Upgrading Oscars (2) with ??

[goalorientation]

Hey ya'll I've had fish in my house my whole life and this year I've taken a hands on approach to keeping and caring for them myself after landing a position with Petco. Earlier this year I purchased my first 29g tank and began to experiment with compatible cichlids while the tank was getting ready. To make a long story short, what I ended up with was an overstock of 1 Black Shark 3", 1 Tiger Oscar 6", 1 Albino Oscar 3", 1 Blood Parrot 3", 1 Sun Catfish 6", and 1 Common Plec 4".

Now before you start yelling I've purchased a 50g bow which and it will be set up shortly. My goal is to put my 2 oscars, blood parrot, sun cat, and plec into this 50gal. The Black Shark will stay in the 29g, and I will introduce 2 clown loaches and an african frog (already in my posession in a 29g community tank). The only red flag raised in my 29g aggressive is that the blood parrot messes with everyone (except the big boy oscar). With the increase of space and less decor room (my black shark has a huge cave and a small one), I feel the blood parrot will find its place and not become one of those that gets killed for starting trouble. Currently running a whisper 30 filled above the black with a bubble bar and am performing water changes at least once a week 1/3rd or 2/3rds the full volume amount. Several bamboo planted and a plant on driftwood (unspecified which) with some fake plants also. Tank is well organized compared to the inhabitants size and behavior.

Any criticism will be taken as constuctive (and I know you fish experts got some) so please do not be shy.

LS

 

[RoK]

All those fish get very large. The black shark near 3' (that's feet not inches), the oscars 15", the parrot depends on what 2 species were used to create it but usually they get over 6", the sun cat 18", clown loaches 1', and the pleco depends on the species but most commons get over 1' long.
You will need a much larger tank than 50 gallons to keep these large fish happy and healthy.

 

[goalorientation]

Alright now I have the tiger and albino in the 50 with the cat blue. They'll fill in nicely and don't exactly do the tank justice.

In the 29g there's now a blood parrot cichlidae, 1 black shark, 2 clown loaches, a pleco and snails. The parrot and black shark are about 4" now.

Dad has a community with a 6" common pleco... same size as oscars now... ready for the dip in the 50?

Black Shark or Parrot, who'd work well in the 50? The black shark and oscars got along superb and the shark's getin a lil aggressive but i can't stand to take my baby outta the 29 to the 50 with those messy fish.

 

[Toirtis]

Believe it or not, your 50 is already overstocked...rule of thumb for mature oscars is 45-50 gallons each.....you should be looking at a 125 or so just to house two oscars and the cat.

 

[goalorientation]

The cat went in first, with the tiger oscar to follow. The oscar looked lost with out his little sidekick.

I read that a bloody parrot is good for a 29 cuz it wont stop steppin to the shark. Any further advice?

 

[Toirtis]

The blood parrot and the shark should cohabiutate well, but again, a 29 is far too small for just the two of them....you will want to swap tham into at least a 50.

 

[goalorientation]

Wow okay I thank you very much Toirtis. The pleco is going to be going into my dad's community tank and I'm gonna go with a catfish and chinesse algae eater I saw living with 2 big clown loaches and oscars in the LFS for cleaning purposes. Will get the exact name of this catfish as soon as I can. There's a small cave that the shark loves in the 29g, a coral rock that weighs about 15-20 lbs that the parrot just does laps around, and fake coral that has become the clown loach favorite.

I'm a bit curious about exactly the mix of this blood parrot, for it's mainly blue with black stripes and just looks amazing. We know that blood parrots are a South American Cichlid mix and I get a feeling mine has a bit of African Cichlid in him. If I post a picture could someone possibly more specifically classsify this fish so I can even better care for it?

 

[DeFeKt]

hey mate,
The blood parrot is a hybrid species.
Just for the record chances of it being an american african mix are 0 to none.
Just research parrot cichlids on the web and it will tell you anything you need to know.
Post a pic anyway Always good to see someone elses fish

Matt.

 

[DeFeKt]

ps.
heres a good site

http://cichlidresearch.com/parrot.html

 

[goalorientation]

Is my black shark with tiger in bkgd a few months ago when they were together, new pics in their upgraded setups still to come. Shark's on dark blue soil now... any ideas as to what species?

How about a Chinesse Algae Eater for the 29 cuz its got big corals in it
and perhaps a syno eupterus... i spell it right? Syno Eupterus

btw my dad has a tank full of guppie and molly babies... can he trade em to the lfs?

TY
LS