Large Empty Tank And Thinking Of Oscars.....

[star4]

I havnt advertised him yet, I need to really get rid of some of my fish as I have far too many and he came up on the list, trouble is I am SO fussy on where my fish go its why I still have lots of Rotkeils left I havnt a pic of him unfortunately, if Minxy visits again soon I will ask if she can bring her camera. I am in no hurry to sell him as he is not causing problems so no doubt he will still be here in a few weeks. As for price fronts this size are usually £40 mark around here.

 

[mattlee]

I havnt advertised him yet, I need to really get rid of some of my fish as I have far too many and he came up on the list, trouble is I am SO fussy on where my fish go its why I still have lots of Rotkeils left I havnt a pic of him unfortunately, if Minxy visits again soon I will ask if she can bring her camera. I am in no hurry to sell him as he is not causing problems so no doubt he will still be here in a few weeks. As for price fronts this size are usually £40 mark around here.

ok well if you advertise him and he sells then so be it as ive not got space for him at the minute... if you still have him when im ready then let me know as i would give him a nice new home

 

[Flagtail]

I havnt advertised him yet, I need to really get rid of some of my fish as I have far too many and he came up on the list, trouble is I am SO fussy on where my fish go its why I still have lots of Rotkeils left I havnt a pic of him unfortunately, if Minxy visits again soon I will ask if she can bring her camera. I am in no hurry to sell him as he is not causing problems so no doubt he will still be here in a few weeks. As for price fronts this size are usually £40 mark around here.

ok well if you advertise him and he sells then so be it as ive not got space for him at the minute... if you still have him when im ready then let me know as i would give him a nice new home

Fronts are cool

 

[mattlee]

witht the kind of fish im hopefully going to stock would people say it was best to buy smaller specimins and let them grow up together or to buy larger fish from other keepers etc and try putting them together? im sure i could find all the fish i want quite easily either small or large as there doesnt seem to be any rare fish amongst the list except maybe the pleco....
just to remind you guys the stocking list as it stands for now is -

2 x suncats
1 x BGK
1 x L114
1 x oscar
1 x frontosa cichlid
1 x red spotted severum
1 x other cichlid....

i know that i can get all of these without too much trouble small or large. as long as there wasnt too much size difference when small or large would it be an issue?

 

[kizno1]

witht the kind of fish im hopefully going to stock would people say it was best to buy smaller specimins and let them grow up together or to buy larger fish from other keepers etc and try putting them together? im sure i could find all the fish i want quite easily either small or large as there doesnt seem to be any rare fish amongst the list except maybe the pleco....
just to remind you guys the stocking list as it stands for now is -

2 x suncats
1 x BGK
1 x L114
1 x oscar
1 x frontosa cichlid
1 x red spotted severum
1 x other cichlid....

i know that i can get all of these without too much trouble small or large. as long as there wasnt too much size difference when small or large would it be an issue?

I would try and get them small but the most important thing is to get them all around the same size. I wouldnt put them all into the tank fully grown though or i think there could be some serious scraps.

 

[Wills]

I would add an other large plec or maybe more?

With adding fish small or large, IMO it does not make that much difference especially with only 4 territorial fish in that size tank. Young fish will get on better but when they hit sexual maturity your going to get issues. I would rather either mix large and small or get large and use separators to test the first week or so and gradually they do settle.

Or like Hamfists tank add one or two large with the others mid sized and medium.

Wills

 

[mattlee]

I would add an other large plec or maybe more?

With adding fish small or large, IMO it does not make that much difference especially with only 4 territorial fish in that size tank. Young fish will get on better but when they hit sexual maturity your going to get issues. I would rather either mix large and small or get large and use separators to test the first week or so and gradually they do settle.

Or like Hamfists tank add one or two large with the others mid sized and medium.

Wills

ok this i might think about then as star has offered me her frontosa thats about 7 inches but i was worried about adding smaller fish in with it..

another large plec would be nice but wouldnt the sandy substrate soon become brown with all of these big messy fish

no room for the chaca chaca in there then especially if it reduces the pH upsetting the other fish

 

[Wills]

Yeah I would avoid the Chaca, night mare from what I hear they release that ph chemical when threatened so in a tank with big cichlids haha....

Poo is a problem with sand I rehomed mine for that very reason but with those big cichlids poo is poo so yeah, have you thought about black sand maybe? Or lots of ground cover helps to hide it?

Trying to think of an other big cichlid for you but youve gone through quite a few choices haha

Wills

 

[mattlee]

Yeah I would avoid the Chaca, night mare from what I hear they release that ph chemical when threatened so in a tank with big cichlids haha....

