I have had my oscar Greg for a few months now, and he's around 8 inches from what I can tell. I have him in a 55-gallon tank, with gravel (I might add some sand to mix it up soon) but I want to add another fish. Recently His water has been getting kinda green, and I do at least a 30% water change every month. It would be nice to get a fish to help pick up the dropped food, but I know there is not much room to add to the tank. I put ghost shrimp in every now and then but they don't last very long before becoming a snack. Greg seems to be on the more aggressive side to me, but I don't know much about oscar behavior. He bites at the gravel vac and nets a lot. He also gets bored and rearranges his decor all the time. If I would be better off leaving him alone let me know and I'll just keep giving him the shrimp every now and then as a treat. Any help is appreciated
Tank mate ideas
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CarissaT
Fish Fanatic
Iām not experienced with Oscars so I canāt really answer your stocking question, but most people do at least 30% water changes every week, it sounds like with the green water you have way too much waste products building up in the water.
if you do the math on it, doing a 30% water change weekly means the most ādirtā that builds up in the tank is 22 days worth. Change that to 30% per month and youāre looking at over 90 days worth of ādirtā being in the tank.
if you do the math on it, doing a 30% water change weekly means the most ādirtā that builds up in the tank is 22 days worth. Change that to 30% per month and youāre looking at over 90 days worth of ādirtā being in the tank.
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Normally it is a month max when I get busy, I think it had been a little over two weeks since my last one and when I changed the water today there wasn't much stuff in the water. He is a very messy eater so that's part of the reason I want to add so they can pick up what he drops.
I agree with Carissa about increasing your water changes - ideally every week but I do mine very 5-10 days just because life happens sometimes. Think of it as dilution, Oscars are messy fish and all the messy eating and pooping will produce a lot of nitrate. Oscars are prone to hole in the head and lateral line disease which high nitrates can cause.
Imagine adding a drop of blue dye to a glass of water every day and replacing 30% of it once a month. On day one it would be barely noticeable but by day 30 it would be dark blue, then you take out 30% of the water and add fresh in. It would still be quite dark blue. If you started back at day 1 and added a drop and checked at day 7 it will be quite pale blue and if you changed 50% of the water at day 7 and filled it back up with fresh water it would likely be clear. Same goes for aquariums in regards to the nitrates and other organics that can't break down in a small system like our aquariums. It also helps remove hormones from the fish too such as growth hormones that if they build up can lead to stunting.
A 55 gallon tank is also quite undersized for an adult Oscar but it is passable as they are such a common species and realistically there are not enough big tanks for them all so yours is doing better than most but if you ever get the option try and get to between 75 and 90 gallons and ideally over 100 - obviously in a bigger tank some other tank mates might be possible too.
In terms of tank mates right now, it sounds like you want some kind of bottom dweller to act as a bit of a scavenger. No fish will truly be a help to a clean up crew but it is good to have fish like this that can sometimes reach areas you can't and also zip around the bottom of the tank to stir up detritus into the water column and then into the filter. For the tank and fish you have I think a Dora species of Catfish would be a good option Platydoras Armatulus the Humbug Catfish is probably the best option, gets too big for the Oscar to eat, has an armoured body with spines so the Oscar wont try to eat it. They are largely a nocturnal fish so make sure your tank has some caves and hides it can retreat to in the day - try and position them so you can see in them though. It would help if the hides are too big for the Oscar to fit into though. Spotted Doras are an other option but I don't think they would grow big enough not to be at risk of being eaten by the Oscar.
Imagine adding a drop of blue dye to a glass of water every day and replacing 30% of it once a month. On day one it would be barely noticeable but by day 30 it would be dark blue, then you take out 30% of the water and add fresh in. It would still be quite dark blue. If you started back at day 1 and added a drop and checked at day 7 it will be quite pale blue and if you changed 50% of the water at day 7 and filled it back up with fresh water it would likely be clear. Same goes for aquariums in regards to the nitrates and other organics that can't break down in a small system like our aquariums. It also helps remove hormones from the fish too such as growth hormones that if they build up can lead to stunting.
A 55 gallon tank is also quite undersized for an adult Oscar but it is passable as they are such a common species and realistically there are not enough big tanks for them all so yours is doing better than most but if you ever get the option try and get to between 75 and 90 gallons and ideally over 100 - obviously in a bigger tank some other tank mates might be possible too.
In terms of tank mates right now, it sounds like you want some kind of bottom dweller to act as a bit of a scavenger. No fish will truly be a help to a clean up crew but it is good to have fish like this that can sometimes reach areas you can't and also zip around the bottom of the tank to stir up detritus into the water column and then into the filter. For the tank and fish you have I think a Dora species of Catfish would be a good option Platydoras Armatulus the Humbug Catfish is probably the best option, gets too big for the Oscar to eat, has an armoured body with spines so the Oscar wont try to eat it. They are largely a nocturnal fish so make sure your tank has some caves and hides it can retreat to in the day - try and position them so you can see in them though. It would help if the hides are too big for the Oscar to fit into though. Spotted Doras are an other option but I don't think they would grow big enough not to be at risk of being eaten by the Oscar.
CarissaT
Fish Fanatic
Thatās good, two weeks is not bad. Keep in mind that fish āpeeā and the byproducts thereof is not visible. The majority of stuff built up in the water is not detectable to the naked eye but it still impacts their health a lot. Uneaten food can contribute a bit if thereās a lot but thatās only a small part of the actual ādirtā thatās in there.
I'm going to add an under gravel filter to help, with some of it. Just trying to get the water to clear up now cuz it's still foggy after changing like 50% 2 days ago
I would'nt add an undergravel filter, they are not that effective you would be better adding something like filter floss or even a bag of Purigen to your existing filter.
Like above though I'm interested in what filter you have though.
Wills
Like above though I'm interested in what filter you have though.
Wills
It's a whisper power filter 60, it came with the tank as a kit
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