My little tank

[DC DON]

OK. I bought a 29 gallon tank last month and placed in it it 3 oscars, a chinese algae eater, and a pictus. Unfotunately, one of my oscars introduced ich in the tank, and as a result my pictus died because I was unaware how to treat scaleless fish for ich.(I loved that thing!) anyway, the 3 oscars were doing fine, till one of them caught a fungus and died as i was tired of medicating the tank. so I was down to two oscars and the algae eater.
Let me pause there. When i was getting the tank, opinions ranged all over the place about my tank. Some people said they new of a guy/girl who kept a single oscar in a 10 gallon tank whereas other people said i needed 150 gallons just for two oscars. I went with family and friends on this one. Have a friend who houses 3 8+ inch oscars, 2 4 inch pictus, and 1 8 inch pleco in his 75 gallon tank and they have more than enough room. My in-laws have 3 oscars in a gravel-only 55 gallon and they're about 5 inches right now. But this isn't really my question.
After the fungus killed one of my three oscars...I was depressed, b/c it just ate him from inside out or so it seemed. So i had perused fish stores and really liked how the green terror looked. I had read a little bit on it and saw that when it is introduced to a tank of oscars it might cause havoc. So i figured i'd buy one smaller than my oscars(who were about 2-3 inches). I went to the pet store and got one $4.99 at petsmart no less. The store clerk said, "make sure your oscars don't gang up on him." I wish she'd said something like "make sure you rearrange the tank before putting him in there." B/c that night i put him in the tank, my wife and i lwatched him play with my red oscar(2inches), and black normal oscar(3inches). Now the big oscar is sooo non-agressive that he is chased by the smaller one all the time. But, when it's feeding time he always get the most food. Anyway, I'm watching the addition of the green terror and things seem to be fairly ok. My big oscar running from the terror and my red one defending his territory but not knowing what to make of the green terror. Well, i went to bed and somehow between then and when I woke up something happened. I woke up to my red oscar dead, eyes gone and at the bottom of the tank. The green terror took pokes at it. My big non-aggressive oscar seemed more aggressive to the green terror than ever before. He's about 1/3rd bigger than the terror. My question is, I've been afraid to turn off the tank light, cause i cannot loose the last oscar b/c my wife has already said she'd kill me. Should I take the terror back to the pet store and pick up a similar sized oscar, or has the carnage subsided????? please help and yes my tank is small, but I'm a rookie and cannot invest in so large a tank but as they grow i may "need" a bigger one that i can broker with my wife... :lol:

[jonah]

The aggression problem is why people say you need a big tank. I'd take the gt back and use this as an excuse to buy a 125g or 150g. Then you could have 2 oscars and a plec. It'll also make disease problems less drastic. Sickness tends to go faster through a small tank.

I've heard of people keeping oscars in 10g's before too, but they were always people who just didn't know anything about cichlids. At one point, I was one of them. :oops: All cichlids will claim territory, and when there isn't enough territory they'll kill or be killed until there's enough for them. That's because they don't have the option of running away.

Your friend with the 3 oscars, 2 pictus and plec in a 75g will eventually have a problem "if" the fish reach full size. The bottom feeders will mostly be left alone, but the ciclids will get too big and aggro for them all to share 75g. My last oscars were well over 12" long and 2 of them in a 125g was just about right. I even had room for an 18" plecostamus. You don't get full grown, healthy oscars without giving the right amount of tank space.

If you just keep the one oscar a 29g will probably be fine until it reaches about 7"or 8". That'll happen pretty quick so you might want to find a 55g soon. Do lots of water changes, at least once a week and everything should be okay healthwise. If you avoid feeder fish too often you'll be better off too. I've had several outbreaks of ich over the years after using feeders. It's been 5 years since the last outbreak and I think it's because I almost never use feeders now.

Oscars are great fish, they were my first cichlid and I'm just trying to help you not make the same mistakes I did. Sorry if it sounds like I'm giving you a bad time. :(

[Chet]

Personally, I would take back the oscar and keep the Green Terror by itself in the 30. You should be able to keep it that way for quite some time. Oscars are extremely messy fish and grow very fast, while Gt's aren't nearly as messy and don't have quite the breakneck growth rate. In any case, I would not keep more than one of these fish in the 30, and I would be planning on getting a larger tank within the year. Yes, you can grow a few of them to 3-4" in the 30, but then you'd have to upgrade to a 125 or 150 about 3 months from now, so you might as well either keep the one fish and buy yourself a year, or go ahead and get the 125 right now. If you want your fish to reach full size and to be as healthy and colorful as possible, you cannot rish stunting them in a tank that is too small. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Rex Karr]

