[audioholic]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

I have took the plunge in buying the oscars. 5 in quantity and each 3"

Was going through some oscar community and came to know about the hikari cichlid foods. How are they? Planning to get them off from eBay, since didnt find them in any shop in Hyderabad.

Any suggestions ?

Wrong decision. I agree with deathwalkr. Within a few months you will find the oscars ripping each other apart due to fight for space. Oscars grow very quickly till they reach about a foot. If well fed they become a foot long within six to eight months. Moreover you say you have five and I thought one fish was suffering in my 3ft tank. Please dont do this. The fish will feel claustrophobic.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Dude why do you even bother coming in here asking for advice only to ignore them? Your tank is little bit more than a foot. Oscars grow more than that. They are messy eaters and shitters and require good filtration and water conditions to thrive in.

If you like monster fishes then get monster tanks. What you have done now is you have bought a great dane puppy when you are living in a single bedroom flat!

And 5 of them?! Oh man oh man why dude why? :(

Originally Posted by audioholic

Wrong decision. I agree with deathwalkr. Within a few months you will find the oscars ripping each other apart due to fight for space. Oscars grow very quickly till they reach about a foot. If well fed they become a foot long within six to eight months. Moreover you say you have five and I thought one fish was suffering in my 3ft tank. Please dont do this. The fish will feel claustrophobic.

I aint ignoring the responses here dude. Infact I took the advice from shop keeper himself, and he assured Oscars does live in my size of the tank. And if I see they grow very long and have no room to play, I will definitely buy the bigger tanks and house them. As of now, with my small setup, they are happy and merry.
As of now, my tank size is 35cm in height and 40cm in width and have filters installed.

[deathwalkr]

Dude, LFS are in it to make money out of customers. When your fishes die and you go back, they'll just say oh so sad and make you buy more unwise choices :(

Hobbyists are your friends for they know what you are going through and what is good for the fishes.

The "i will buy bigger tank as and when fishes grow bigger" argument usually never happens. If you have the means and space to buy a big tank then get one in the first place. If you don't then stick to fishes that can thrive in the current setup.

Please for the love of god, read more at monsterfishkeepers.com, aquahobby.com etc and learn about the types of fishes and the kind of conditions they require to be happy in or ask here and we will gladly help you out. But if you choose to ignore all that and go with what your LFS says then its going to be a problem :(

[Aroy]

If the fish grow even 9 inches, let alone 1 foot, then the tank should be at least 6 feet long, two tall and 2 wide. The fish need space to swim and a tiny tank will kill them, and then there is territorial fight. The shop keepers; as rightly pointed out in a previous post; are mostly interested in turn over, and what better scenario than a customer who replenishes his stock as the fish die regularly.

Apart from a large tank, you will need
. Aquatic plants to generate oxygen.
. Some snails to keep the tank clean of organic waste.
. Sand at the bottom with a few 1-2 inch pebbles.

You should be prepared to clean the tank and replace the water at least once a year.

Another thing is let the sunlight touch the tank for some time during the day.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Dude, LFS are in it to make money out of customers. When your fishes die and you go back, they'll just say oh so sad and make you buy more unwise choices :(

Hobbyists are your friends for they know what you are going through and what is good for the fishes.

The "i will buy bigger tank as and when fishes grow bigger" argument usually never happens. If you have the means and space to buy a big tank then get one in the first place. If you don't then stick to fishes that can thrive in the current setup.

Please for the love of god, read more at monsterfishkeepers.com, aquahobby.com etc and learn about the types of fishes and the kind of conditions they require to be happy in or ask here and we will gladly help you out. But if you choose to ignore all that and go with what your LFS says then its going to be a problem :(

Originally Posted by Aroy

If the fish grow even 9 inches, let alone 1 foot, then the tank should be at least 6 feet long, two tall and 2 wide. The fish need space to swim and a tiny tank will kill them, and then there is territorial fight. The shop keepers; as rightly pointed out in a previous post; are mostly interested in turn over, and what better scenario than a customer who replenishes his stock as the fish die regularly.

