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Fish tanks
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Rumor
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Aug 24, 2009, 01:56 PM
 
A friend of mine recently moved to teach a marine ecology program on a boat, so I inherited he 55 gallon tank. It came with two tiger oscars, a Jack Dempsy, and a pleko. Anyone have any general tips, website or book recommendations? I would rather not go the trial and error route. I can post more info on the filter and whatnot when I get back home.

I'll also have to post a picture as my cat has decided it makes a great place for her to perch.
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
olePigeon
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Aug 24, 2009, 02:25 PM
 
According to wikipedia, it sounds like you have your hands full with TWO Oscars.

A. ocellatus are popular as pets, are regarded as intelligent by aquarists, and are one of the hardiest freshwater fish in the aquarium trade. The reason for this, in part, is because they can learn to associate their owners with food[6] and are purported to be able to distinguish their owner from strangers.[20] Despite their large size and predatory nature A. ocellatus are relatively placid aquarium residents best housed with other fishes too large to be considered food items.[5][6][20]
A. ocellatus are known to uproot plants, and move other objects in aquariums[23] and are best maintained in volumes of 200-600 litre (75 or more gallons).[20][23] A. ocellatus is relatively tolerant of a range of typical aquarium water chemistries,[5] though its large size and messy feeding habits necessitates that efficient filtration be installed on the aquarium.[20] A. ocellatus is undemanding to feed in captivity and will accept a range of foods that include pieces of fish, prepared cichlid foods, and even small insects.
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Aug 24, 2009, 04:09 PM
 
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analogue SPRINKLES
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Aug 24, 2009, 05:59 PM
 
The Oscars are cool but quite the handful. Mine smashed several heaters and tossed out as much decoration as they could as they like it minimal.
     
Face Ache
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Aug 24, 2009, 08:44 PM
 
Haven't you had a tank before, Rumor? I seem to recall one.

Oscars are bastards IMHO. Get rid of them if you want a nice tank. Otherwise you'll end up with one large oscar in a bare tank.

Regular (weekly) 20% water changes with aged water should keep your fish happy. Clean the gravel at the same time with a gravel cleaner. Feed them a small amount of real food a few times a day - no more than they can eat in a few minutes or it will pollute the water (mine eat minced ox heart and bloodworms). And use real plants, but not the frilly ones. Real plants help condition the water, making the tank a bit more forgiving (when you get slack on the water changes ). Sword-plants grown on wood do better than those planted in gravel.

Here are a few pics of my tank.







( Last edited by Face Ache; Aug 24, 2009 at 08:55 PM. )
     
Jawbone54
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Aug 25, 2009, 12:37 AM
 
Originally Posted by Rumor View Post
I'll also have to post a picture as my cat has decided it makes a great place for her to salivate over a potential lunch when Rumor isn't looking.
There ya go.

Also, that's a pretty nice "gift!" I don't have any tips for you, but I've always wanted something similar. They're supposed to be great stress relievers. Have fun.
     
BadKosh
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Aug 25, 2009, 10:57 AM
 
I used to raise Oscars. Keep the water clean, give them live food a few times a week, lots of light and 68-70 degree water. also get a screen top for your tank, and maybe put a brick on that to keep your Oscars from knocking the top off to 'go flying' onto your floor. Add more scavangers too.
     
mattyb
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Aug 25, 2009, 12:21 PM
 
I also heard that Jawbone, do the people with fish tanks find that having one relieves stress?
     
Jawbone54
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Aug 25, 2009, 03:38 PM
 
Just watching fish swim is supposed to relieve stress and reduce blood pressure.

A quick Google search returns limitless results.
     
CharlesS
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Aug 25, 2009, 03:47 PM
 
You should totally get one of these:


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Face Ache
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Aug 25, 2009, 05:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
I also heard that Jawbone, do the people with fish tanks find that having one relieves stress?
That depends entirely on how good you are at fish-keeping. It's pretty stressful when it all goes pear-shaped.
     
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Aug 25, 2009, 05:43 PM
 
Originally Posted by Face Ache View Post
Haven't you had a tank before, Rumor? I seem to recall one.

Oscars are bastards IMHO. Get rid of them if you want a nice tank. Otherwise you'll end up with one large oscar in a bare tank.

