new to world of oscars

[LMC]

Hello all I am LMC... I always had a love for oscars... they are so smart...
I now have 3 in a 55 gallon tank to soon be upgrading to a 300. (300 because i am getting a blueberry oscar in two weeks)
My55 gallon tank i think is finally leveling out. i found out what the white sludge was. my tank is now 6 weeks old and doing very well i might add. i am not so sure about all this nitrite and nitrate stuff yet. but i do know my amonia level is good and ph is good so hopefully all else is good too...

my 11 year old daughter has a 10gal with a beta and a placo. it was just a sorta plug and play tank... hahahahaha yeah right.. after 6 fish dying we have had the beta and placo in there for 6 months. so i figured i will get my oscars.

With my new tank i thought i would do things different... i bought the tank and let it sit for several weeks then bought fish.. smart ehhh... my oscars are great. they eat flake foods, and refuse the pellets. They love guppies. and brat( the tiger) always jumps out of the tank as soon as he sees me come with the net as he knows thats guppies.. although here lately he seems to be jumping out every time i open the tank weather or not i have guppies.. i think hes playing as he aims right for my hand or nose depending on which is over the tank.
the albino oscar is very stand offish.. and wont come to the top unless the lid is closed.
the yellow oscar is also an agressive eater but hes more patient than the tiger.
I just wanted to introduse my self and my gang...

 

[Pure]

Welcome to the tank!

Ok for starters...It wasn't necessary to let he tank run with only water in it for weeks without any fish. Letting it sit overnight would be good enough. The only reason you need to do this is to allow gas exchange to take place thus allowing your PH to level out. Normally PH will change within 24 hrs after it comes out of the tap. And adding fish until it stabilizes will stress them out and should be avoided. The PH changes because of buffers and gasses that are introduced into the water wither it comes from the city supply or a well.

The only reason to do what you did would be if you are adding ammonia every day for fishless cycling the tank. You really need to read this link. http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31669 It explains all of that nitrite nitrate (cycle) stuff that you really need to know.

Also either return the pleco or put him in the 55, but even adding him to the 55 will end up being a bad idea as the Oscars will grow a lot faster than he will and eventually look at him as a snack. Anyways, I'm pretty sure it is a common, even if it isn't they all get way to big to live in the typical housing your betta is probably in.

As for the Oscars, yeah 3 and soon to be 4 is way too much for a 55. I know you know that because you are already planning on a much larger tank, but 4 even in a 300 gal will still have a large risk of territorial disputes. 3 would be pushing it.

You may want to rethink getting the blueberry Oscar. Blue isn't a natural color for Oscars. They are dyed. Go to http://www.deathbydyeing.org/ and read up on why buying dyed fish is a really bad idea. If it doesn't bother you then by all means get one. But you will be hard pressed to find any one here willing to support such activities.

I know it can be a lot to take in at once. But you will find that research will be your best friend if you are to be successful in keeping tropical fish alive in your care.

 

[cinlnk]

*thumbsups Good for you Pure .... About the Fake coloring in the Oscars!!!!!
Thank you for telling him!

 

[LMC]

that was very intresting... i did not know that the blueberry was not an oscar color....
i had seen my friends and thought it was beautiful... so i went to the pet store to ask about it they said they could get me one... after reading that i called the pet store back and asked if they already ordered it. they said no. so i said please dont.
thanks for the advice....
so i will keep to the 3 i got now...
i know i am a noob to fresh water tanks and i thank you for the information.
hopefully yall wont get too mad or frustrated with me... i just wanted to come here to learn more and share my fish with others who like fish..

 

[Pure]

Naaa we won't get mad or frustrated. If we didn't want to help others none of us would be here. We were all noobs at one time.

The only stupid question is one that isn't asked.

 

[LMC]

i am glad yall wont get mad... well at least not yet....
id hate to think yall would run me off in the two days i been here...
just an fyi LMC= little miss cutie.... lol....
any way i had to go get more guppies....
how do you get oscars to eat pellets???
mine hate it and only eat guppies and flake food...

 

[Pure]

They may never like the pellets. It could just be the brand. Fish are like most animals and are apt to not like certain things. Do lean towards feeding them a staple food like flake more often than feeders. Feeders do not have the full nutritional value that they need to live as long as they should, and often can bring in diseases.


Edit: W000T 1000 posts

 

[LMC]

brat the tiger oscar is already spoiled.... he will eat flake food daily but he wants guppies on wed and sat.... its going to get expensive to feed guppies all the time...lol

 

[Pure]

well turn your 55 into a feeder breeder when you get the 300.

 

[LMC]

well the 300 gal tank will be ready for me june 23. its being made by my brother..
and hopefully when he has it done i will already be moved into my new house...*DRUMMER*