Oscars with Convict

[PearlTigress]

Hello,

I'm purchasing a complete tank off of Craigslist, fish and all. It's listed as a 60g but the dimensions are for a 75g (4ftx13inx28in). It has two Oscars, about 9" each, and one female convict cichlid, about 3-4". I know the Oscars can get larger, and I'm worried about the convict being alone. What do you think I should do? Leave everyone as they are, re-home the Convict, get more convicts...? I've never had aggressive cichlids before so I'm coming to the experts!

I'm excited about this purchase because for $200 I'm getting the tank, stand, canister filter, food, light, decor, everything. Also, is there anything that would be a good addition to the tank at this point? I know it can't be anything even a little bit small! Let me know. And I'm taking name ideas for these beauties as well. (-; Thanks for taking time to read this.

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum Oscars and Convicts are actually American Cichlids rather than African so their care is a bit different.

Unfortunately the Oscars will grow too large for a 75g, they can easily get upto 12 inches long and very chunky. For one Oscar the ideal starting size is a 120g 4x2x2 foot tank then adding more than one you need to increase the size upwards. Some Oscars can live with other fish, some end up in solitary by choice which is something to consider when getting something like this.

The Convict will do well in this size tank, but, they can be overly aggressive for their size and unless you are happy to build your tank around them with some very carefully selected tank mates they could work for you. They need to live in a neutral/ high ph with hard water.

If it were me, I would get the tank because it is a really good deal! But I would try and speak to your local shops to try and find these guys a new home and build a new community If you want to stick with chunky American cichlids that would work in a 75g a combo I like and have seen work is a female Nicaraguan Cichlid (see my avatar), Electric Blue Jack Dempsey and a Salvini. If you can get females of all 3 that would work best as it will reduce the risk of cross breeding. You could then keep them with a mix of livebearers like Mollies and Swordtails (not small ones like Guppies though), some big barbs and tetras would work too. Or if your water is soft you could look at the South American cichlids.

Wills

 

[PearlTigress]

Thank you so much for your gracious reply! I'm not posting in the right sub forum at all, my mistake.

I really want a community tank (probably going to base it around angelfish and go from there) so it doesn't hurt my feelings at all to hear that these guys will need to move along. I checked with the seller when I inquired, if it would be alright to enjoy them for awhile and then re-home them and he was completely fine with it. I guess my question now is, how do I know when they need to move along? Are they already uncomfortable? Is it a cleanliness thing; when I can't maintain water quality it's time to move on? Thanks for any thoughts! Meanwhile I'll start planning my community tank. I think our water is fairly hard although I'm not sure how to get it measured. My son is probably getting my old 29g for his birthday and I think I'll build his tank around guppies.

Anyway thanks again for the kind response!

 

[Essjay]

I'm not posting in the right sub forum at all, my mistake.

I have moved the thread to New World Cichlids so it's now in the right place

 

[Wills]

No problem here to help

I would probably move them on ASAP - oscars are so personable you will have 200 gallon tank in no time if you keep them too long haha!

With hard water that’s not great for angels as they do better in soft water - do you know your ph and any readings for hardness? Would help to know what to recommend.
Wills

 

[PearlTigress]

Yes very true! We've kept them successfully before but I know that doesn't mean they're well suited. I'm definitely open to suggestions as I just can't decide which way to go! I definitely like showy fish.

I don't know how to test my hardness but I believe it's quite hard unfortunately. Our ice maker doesn't work because hard mineral deposits build up in the tube and clog it. Colorado is known for its hard water.

I broke out my little test kit and tested my tap. The regular pH was a solid blue so I moved on to high pH with this result. These are hard for me to read but I'm thinking maybe the second one down, 7.8? I know that's quite high! My dreams of German blue Rams are dashed, hehe. I'm not sure if some peat in the canister filter would be a good idea?

I'd love to hear your suggestions! Ideas I've been researching include rainbowfish, a beautiful large school of some sort of tetra, angelfish, tiger barbs, kirbinses... It's hard to pick a direction! This tank will be in our homeschool room and I want it to be something interesting and calming to watch, a little bit of nature in our basement. Definitely planted.