Regular (weekly) 20% water changes with aged water should keep your fish happy. Clean the gravel at the same time with a gravel cleaner. Feed them a small amount of real food a few times a day - no more than they can eat in a few minutes or it will pollute the water (mine eat minced ox heart and bloodworms). And use real plants, but not the frilly ones. Real plants help condition the water, making the tank a bit more forgiving (when you get slack on the water changes ). Sword-plants grown on wood do better than those planted in gravel.
Ask about oscars and you'll see pretty much two groups of people: oscar haters and oscar lovers!
I fall into the oscar lover camp. Sure they're bastards, but that's they're charm!
Oscars will destroy a lot of stuff in your tank, most notably fish they have not been raised with and live plants. Live plants and oscars just don't mix. They also will move gravel around and what not. If you want a beautiful aquarium like Face Ache has, yah, the oscars gotta go. If you can be happy with a more sparse aquarium (rock and wood, but choose those wisely so as not to adversely effect your pH) and a couple of fish that are genuinely happy to see you and get really animated when you walk in the room, you stick with the oscars. Fun to have a fish you can hand feed crickets to.
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mattyb
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Aug 25, 2009, 05:47 PM
 
Originally Posted by Face Ache View Post
That depends entirely on how good you are at fish-keeping. It's pretty stressful when it all goes pear-shaped.
Thats what I thought, hence the question. I found/find that having pets is quite a bit of hard work. I wondered if fish were 'easy' in terms of the reported stress relieving side effects.
     
Face Ache
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Aug 25, 2009, 06:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by Rev-O View Post
If you can be happy with a more sparse aquarium (rock and wood, but choose those wisely so as not to adversely effect your pH) and a couple of fish that are genuinely happy to see you and get really animated when you walk in the room, you stick with the oscars.
My discus and clown loaches all gather at the corner of the tank, waiting for food, when I show up.

I've found clown loaches are the most fun fish to keep, as they really are amusing. Just don't be alarmed if they play dead. I have five and it's like having a rowdy (but friendly) teenage gang in the tank. My discus are beautiful, but high maintenance and not terribly friendly towards each other (except the breeders, of course).


My (slightly out of focus) clown loaches.

Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
Thats what I thought, hence the question. I found/find that having pets is quite a bit of hard work. I wondered if fish were 'easy' in terms of the reported stress relieving side effects.
There's a bit of a learning curve but the main trick is regular water changes. Then you don't have to worry too much about the water chemistry because it's always relatively fresh. And ironically, bigger tanks are easier to keep, because the environment is more stable. But yeah, keeping fish is easy. It's not like you've got to walk them.

Here's another fishy tip: There's safety in numbers. Many types of fish like a crowd*. I had no luck in keeping less than four discus - there's always one at the bottom of the pecking order that will get stressed and die. I currently have eight discus, so the harassment gets more evenly distributed.


*Probably not oscars.
( Last edited by Face Ache; Aug 25, 2009 at 06:22 PM. )
     
Rumor  (op)
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Aug 25, 2009, 08:35 PM
 
Originally Posted by BadKosh View Post
I used to raise Oscars. Keep the water clean, give them live food a few times a week, lots of light and 68-70 degree water. also get a screen top for your tank, and maybe put a brick on that to keep your Oscars from knocking the top off to 'go flying' onto your floor. Add more scavangers too.
I currently have the tank around 77, when it dipped down to 70 (heater broke) the fish were sluggish and not very active. The seem to be happier with it a little warmer.
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
Rumor  (op)
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Aug 25, 2009, 08:38 PM
 
Here is a picture from my iPhone, not very good quality though.



There is a live plant in there, and the blonde oscar keeps moving it around the tank. Quite amusing.

Edit: For some reason the photo is being inverted. Here is the original.
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
Rev-O
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Aug 26, 2009, 01:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by Rumor View Post
Here is a picture from my iPhone, not very good quality though.



There is a live plant in there, and the blonde oscar keeps moving it around the tank. Quite amusing.

Edit: For some reason the photo is being inverted. Here is the original.
That's a fine looking tiger!
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Aug 26, 2009, 09:56 AM
 
Originally Posted by Face Ache View Post
Here are a few pics of my tank.







Just gorgeous.