I agree with nearly everything that has been said. So, there's not much more for me to say except, Welome to the Cichlid Forums! :)

[DC DON]

Thanks for the quick response. Longterm range is to get a 100 gallon tank with two oscars and perhaps a couple pictus to pick up the scraps. I really love watching those suckers swim around. For the last few days, things have been ok between the terror and the oscar each taking a side of the tank. But I think, as you've suggested that as they get bigger they'll get more cramped and will probably cause problems. Unfortunately my budget for fish is pretty wimpy and I'd be hard pressed to get a bigger tank. I'd like a 55 gallon, but the cheapest "tank" i've seen was about $100 for the tank alone. I do use feeder fish and the bigger oscar tends to eat them and be ok. In fact, part of the reason I got the oscars was to watch them eat other fish...i know this is very unpopular but it is intriguing to me. I'll keep you all posted on what happens in the tank as they grow. If GT's grow slower, will the oscar eventually pick on the GT and think of it as food? Because my oscar is only aggressive to anything it determines as food...or should the GT at least stay bigger than what can fit in the oscars mouth?

again thanks for the tips..i should take them, but they're so cute.

[jonah]

My stance on feeders is based solely on health, I have no moral problem with feeding small fish to big fish. If you have a quarantine tank to keep the feeders in for a few days I'd recommend it. Or raise your own.

Eventually the gt or the oscar will want more space for itself, then it won't matter if they look like food or not. I'd still recommend getting rid of one of the fish (the GT), but it's your tank and your fish. I wish you the best of luck.

Check out the classifieds for used tanks. I bought my first big tank, a 125g, for $200 years ago for the same reason you'll need one. I had oscars. :)

[Chet]

If you were to get a larger tank, you could use the 30 gallon to breed convicts. Then you would have a steady supply of healthy feeder fish. I still vote to keep the GT instead of the oscar. (Sorry Jonah) My male GT is absolutely gorgeous and is quite the "benevolent despot" in the 55.

[jonah]

Good idea about the convict fry Chet. I'll always have a soft spot for oscars, they were my introduction to the cichlid world. :)

[DC DON]

I do believe you guys are right. I started noticing a few tustles in the tank yesterday. My oscar is growing like a madman. I do have a 10 gallon tank where, I've been keeping feeders and for the most part I won't buy them from a store that has a single dead fish in any tank. In fact, the best quality fish is at a local store right around my house. better than petco, or petsmart oddly enough. So basically i need a bigger tank.....earliest i could even get a 55 gal. would be christmas....

i think i'll take back the GT...too powerful for my little tank...but when i had the oscars there, they were fine. There were defined powers in the tank, but they weren't killing each other!

[DC DON]

Well, it's been almost a week since i last wrote and a few things have changed...

I kept the GT(not particularly by choice, but other life issues made it impossible for me to go back to the pet store I bought him at) and he and the oscar have settled in somewhat.

The oscar is still outgrowing him by a mile and is blowing my mind at how much he can eat.

The GT still nips at his fins, but is much much smaller than him and losing ground. I'd love to get a bigger tank but it appears my family will have a new addition of the non-marine kind...he he he...well I'll continue to update this situation as the weeks go by(fish situation that is).

Oh, I got really scared this past week when i visited a local fish store on my lunch break and saw a huge oscar! He was 14"+ and I thought "if this is how big my little guy is gonna get, I'm in trouble"....oh boy oh boy...

[Rex Karr]

I hope everything goes wel for you and that you are able to get a bigger tank soon. Your little guy will be that big in a year a half most likely :)

[fish-eyed-fool]

For awhile, I had a large Jack Dempsey (7") in a 10g tank. He seemed really happy. I fed him the proper foods and all was good. Then, I [b:15e071c014]foolishly[/b:15e071c014] added another fish. It was a horror scene. There were scales and fins everywhere.

My experience has taught me one thing: If you think you have enough space, stop, and add 0.5 to it. Then you will ALMOST have enough.

Best of luck.

[DC DON]

I woke up to a bad bad scene this morning. Since last posting the GT had been the ruler of the roos with the Oscar runing for dear life. Over and over I asked myself "Dottie(my oscar) you're bigger, what is your problem?"

Well that is no longer a problem. In the tank today the GT was running for dear life. The oscar was chasing it, plucking at fins and it looked like it would kill the GT if I didn't do something. I took the GT out of the tank and placed him in my heaterless 10 gallon tank. I'm going to have to take him back to the pet store no doubt about it.

