adopting an oscar

[Alyxx]

So after a few months of being fishless, I am going to be taking in a friend's oscar for at least a year! His name is Trogdor (the Burninator) and he is almost three years old. Last time I saw him he wasn't in the best of shape, as he spent his first year or so in a 10 gallin and is now in a 55. (Yes I chewed my friend out more than a few times for this). I plan on setting my 56 gallon up for him at the start as it is my biggest tank, but I am cruising craigslist fot bigger tanks already. I think a 75 is probably the biggest I can fit in my current accomidations (unless by some miracle I can convince my mom to put a tank in the living room...) but I plan on finding the biggest tank I can fit. Tomorrow I am rearranging my room to be able to fit a tank in. Moving back in with my mom kind of sucks... I have a few good big filters I can fit on the tank. I will post specs on them later as I forget what they are at the moment. Plan on a shallow sand bottom or bare bottom setup to deal with oscar poop. Will be taking filter pads from his existing tank for starting the cycle. Not sure when I will be picking him up but it will be soon. He needs some tlc but I am more than happy to provide it. Any oscar specific tips? I've always wanted one but never had one.

 

[Fishy Smell]

It sounds like you know what you're doing there. Like you say, the bigger the tank the better. Personally i'd never go with bare bottom tanks because they look rough, i think the fish will appreciate some sand as well. Keep it well filtered, change a little water once a week and you'll be fine. I'd put a few plastic plants in there too. Tank mate wise, i suppose it depends on the fish, but if you're getting a 75 you could maybe put a couple of 8" catfish in there that won't squabble with each other. If he's used to living on his own you may struggle otherwise.
I feed mine a variation of tetra colour, new life spectrum, freeze dried tubifex, cichlid gold (Hikari), supermarket prawns, occasional spiders and live shrimp if i can get hold of any.


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[Alyxx]

Thanks!

 

[Alyxx]

Got him home today! Already love having him, even if he gave me a shower when I was getting him in the tank. He's about 9" long and has some fairly nasty HLLE going on, but hopefully I can turn that around. He is already settling in and enjoying the wider dimensions of the 56g and surprisingly didn't pout at all. I'm sure the fact that he is in much cleaner water helped. My friend already called to check on him - this fish has been his baby for three years and he was really worried that he would have to give him up for good when he moved. I plan on doing frequent small water changes for now until I can find a way to hook up my python that doesn't involve the garden hose and running the whole thing out of the front door like I did when I filled the tank. Anyone know if theres an attachment that can hook to a bathtub? Or maybe I can just take my window screen off and run it to the hose thay way again. Although passing cars slowed when they saw me staring into my own window from outside to watch for the tank to get full...

 

[MICEY]

check kens fish they have loads of great food cheap , it would have been best to take your friends filter , and run it in the tank till yours cycles , but the pads will help a bunch

 

[Alyxx]

Used to go to kens all the time but I dont live in hammond anymore. And yeah, thats how I would have preferred to do it but things juat didn't work out that way. And I do have his filter running on my tank.

 

[Alyxx]

RIP Trogdor... he apparently went after a mystery snail while I was at work. He choked. Came home to a dead oscar and a dead snail wedged in his mouth. I was a little concerned about the snails but I hadn't seen him go for any yet. My friend is sad but at least he is taking solace in the fact that he went out trying to murder something. He was a good fishy. Going to bury him and eventually restock the tank.