Happily Ever After Or Doomsday?

[ltb11uk]

I currently have a cycled tank that is 42g.
I have looked into getting Oscars etc but have been told I don't have enough room.
The tank is heavily filtered and has a turn over of about 1400 lph.

I was also wondering, I read they need a 4-5" lair of sunbstrate, that seems extreme?
Can it be sand or is gravel a must?

Could I get a Jack Dempsey in that tank?

 

[england]

The tank is too small for an oscar,sorry...

gravel does not to be that deep,in my 150 gallon i have about 1inch deep substrate across,some people have bare bottoms for easier cleaning.....

I think if your planning on a planted tank then substrate will need to be deeper for roots of the plants....

Don't look at oscars....As much as you want one,unless you can deffo upgrade to a 75g plus then i wouldnt...

Have a look at Tbar cichlids/ keyhole cichlids.....I have kept both of these in community envioriments together...

 

[rebrn]

Hello, I am not an Oscar expert, however, I agree tht 4-5 inches of substrate does seem extreme. I believe that oscars like to dig in the substrate (not sure on that though) so that might be were that is coming from. Now as for weathor or not it can be sand ... I would think that it wouldn't really matter too much, however if 4-5 inches is a must, I would use sand with caution, from my understanding, the deeper the sand bed the more likely it is that it will become aerobic, which is big problems. The reccomended amount of sand I usually see for freshwater tanks is 1-2 inches. Now I could be wrong on this and hopefully the Oscar experts will post something more definative for you. Also, as for weathor or not your tank is large enough for oscars, I can't coment, however, tank space (espically for certain species) is not so much about filtration levels (although that is important) it is about territory space. As an example, filtration wise I can easily put 20 Zebra Danio in my 12 gallon tank, but territory/swimming space wise that would not work. So it might be a simillar situation with the Oscars, they just may need a larger tank simply for territory/swimming space.

 

[ltb11uk]

Sorry, my question was can i get a jack dempsey in that tank?

 

[england]

Have a read of these links
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/178562-tbar-cichlid/

in this you will see my old keyhole pair
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/65964-keyhole-cichlid/

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/73647-rainbow-cichlid/

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/63652-blue-acara/

 

[ltb11uk]

Have a read of these links
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/178562-tbar-cichlid/

in this you will see my old keyhole pair
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/65964-keyhole-cichlid/

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/73647-rainbow-cichlid/

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/63652-blue-acara/

Would a JD be good in the tank? On its own i mean

 

[england]

oh ok um whats the tanks measurments?

 

[ltb11uk]

oh ok um whats the tanks measurments?

36x18x15

 

[england]

I personally am going to say no i would not reccomend a 10+inch possible cichlid in a three foot tank, Female's usually dont grow as big but getting a female could prove difficult,

 

[ltb11uk]

I personally am going to say no i would not reccomend a 10+inch possible cichlid in a three foot tank, Female's usually dont grow as big but getting a female could prove difficult,

If i could get a female would it be ok?

 

[england]

I could be ok but i would'nt reccomend it personally....
But i would'nt reccomend keeping a oscar in a 55g tank either,some people think different, I had my male jaguar cichlid at 9inch in a 3ft as a temp measure because he beat up my oscars,however it was very cramped looking in the three foot same measurments as yours,all he did when i had him in there was float around in the corner,very grumpy looking

 

[ltb11uk]

I could be ok but i would'nt reccomend it personally....
But i would'nt reccomend keeping a oscar in a 55g tank either,some people think different, I had my male jaguar cichlid at 9inch in a 3ft as a temp measure because he beat up my oscars,however it was very cramped looking in the three foot same measurments as yours,all he did when i had him in there was float around in the corner,very grumpy looking

I see. What are Tbar cichlids like attitude wise and how many would fit in that particular tank?

 

[england]

I would go for a pair and 6-8 colombian tetra's and a bristlenose plec....would look very nice with some plants and bogwood,i go for plastic plants as iam awful with the real deal

Temp wise they are very placid esp if the only cichlids in the tank