 

[Byron]

On the present cichlids, I agree with Wills to re-home them ASAP. For one thing, they are being affected--the previous owner's response indicates either he/she knows little to nothing about fish needs, or he/she ignored them to get rid of the fish. Anyway, members here do know.

Before considering different fish once these are all gone, what is the GH of your source (tap) water. GH is the more important of the GH/KH and pH because of its direct impact on the fish's physiological functions. Check with your water authority, perhaps on their website; no need to buy a GH test and use it only once. The GH of thee source water is unlike to alter much if at all in the aquarium. If you can find the KH (alkalinity or carbonate hardness) that is also useful especially in assessing what the pH may or may not do. The three are closely connected.

Peat and other organics will lower pH due to the production of CO2 from decomposition but this is subject to the GH and KH and initial pH levels. So knowing the GH/KH will help determine what to expect. If the GH is high, lowering the pH will never bee possible without reducing the GH. We can explain this more if needed, once we know the numbers.

 

[Wills]

Once you nail down exact water parameters like Byron said its going to be a lot easier to work out what to keep. I would suspect your going to be something like 19/20 GH and quite a stable KH as it sounds similar to my water in the UK.

If you get fish suited to your water it makes life so much easier, the fish will have a better chance of living their full life span and will be healthier over all and less secpetible to disease.

Interesting you mentioned rainbow fish as they could work really well and look amazing. I really want to do a big tank of Dwarf Neon Rainbows and Dwarf Sunset Rainbows - naturally bright blue and bright orange in big school would just looks stunning. A few compatible bottom dwellers (maybe some small Synodontis like Petricola) and finding a suitable feature fish for a bit of character.

Wills

 

[PearlTigress]

I called up my water district guy and really confused him asking about GH. I googled it afterwards and found it just means general hardness, haha. Anyway he said the total harness is 11.7. I don't know if that's a lot or not; what do you think? However he did say that right now we're on surface water and next year we'll be on a combination, surface and well. I asked if well water is general harder or softer and he said harder. So I'm not sure how much that will increase at that time. He didn't have a KH figure.

 

[PearlTigress]

I haven't heard of those rainbows, I was only looking at Boesemans, so I'm excited to go do more research right now! I'm trying really hard to choose species well suited to my water and not just get what's fun, this time. I know fish naturally suited will be easier to care for, and I have three little kids to care for and homeschool so I need something not too demanding.

 

[Byron]

I called up my water district guy and really confused him asking about GH. I googled it afterwards and found it just means general hardness, haha. Anyway he said the total harness is 11.7. I don't know if that's a lot or not; what do you think? However he did say that right now we're on surface water and next year we'll be on a combination, surface and well. I asked if well water is general harder or softer and he said harder. So I'm not sure how much that will increase at that time. He didn't have a KH figure.

We need to know their unit of measure, as there are several. It could be mg/l, in the USA, but this is just a guess. This would be very soft, less than 1 dGH (mg/l is same as ppm) which could be feasible with surface water; well is likely harder, but again this is a generality and it depends what the water flow over/through in the ground. GH is the measure of calcium and magnesium.

KH we can do without, if we can pin down the GH.

 

[PearlTigress]

Sorry, there was a 200 number that was mili-something, and then the 11.7 which I think had the word grains in the unit. I couldn't write fast enough!

 

[Byron]

Sorry, there was a 200 number that was mili-something, and then the 11.7 which I think had the word grains in the unit. I couldn't write fast enough!

Grains per gallon is a US unit and 1 gpg equates to 17.1 ppm, so almost 1 dGH. So if we are assuming correctly, 11.7 gpg is 200 ppm, which is 11 dGH. That is moderately hard.

Assuming this is correct (maybe another member can check my equivalents, I am not good with maths!)...you have quite an option for fish. Livebearers (but not mollies which need it harder) would work, many basically soft-water species can manage with this, so some tetras, barbs, danios, loaches, catfish, rainbowfish (the larger species are moderately hard water, some of the smaller are very soft).

 

[PearlTigress]

That's great news, thank you! Will my pH be okay do you think? Right now I'm leaving towards rainbowfish, maybe a trio of swordtails, and Cory cats.

 

[Byron]

That's great news, thank you! Will my pH be okay do you think? Right now I'm leaving towards rainbowfish, maybe a trio of swordtails, and Cory cats.

Depends upon the fish species, but GH is the more important.