It's been a while since I posted. I wanted to share an update, ask a couple of questions, and relay a sad story I saw last night.
First of all, my guys (1 albino/1 red) are doing wonderfully. They are now about 9 months, somewhere about 7-7.5" long. Will have had them for a year in November. They used to fight somewhat frequently, but have settled down. I found that odd, because now that they are reaching maturity, they are getting friendlier toward one another. Is this normal?
Last night, I added a 5" blood parrot (100% natural color, no injections) to the aquarium. I had been told by enough people that if I watch the interactions for a while, it should be OK, and if there was a problem, just take the blood parrot out. Strangely, that made the oscars seem to be friendlier to one another, and everyone leaves everyone alone. He makes a wonderful different splash of color for the tank.
Video:
Sad story time, I went into one pet store tonight, they had a white oscar in there about the size of my white oscar, and I was almost in tears because he was brought in by someone else, completely abused, and neglected, in horrible shape, had hole-in-the-head, rotted fins, the whole 9. They said someone brought him in to give back and nurse back to health. It made me appreciate my oscars, my fish, my tank, so much more...
Loaches are one of my favorites as well. That is why I got them.
Right now I have 5 loaches in there. I will pair them down as they get older, and my get rid of all of the loaches completely eventually. I am aware of how big they get. My thought is to try and keep three for as long as possible.
The LFS has some $120 loaches that are 8-9" in size, and they get to be 12"+ in size. My guys right now are about 5" in size. I do have 2 huge canister filters on the tank. I know the bio load can be high with what I have.
I have found clown loaches grow very slowly. I've had my biggest one for over 12 years and he's probably 8 inches or so (I'm totally guessing - I need to try and measure him).
I think you'll find you'll become quite attached to the CL and will have difficulty letting them go:)
that's quite an explosion of colour indeed with the new fish.
Congratz!
not my thing either, but that's just a matter of taste.
They can become pretty massive , as i've seen in other members tanks.
There's no way of predicting oscar's behaviour towards eachother once they are growing and becoming adult.
2 females may live friendly as a pair, as well as a male and a female.
With 2 males in one tank there will often be territorial disputes.
i prefer my fish to be friendly and acting like a pair, allthough i know the peace and quiet may be gone once they actualy start to spawn.
and don't even get me started on bad treated oscars, for my LFS will take in fish for various reasons, and that way i saw some real disgusting stuff, i wish i never had seen.
But seeing things like that makes you realize the importance of a forum like ours.
For halftruths and misinformation leads to very sick and unhappy fish.
Our fish don't grow too big, our tank becomes too small! Plecofanatic Primitive fish Keeper : Florida Gar OscarFishLover!
I am already quite attached to them. I will do what I have to I guess. I know in the tank I have now, the loaches cannot all grow to be adult size and everyone be happy
They school together, they hide together, it is great watching their own little social network happen inside the tank.
It is equally interesting to try and feed them in ways the oscars cannot get to their food
They do come out and up for dried blood worms. I usually feed the oscars big cichlid pellets, and while their mouths are full, I will put blood worms or something in for the loaches and now the parrot. I find if I put sinking pellets in for the loaches, the oscars will find a way to get them, even if I hide them in the logs etc...
I am interested in knowing the true end result with my oscars in terms of sex and final comfort factor between the two of them. I would prefer a more quiet tank as well. Truth be told I want a male/female. We shall see. I have had them since they were maybe 3", so I have been waiting a while to see if I "picked the right two" so to speak.
I was never really into blood parrots either until one day when I started watching one at the LFS. It was smart, and intelligent like the oscars, it was very attentive, and acted almost like what I would call an animated teddy bear. I know they have their aggressive side, but they are also cute, adorable and have an innocent look about them as well.
And yes, I greatly appreciate this forum, this website, and all the work that has been put into it, not to mention the kewl people to interact with and find real solutions to real issues and questions.
I would prefer a more quiet tank as well. Truth be told I want a male/female. We shall see.
I wanted a couple too, not for the sake of the offspring, but to have a non-aggressive tank with 2 oscars.
so i added a Tiger to my Red's tank, and all went very smooth.
No damage whatsoever.
but 2 females can go through the whole spawning proces, upto the laying of eggs.
Only way to be sure you have a couple is to check for fertilized eggs.
It may take a pair a couple of tries to get it right, though.
The only other scientific way of determinating sex is by "venting" the oscar, which is a thorough examination of the o's genitals, if i'm correct.
But that's not my kinda thing, for i don't care about any fry.
I just want 2 oscars that can live "peacefully" together.
I wouldn't know what to do if my tank looked like this one day...
Our fish don't grow too big, our tank becomes too small! Plecofanatic Primitive fish Keeper : Florida Gar OscarFishLover!
Ouchie! That is a lot of fish. I wouldn't know what to do either. Nice video of your tank though. Nice indeed. My guys go through the whole lip lock song and dance all the time. They will chase one another in a circle. One is definitely more aggressive than the other though. Almost as if (s)he dictates. The albino will be the one to push fish around if either of my O's are to do it.
i didnt realize it at the time but i got a red blood parrot and i didnt no they were hybrids but he is so cute and almost adault size. he grew faster than my oscar which is really weird i got my Bp when he was about four inches and now he is almost six and he is really really fat looking lol. Also my bp dosent have injections hes allllllllllllllllllll natural but i find he gets strtessed easy so when i do my water changes or move props he gets tramatized and he tried to bite me today lol.
They are easy to fall in love with, especially once you get them :-P
I have ready they can get to 10" in size under the right circumstances. I thought the max size was 8, but there seem to be different schools of thought on it.
It was time for me to do a water change today, and he did get quite stressed. In fact, he got so stressed I have since turned the light off for the rest of the day. He is resting quietly now.
I have not rearranged my decorations yet, but since I am dealing with cichlids here, I may move everything around so they can setup their own territories again. There hasn't been too much fighting so far... Very quiet. Not what I expected at all. I was hoping for peace, but not expecting it (right away anyway.)
He makes a wonderful different splash of color for the tank.
