My new Red Tiger Oscar!

[SnakeMann87]

Well I just got back from the petstore after purchasing a beautiful Red Tiger Oscar. I will have pictures later. Right now hes a baby and he is being housed in a 10 gallon tank. But I just called and I'm awaiting the call back for a 55 gallon that was in the pennysaver for only 25!!! It also states no cracks, but we'll see.

On another note I have bad news, unfortunately, my Plecostomas passed last night. I called the store and they said to bring it, and a water sample in and they will test it. So I brought it in and it tested with a little bit of ammonia, BUT. I had'nt been told not to have the fish in the water, and I had to stop at the doctors before hand for my ear(I have an ear infection ). Well their was such a slight amount of ammonia that she said its possible that the fish in the water could have caused the reading(it was in for 2 hours).

Well I just got done cleaning out 25% of the water as suggested and my prized beauty has been sitting the the bag in the tank for 5 minutes, so ill give him another good half hour or so before opening up the bag. I will take some shots of him, his red looks like its powered by electricity its so bright!










There, they arent very great but oh well Tell me what you think of my little guy/girl!@!!!!!!!


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[SnakeMann87]

Hes doing great after putting him in the tank after a half hour of settling in. He just ate 3 feeder guppies, and 5 mealworms!!!!! I love hiM
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[SteveP]

Oscars can be great fish and have as much 'personnality' as a fish can possibly have. Some are docile, most are scrappers, so keep an eye on any other fish in it's tank, especially as it gets older. Ay some point you may either need to isolate it or have so many tank mates that it can't bully any specific one...which in turn means bigger tanks, etc. At any rate, have fun with him...Cichlids Rule!

Sorry to hear about the loss of your Plecostomas...which are usually pretty sturdy fish. How old was it? Depending on the species some 'old' Plecostomas can get pretty big and look like something leftover from a prehistoric ocean. Though some people just think of them as ordinary 'bottom' feeders there are some exceptionally cool species out there.

You're making me want to go out and set up some aquariums now! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]
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[SnakeMann87]

Hey thanks Steve. Yeah they will get big I just called about a 55 gallon aquarium for only $25!!!!!! talk about a deal. He has left the fish alone, he seems shy right now but probably cause of the move. I know if i dont take them out soon he'll kill them though.

The plecostomas was very small, around 1 inch probably. I only had it for 3 days so I know it wasnt anything I did.

GOD i cant wait to get the 55 and start to cycle it as SOON AS POSSIBLE.
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[Bry]

Snakemann, that's a cool fish. What you have there is actually a tiger oscar, which is just a different morph, but still the same thing. Oscars are hands down my favorite fish of all time. They have a lot of personality, and are quite interesting to watch, especially on the hunt. You will want to get the 55 gal. At the rate they grow, the 10 gal. isn't going to last him very long. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] Those two fish on the left in the second picture, those are albino Corys, aren't they? I believe they stay pretty small, and it probably won't be long before the Oscar mistakes them for food. A good-sized plecostomus would be better, just give him a place to hide if the Oscar decides to get aggressive. When he gets to adult size, try a small crayfish every once in a while...they love those.

Bry
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	Morph A morph is a color or pattern variation that is proven to be genetic. Common morphs include albino, anerythristic, gentically striped, Hypomelanistic, and many others. Morphs also include combinations of simple traits such as "Sunglow" which is Albino and Hypomelanistic. These traits may be recessive traits, co-dominant traits, dominant traits, or created through selective breeding (ie Pastel).

[SteveP]

Yeah, if you only have the oscar and a couple other fish, like the Corydoras, in the 55 gal. to start you shouldn't have to worry about overloading it until it cycles. Do you have any other "established" aquariums around? You can speed up the cycle process by grabbing a scope of gravel from the established tank and dump it into the new one. That way the nitrifying and other bacteria can get a little jump on things.

Ask how long the 55 gallon tank has been dry? If it's been longer than a few months fill it in the garage and let it sit over night before setting it up in the house. That way, if the seals dried out you'll know in a "safe" place!!!