Apart from a large tank, you will need
. Aquatic plants to generate oxygen.
. Some snails to keep the tank clean of organic waste.
. Sand at the bottom with a few 1-2 inch pebbles.

You should be prepared to clean the tank and replace the water at least once a year.

Another thing is let the sunlight touch the tank for some time during the day.

Mistake noted and agreed. Let me know guys, what should I do now, step by step.

1. Wait for some more weeks and then increase the tank size?
2. How big should I build my tank ?
3. Imported or the normal glass tanks would do ?
4. What kind of filters ?
5. Normal or sea sand ?
6. Color or white pebbles ?
7. I havent seen aquatic plants sold in any of the shops I visited. Where should I source them ?
8. Any good shops in hyderabad.

Here is my current setup.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Mistake noted and agreed. Let me know guys, what should I do now, step by step.

1. Wait for some more weeks and then increase the tank size?
2. How big should I build my tank ?
3. Imported or the normal glass tanks would do ?
4. What kind of filters ?
5. Normal or sea sand ?
6. Color or white pebbles ?
7. I havent seen aquatic plants sold in any of the shops I visited. Where should I source them ?
8. Any good shops in hyderabad.

[/]

1. Guess you better do it in a month or two.
2. If you want all the five fish, then a minimum, if not ideal of 5ftX2ftX3ft tank is required. Note that this is my estimate. There are some theoretical calculations however that will give you a shock. This is a conservative estimate. Suppose you want to keep two, I think they will do good in a 4X1.5ftX2.5ft(LxWxH). Again a rough estimate.

3. A custom built tank will work out to be a lot cheaper than an imported one. Plus you can reolace a single glass pane if it breaks. With the imported ones, you will have to either throw or patch the glass if it breaks.

4. A sponge filter is sufficient. However you should keep a watch on ammonia and nitrates as the oscars seem to shit a lot of it. This should be controlled by a biological filter or by replacing the water partly every month or so. Else they get a hole in the head disease and eventually die.

5. Get normal gravel. Pebbles are difficult to clean of grime or algae.

7. Usually my oscars wouldnt like plants in the tank. They used to move it around, rip it apart, and the like. It irritates them I feel. They can live with rocks but they will like to move it around too. This they do it promptly if the objects will obstruct their swimming path in any way.

Btw I think you paid a bit higher for those fish. We get coloured oscars(having red spots, not dyed) her efor the same price.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by audioholic

1. Guess you better do it in a month or two.

Ok, will do the planning now then.

Originally Posted by audioholic

2. If you want all the five fish, then a minimum, if not ideal of 5ftX2ftX3ft tank is required. Note that this is my estimate. There are some theoretical calculations however that will give you a shock. This is a conservative estimate. Suppose you want to keep two, I think they will do good in a 4X1.5ftX2.5ft(LxWxH). Again a rough estimate.

I am not sure whether to raise all the 5 or just go with the 2. If just the 2, not sure what should I do with the rest 3. Will check the funds required for both the tank estimates and decide the rest.

Originally Posted by audioholic

3. A custom built tank will work out to be a lot cheaper than an imported one. Plus you can reolace a single glass pane if it breaks. With the imported ones, you will have to either throw or patch the glass if it breaks.

Agree, will go with the normal ones, with a custom made lid on them. Heard Oscars would like to jump and play.

Originally Posted by audioholic

4. A sponge filter is sufficient. However you should keep a watch on ammonia and nitrates as the oscars seem to shit a lot of it. This should be controlled by a biological filter or by replacing the water partly every month or so. Else they get a hole in the head disease and eventually die.

My current tank has this sponge filter, and it is effective. Weekly I am removing 10% of water and replacing it with fresh water.

Originally Posted by audioholic

5. Get normal gravel. Pebbles are difficult to clean of grime or algae.

Sure, will get the gravels which should be 1-2 inch filling.

