My Oscar has a girlfriend

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Punkymom

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
517
Location
Maryville, TN
Well, Friday I picked up a 75 gallon tank from a lady. She gave me a large Oscar as well as various other fish. I took all the other fish to the LFS because the lady was uneducated and was keeping african/lake malawi cichlids with an Oscar. I wasn't planning on keeping the Oscar, either, because when I started out, I had 2 Oscars and the one I still have killed his brother. Well, I had to put them all in the tank that first night otherwise they would have had to spend the night in a bucket and that just wasn't going to happen. So my Oscar and the other Oscar are swimming side by side and shaking their tails at each other and just generally being sweet to one another. Is there anything I should watch for? I haven't been able to get the bigger one to eat until today. I bought her a couple of large goldfish (don't normally feed, but figured it might trigger a reflex and it did) and my Jack Dempsey got a few as well. My smaller Oscar grabbed up the largest goldfish and swam around chewing on this fish for like 30 min. It was too funny. I know that 2 Oscars, a Jack Dempsey and a Pleco is too much for a 75, but I can't bear to get rid of the bigger Oscar and anyway, next year I'll buy them a 150 gal tank.
 
Congrats on your new tank!

I think it will be pretty obvious when things go sour with the oscars, don't worry about that. Try some bloodworms or live blackworms, too, those usually inspire new fish to eat, then get them on a good pellet food.

If you have a pair (tail shaking, huh? Hmmmmm.....) then they might just get along fine.
 
Great, that is as long as the friendship continues to last, I hope it does, O's are soooo cool to watch together.
If you "Had " to foster out a fish, I'd do the Plec as a large Plec IMO generates more excrement than a O or JD. But heaven help you if the O's and/or JD start having territorial issues :( , you'd be forced to separate them and that would suck...
Better increase your filtration to 20x or better, with heavy mechanical/bio and do atleast a twice weekly gravel vac/PWC. Watch that NO3.

That group should be a hoot to watch interact if they get along, start saving those $$$, you'll need that 150gal well before next year...
Getting a tax refund? :roll:
 
I got quite a bit back this year, thus allowing me to get the 75. So far so good as far as them getting along. I'm currently filtering with a magnum...the one rated for 70 gal. It came with the tank and a Penguin...the one rated for 70 gallons. I'm going to add either a Fluval or a big hob with the bio wheels...not a Penguin having a brain fart here...They are going to have to survive being in that tank until next year. I'm moving out of my mom's house this year and I just don't have the funding for the 150 this year. Water changes will be 50% once a week once stable. I'm having a little trouble with ammonia right now so I'm doing 20-25% daily to every other day depending on the levels. The gravel in the tank came with it and the lady never vaccumed the gravel so I'm sucking up black mulm with the python. Things are getting better, although I'm medicating with Melafix due to the bigger O having ragged fins and the smaller O having a burn on his side. Wounds are healing as of yet. Jack is perfect. Just having a hard time getting him to eat so far. Finally got the big O to eat, she trusts me now.
 
The big O got his fins torn up during the hour long drive to my house in a bucket, and the smaller O burned himself on the heater.
 
Water changes will be 50% once a week once stable. I'm having a little trouble with ammonia right now so I'm doing 20-25% daily to every other day depending on the levels.
You'd get better results doing 20-25% PWC's with a vigorous gravel vacumning every third day. your gonna have more fish feces than you can believe :!:
I'll cross my fingers (sincerely) for you, having to deal with bad water chemistry, introducing new fish/tank and treating injuries and illness.
 
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