Poo is a problem with sand I rehomed mine for that very reason but with those big cichlids poo is poo so yeah, have you thought about black sand maybe? Or lots of ground cover helps to hide it?

Trying to think of an other big cichlid for you but youve gone through quite a few choices haha

Wills

sand was only the choice because i have loads of bags of argos playsand in the garage already that i bulk bought for any future tanks and topping up existing tanks as i had lots of cory tanks at one time. i could go gravel as ive nothing that really needs sand, maybe i was being tight.... im sure my daughters sandpit could find use for the bags of sand!

there are so many cichlids to choose from its so hard to narrow it down to just 3 or 4. i love the one in your avatar and an lfs actually has a tank with 10 or so real small ones in at the minute but they are very small, no bigger than 1.5-2 inches. i like the texas, an adult GT also looks great but its just compatability really thats put me off these. still not feeling the choc though, sorry nelly. you have now got me thinking about another L number

 

[Flagtail]

Yeah I would avoid the Chaca, night mare from what I hear they release that ph chemical when threatened so in a tank with big cichlids haha....

Poo is a problem with sand I rehomed mine for that very reason but with those big cichlids poo is poo so yeah, have you thought about black sand maybe? Or lots of ground cover helps to hide it?

Trying to think of an other big cichlid for you but youve gone through quite a few choices haha

Wills

sand was only the choice because i have loads of bags of argos playsand in the garage already that i bulk bought for any future tanks and topping up existing tanks as i had lots of cory tanks at one time. i could go gravel as ive nothing that really needs sand, maybe i was being tight.... im sure my daughters sandpit could find use for the bags of sand!

there are so many cichlids to choose from its so hard to narrow it down to just 3 or 4. i love the one in your avatar and an lfs actually has a tank with 10 or so real small ones in at the minute but they are very small, no bigger than 1.5-2 inches. i like the texas, an adult GT also looks great but its just compatability really thats put me off these. still not feeling the choc though, sorry nelly. you have now got me thinking about another L number

Have you consider any of these cichlids? I think you can add 1-3 of these guys if you find a liking to them.
Uarus, texas cichlids, false red terror, royal green terror, port acara, firemouth (both port and firemouth will grow to 6'', so you can have atleast 3), jd, ebjd, chocolate cichlid, yellow naped chocolate cichlid ( this is my favorite chocolate to have the pleasure to own), true parrot cichlid, geophagus jurupari... sant leocusta, sant daemon, gymnogeophagus cf. rhabdotus. These cichlds would add some color and personality to your tank.
As for L# plecos these are some of my personal favorites:
- Whiptail plecos
- Candy stripe pleco
- Hippo pleco
- Bulldog pleco
- Royal pleco
As for dithers:
- Silverdollars
-Tinfoil barbs
- Flagtail prochidolis
- Bala sharks
As for cats:
- Lima Shovelnose..
- Pimedulous Ornatus
- Pimedulous Blochii
- Spotted shovelnose
As for oddballs:
- Fire eel, tt eel, peacock eel
- A member of polypterus family
- Giant Gourami
- Lepornis

These are just some examples.

 

[Wills]

From that list I dont think that geophagus jurupari, sant leocusta, sant daemon, gymnogeophagus cf. rhabdotus or Whiptail plecos would work as the geos wouldnt cope with an oscar but not sure actually? But the gymnogeophagus are a nono as they have very specialist needs. And the whiptail wont be able to compete with the big plec or the big cichlids for food.

Wills

 

[walkers101]

i have a use for that sand mate but i need your time in helping converting the tank

 

[star4]

As for the sizes I would get the smallest oscar possible as they grow so fast compared to the rest. Frontosa are really slow growing so go for a bigger one as an oscar with catch up within a few months. Severum, are slower growing than oscars but faster again than Frontosa, but if adding an oscar at the same time go for a 2" oscar and probably 4-5" sev. My 2" oscar I got in June is now the same size as the gold severum he is in with (about 5")

I have a geophagus altifrons (6"+) living with 2 oscars (7"+) and a group of Brazilliensis living with my smallest oscar. However the red spot sev living with the 2 oscars is an absolute meanie and keeps going for them (got to move him later ) Personally if you want a geo, I would plum for the Brazilliensis to go with an oscar.

 

[walkers101]

also mate they got a fair number of oscars in leicester aquatics at the minute

 

[minxfishy]

If you want a group of the earth eating cichlids, stick with geophagus species, brasiliensis, surinamensis, altifrons etc, who are far more capable of standing up for themselves, than the placid satanoperca species, geophagus Ive found are also faster growing than the Satan species.