Originally Posted by audioholic

7. Usually my oscars wouldnt like plants in the tank. They used to move it around, rip it apart, and the like. It irritates them I feel. They can live with rocks but they will like to move it around too. This they do it promptly if the objects will obstruct their swimming path in any way.

My Oscars now use these artificial plants to hide when I lit the tank. Believe they love some things to hide behind. With larger tanks, have many options.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Btw I think you paid a bit higher for those fish. We get coloured oscars(having red spots, not dyed) her efor the same price.

I bought these 5 for 500. There were other black or tiger oscars, but wifey didnt like them

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Ok, will do the planning now then.

I am not sure whether to raise all the 5 or just go with the 2. If just the 2, not sure what should I do with the rest 3. Will check the funds required for both the tank estimates and decide the rest.


Agree, will go with the normal ones, with a custom made lid on them. Heard Oscars would like to jump and play.


My current tank has this sponge filter, and it is effective. Weekly I am removing 10% of water and replacing it with fresh water.


Sure, will get the gravels which should be 1-2 inch filling.


My Oscars now use these artificial plants to hide when I lit the tank. Believe they love some things to hide behind. With larger tanks, have many options.


I bought these 5 for 500. There were other black or tiger oscars, but wifey didnt like them

You could sell it to someone if they are willing to buy them. I used to sell it back to the shopkeeper if they grew too big Would exchange it for smaller fish as I didn't want to keep big fish in my tank and make them feel suffocated.

They jump out of the water to catch some food in the proximity. They used to grab food from my hands and eat them. Had also got a nasty bite when I was removing the filter canister and found out they had a superb set of teeth

They are okay with plastic plants as it is hard and cant be damaged much. Natural plants are soft and delicate. They will disappear within days of putting them into the tank. Hence dont waste money on that.

If you want them to grow soon, give it a varied diet. Though I was not using exoensive food, neither did I use the ultra cheap ones. I regularly use this product called high red, shrimps, and once in two three weeks each fish was fed with some feeder fish depending upon their size. The oscar will spring into action when it sees a feeder. Even big fish will become very agile and hunt the tiny feeders within no time.

[R32_GTR]

Got a couple of Electric Blue Jack Dempseys (3 inches) this weekend for the 600 ltr cichlid tank. Good for the low to medium area of the tank (similar to my Frontosa's swimming patterns).

Looking for a pair of pure breed Red Texas' now

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by R32_GTR

Got a couple of Electric Blue Jack Dempseys (3 inches) this weekend for the 600 ltr cichlid tank. Good for the low to medium area of the tank (similar to my Frontosa's swimming patterns).

Looking for a pair of pure breed Red Texas' now

They look killer. Of course a set of cichlids in a tank with good combination of obstacles, etc will be real beautiful as well as attractive. How many fish totally?

[R32_GTR]

Originally Posted by audioholic

They look killer. Of course a set of cichlids in a tank with good combination of obstacles, etc will be real beautiful as well as attractive. How many fish totally?

Thanks buddy!
There are 18 of them as of now - Just gave away 20 Yellow lab babies last month to the guy in exchange for 2 male Malawi peacocks (Aulonocara).

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by R32_GTR

Got a couple of Electric Blue Jack Dempseys (3 inches) this weekend for the 600 ltr cichlid tank. Good for the low to medium area of the tank (similar to my Frontosa's swimming patterns).

Looking for a pair of pure breed Red Texas' now

Dude, thats a killer setup. Can you post a full picture of your tank.

[dean5545]

Hey guys,
I see very few cat owners here!
However would like to introduce you to my 11years old cat Mintu

And no he was not forced to sit in that posture

[msbehave]

Originally Posted by dean5545

Hey guys, I see very few cat owners here!

Nice cat!! You're not the only one with a cat though - meet Chom Chom! The one year old cat who thinks she's a dog since she's grown up around my dogs when she was under 4 days old

[dean5545]

Originally Posted by msbehave

Nice cat!! You're not the only one with a cat though - meet Chom Chom! The one year old cat who thinks she's a dog since she's grown up around my dogs when she was under 4 days old

Nice cat you have!
What does chom chom eat?