I have wanted to get into Discus but I lack the dedication to take care of them like they need and deserve.
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Rumor  (op)
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Sep 3, 2009, 12:24 PM
 
Well crap, the light was left on the other day since there wasn't anyone around to turn it off. The water is greenish now. It has lightened up some, but not enough. Should I clear it up by doing a partial water change or something else?
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BadKosh
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Sep 3, 2009, 03:57 PM
 
It looks like a red tiger Oscar.
     
Face Ache
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Sep 3, 2009, 06:29 PM
 
Originally Posted by Rumor View Post
Well crap, the light was left on the other day since there wasn't anyone around to turn it off. The water is greenish now. It has lightened up some, but not enough. Should I clear it up by doing a partial water change or something else?
Scrub the tank while doing a partial water change. Clean the filter in a few days.

*** Only *ever* clean the filter in the water you're flushing during a water-change.* Cleaning it in tap water will kill the filter-living bacterial colonies that eat the waste produced in the tank, and that will send the tank's micro-environment into a tailspin.

Move the tank away from any direct sunlight and buy a timer for the aquarium lights.


At my last house I had a rainwater tank which made water changes relatively easy, but I'm currently using two plastic rubbish bins to age fresh water for my tank. I made a temporary gravel cleaner out of a drink bottle and some sucker tubing I had laying around. It's been temporary for about three years now.



Very high tech here.



*Buy a bucket specifically for your tank.
     
Rumor  (op)
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Sep 9, 2009, 01:07 AM
 
And the tank is broken. The woman decided to move my bed from the upstairs loft to the downstairs bedroom without help from anyone. Dropped the box spring and it hit the tank, water went everywhere. Mind you, I live in the upstairs portion of a Victorian, so my neighbors had indoor rain tonight. Fish were saved though, and will be getting a new tank tomorrow.
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
mattyb
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Sep 9, 2009, 05:46 AM
 
Originally Posted by Rumor View Post
And the tank is broken. The woman decided to move my bed from the upstairs loft to the downstairs bedroom without help from anyone. Dropped the box spring and it hit the tank, water went everywhere. Mind you, I live in the upstairs portion of a Victorian, so my neighbors had indoor rain tonight. Fish were saved though, and will be getting a new tank tomorrow.
THE woman? What THAT one? FFS, she still has a lot to learn.
     
Rumor  (op)
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May 22, 2010, 10:01 PM
 
Quite a few things have changed in the recent months.

Got a bigger tank. The old one was only 45 gallons, new one is 55.

The cichlids died after a bad batch of feeder fish. It was sad since they had so much personality.

I kept just the pleko without any other fish while musing what to do. We got 10 little tetras that didn't make it, however, a Gourami that we got survived. So he is living with the pleko.

After visiting a store today, I bought a bunch of plants, which I can keep splitting to make new starts. I decided I want a underwater forest type of atmosphere. My nitrates were high, so I did quite a few 1/4 tank changes. Nitrates are really low, but PH is high now since tap water here has a high PH. No worries though, since I purchased an additive to lower it. The plants will help keep the nitrates low as well.

In a week or two when everything seems to be balanced again, I will get a couple of schools of little fish. Some guppys, which I am told I can mix up types and if I have a female they would cross breed. Also, want to get these little guys that look like they have laser eyes. I don't remember what they are called, but I will post the name when I get them.
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
Rumor  (op)
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May 22, 2010, 10:04 PM
 
This is one of the plants:

Myriophyllum matogrossense

A delightful stem plant that is easy to grow and tolerates lower light conditions. It distinguishes itself from similar looking stem plants by its leaf definition and bright green color.

I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
Rumor  (op)
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May 22, 2010, 10:13 PM
 
Also, any suggestions on light cycles? I had it set for a solid six hours between 4pm and 10pm, but am not sure if this is the right way to do it. There is a lot of natural ambient light in the room, but no direct sunlight to the tank.
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
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May 23, 2010, 01:50 AM
 
For the pleco, if you’re worried about it having enough to eat (algae) Cut up a piece of cucumber into a quarter thickness, take off the skin, and drop it in. The pleco will eat it.
     
Rumor  (op)
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May 23, 2010, 02:44 AM
 
Originally Posted by brassplayersrock² View Post
For the pleco, if you’re worried about it having enough to eat (algae) Cut up a piece of cucumber into a quarter thickness, take off the skin, and drop it in. The pleco will eat it.
Not too worried about him. Thirteen fish have died, but he lives on. The bastard will probably outlive me.
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
   
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