But what i can't understand is how the tables turned so fast. I mean it was literally days ago when the oscar was the one doing the running. Well, all that i have left in the 29 gallon is the oscar and my chinese algae eater that is about an inch and a half, but is quick and can hide, so he's been pretty safe.

Felt and feel bad for the GT, but he did kill my other fish----or so i think.

[DC DON]

My tank is a nver ending soap opera....
Well I placed the GT in a 10 gallon "holding tank" that I only use to hold feeder fish if I get too many for the GT and Oscar. Well he looked bad after a couple days and I placed him back into the throws of the Oscar. Well, it seems that his wounds healed enough to give him that extra boost. He now runs in fear of the oscar who's about 7" and very territorial.
Up to yesterday I thought things were cool until I noticed many wounds on the GT's head. So what did I do?
I added 2 4-line pictus cats to the equation. i know i know...29 gallon tank 1 O, 1 GT, & 2 pictus is a bad idea. But I'm just experimenting. Well it's morning and the cats looking good. Oscar picked at the bag while they were getting used to the water and chased them a bit. However, he soon found they were a little to quick for him and now they swim up to him as if to taunt him. It's kinda neat.

i did have another death though-a pleco. He was killed first night, Just not quick enough and was a decent 4-5" at least. Also, my algea eater got eaten by the oscar some point last month. Ah well, you win some you lose some.

>>>I'm soooo bad<<<< :roll:

[DC DON]

Been a while since I updated my situation.....Well, I'm firmly convinced all of my fish would have survived had I just been somewhat of a smart person....they all died....:-(....no just kidding....
Both my pictus cats died. One from Ick, and it's really hard to treat scaleless fish when they have it....My other pictus was doing great, he even felt comfortable to go to the oscar, almost double his size, and feel him with his whiskers. Well, I made a huge error...my heater got turned off somehow and when I was fiddling with the temp(while it was off) I must have raised it to 95+ degrees...i turned the power back on and went to work....when i came home i touched the side of the tank and it hurt. My oscar and GT looked pretty dazed.....but the pictus had died....
Well both pictus were only $4.00/each, but they were doing an amazing cleanup job.

Now my oscar is nearing 10 inches in length while the GT is still somewhere between 3-4 not growing that much at all. Up until a few days ago they were in harmony. But then my oscar started chasing the GT around again and gave him a pretty big gash on his side. I'm fearing that if the GT lives to adult size he will definitely seek revenge.....we'll see I guess.

[Corona]

man i would have kept the GT, they are such awesome looking fish, Ever seen a full grown GT omg!!! there so awesome,hehe just hade to get that in, i current ly have a GT with a JD in a 29G they are small and are doing fine they dont fight,at least not that i see,but i nkow im gonna need at least a 75 to 100 gallon tank with in the next 6 months, sucks to me, tanks cost alot, oh but anyways i have read alot abot GT's killing Oscars, they may not be compadable fish.

[DC DON]

Well over a year later and what's going on....

Well I've moved 3 times in the last year and on the third and final move in March my little...err big oscar died. She froze to death....I cried over my stupidity. I left her in a holding tank with no heat and believed she would be ok. My wife told me otherwise, but I didn't listen.

I came back to find my 13inch oscar floating in the tank....with the GT huddled closely for warmth. Now, my GT is back in the 29 gallong tank alone and it's a little sad.

What a sad end to the story of "my little tank".

[Alv]

Keep the GT just as intelligent as oscars and are much more beautiful. Male GT are very intresting the like to rearrange the tank and scare fish they are more aggressive than oscars but not as aggressive as jack dempseys. The male GT grows just as fast as oscars who ever said they didn't i disagree i inroduced my male green terror at the same time as my oscar and they are both coming on 5" and they were both 2" at them time.
GT don't grow as big as oscars it probs would get to a maximum of 12" but usually 10" you can house these in 50-60g tank by itself two in 75g. Oscars would need 75g+ for more than 2 they grow big.
My 7" terror is not aggressive the other in my 50g is a monster use to beat the firemouth and oscar up in the 90g. The convict easily holds its own at the GT and the jack is the king not aggressive but the GT seems to respect it.

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90g
Male GT 7"
Oscar 5"
Pleco 5"
Male Firemouth 3.5"
3 silver dollars 3"

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50g
Male GT 5"
Jack Dempsey 5"
Female Convict 3"