any suggestions?

How do you know your fish is happy? I am sure your parameters are horrible and your fish are miserable. A Oscar needs a minimum of a 55g, a clown loach a 75g and if the pleco is a common which I am 99.9% it is needs a 125g. All of those are bare minimums

 

[Austin.brehun]

For the 100th time my clown loach ive had for a year and its still only small. It doesnt need 75. Im getting a 55 and im sure theyll all be happier

 

[davePM]

For the 100th time my clown loach ive had for a year and its still only small. It doesnt need 75. Im getting a 55 and im sure theyll all be happier

You obviously have a problem understanding the replies you have been given, so let's make it simple:

1) clown loach get BIG.
2) clown loach need to be kept in a group of at least 5
3) your tank is too small

 

[GuppyLover]

For the 100th time my clown loach ive had for a year and its still only small. It doesnt need 75. Im getting a 55 and im sure theyll all be happier

I dont care how many times youve heard it, I'm saying it again your tank is way overstocked. You probably stunted the poor thing.

 

[absolutangel04]

For the 100th time my clown loach ive had for a year and its still only small. It doesnt need 75. Im getting a 55 and im sure theyll all be happier

No need to snap. Guppylover was just trying to help and may not have even seen your other thread.
People with quite a bit of experience have given you legit, reasonable advice and opinions. Go do what you want, but do not ask us to agree with you. Not sure what you wanted to hear, but you started a thread asking for advice. People answered you. You didn't listen. If you don't want to listen to ANYBODY who has answered you so far, thats up to you. I do suggest doing some other research though to see what other people in the fish-keeping world say.

 

[ronnieroach]

i started a 10gal tank w/ a 1inch oscar (OBV w/ no fish knowledge at all) .. within 2 months i had to put him in a 30gal.. another 2-3 months & he NEEDED the 55gal.. after maybe a year & a half & at 10inches+ i gave him to a friend w/ a 125gal.. they need a lot of room so DEF get the 55

i may not agree with how everyone responded to you but the info they gave you is 100% correct

good luck

 

[GuppyLover]

No need to snap. Guppylover was just trying to help and may not have even seen your other thread.
People with quite a bit of experience have given you legit, reasonable advice and opinions. Go do what you want, but do not ask us to agree with you. Not sure what you wanted to hear, but you started a thread asking for advice. People answered you. You didn't listen. If you don't want to listen to ANYBODY who has answered you so far, thats up to you. I do suggest doing some other research though to see what other people in the fish-keeping world say.

I didnt see the other thread, thanks for pointing it out to him/her (I hope that didnt seem sarcastic, I was being sincere).

 

[Bl80]

Oscars get big... They are like border collies... Cute as pups but people fail to do their research so they are a popular dog in humane bc they nipped their kids heels ( they are hearders, it's instinct) they are hyper ( working dog). Doing research for my fish has been fun and rewarding. Oscars are cute in the tank at the store. Many ppl believe, ok it's one inch per gallon. For small tropicals maybe... But putting a 10 inch Oscar in a 10 gallon tank would be silly. Ppl here are trying to share, in each own way, experience and research. I currently have 2 oscars that are about 3 inches and a few clown loaches in a 90 gal... But know eventually I'll have to swap them out with my mbuna in my 140. Even then they may need to be housed seperatly. I wouldn't have gotten them if I wasn't able to provide for them. Oscars also require clean water and are susceptible to HLLE if not. I wish you ( and your fish) the best of luck in whatever you end up doing.