FYI - actually the Corys, and other varieties of catfish, are amongst the few "other" fish you can keep with many Cichlids. Between their spiney fins and "attitude" they can usually fend off the bullys! Still, always keep a careful eye on things! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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[Bry]

SteveP, thanks for enlightening me on the Corys and other catfish. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] I'm not really too familiar with keeping Corys, I've been keeping mainly Plecos. As lethargic as they may seem, they're pretty interesting to look at. Especially when they come up to the glass, and you get a look at their mouths. When I first got my oscar, I had it in with a catfish, I can't remember the name, but it had black spots on a grayish-brown background with a white underbelly. The two co-existed for a while, then one day I came home, and the catfish was laying on the side of the tank with a huge hole in its side, despite the fact that it was 3 times longer than the oscar. I pretty much stuck with Plecos from there on out.

Bry
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[SteveP]

Yeah Bry, keeping "cats" with oscars, as well as other cichlids, is still tenuous as your experience shows. Most of the Corys, depending on species, range in size from 3 to 6 inches, and because some are fairly well armed, can be a little more than a mouthful for some ocsars, plus they can be pretty fast. But if the oscar is just relentless it isn't fair to the target fish if they're too few.

I have a friend in Vegas who has a big ol' oscar and an even bigger ol' Plecostamus (the last time I saw it that puppy had to be 18 inches or better) together in I think it is a 150 gallon tank. The Pleco takes nothing off the oscar and they had established each others space and have co-existed for years. Personally, it would be too stressful a situation for me, let alone the fish...but these two seemed to have reached an agreement.

If you ever find any of the "sailfin" Plecos, they can be pretty stunning when they get older!
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[hisba]

Cichlids are so fun..
I was so sad when this guy died, my b/f had him for 9 years, he was over 16"

he was kept in a 240 gallon, with a few revolving tank mates...
He hit the tank corner so hard one day he broke his swim bladder and had to be put down.
[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]
This guy we still have, he has way outgrown his 75 gallon and will be moved in to the 240
once we move to Vegas...


And to think, it all started with 2 tiger oscars, a pl*co and green terror in a 75 years ago.
lol

Enjoy your Oscar, they are GREAT pets, the dogs of the lake... hehe or should I say puppy?
I miss my osacrs (my ex kept them) they were so personable.
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[Bry]

SteveP, are sailfin plecos the kind you find in most pet stores? The ones I'm thinking of are brown with black spots. We have always kept those in our tanks. By the way, the incident with my oscar and the catfish was about 11 years ago, and the oscar passed away just last year. Shortly after the catfish incident, I bought an 80 gal. tank with two plecos, one 15" and one almost 2' in length and 3-4" wide at the head. Quite the impressive fish. The smaller one got picked on by the oscar, but not much. The larger one did also, but he took no guff from him. In that tank, I also kept 3 adult tinfoil barbs, I have never seen such high-energy fish. I also had a pair of feeder goldfish that just never got eaten. They grew to about the same length as the oscar, and basically never left each other's sides. Quite the interesting combination.

Bry
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[hisba]

Hey Bry, Sailfin pl*cos look just like a normal pl*co except their fin along the back (real technical here lol)
is much larger, they are very nice looking. My friend who is really into fish has 2 albino
pl*cos and one golddust, but personally I love the domino pl*cos (black with white spots)
If you can find a connection at a wholesaler, they usually sell these harder to find pl*cos
as babies for ~$5-15.
[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
(I love pl*cos, but they do poo a lot lol)
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[SteveP]

Yeah, what April said! I haven't done the fish thing for a few years (used to breed Malawi Cichlids back in the 80's, when I lived in San Jose). I still haunt the aquarium shops now and then however and once in a while I see sail fins avaialble. They aren't specifically rare, but you don't see them all the time...just depends on where you live, and local availability. You'll know them when you see them. The dorsal fin is particularly large, and showy , and as April mentioned a large domino Pleco is pretty darned impressive! That's quite an assortment of fish you had in that 80 gallon...Plecos, Barbs, Oscars and Goldfish...no one can say you don't like diversity!!! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] Sounds like you needed about a 250 gal. for thsoe Plecos.!
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