Not sure if this is in the right topic, if not, admin plz move.



But I went crazy and got more fish, 2 Chiclids (no idea which ones, the said they were parrots, but after looking at what a parrot chiclid looks like, its deff not one) 2 baby red belly pirrahnas, 6 exodons, and 4 tiger oscars. Everything suprisingly is getting along great with each other and theres no more rough play. My tank is an 85 gallon and I know it will be too small for the fish I have now. What's an ideal size tank to hold these fish? I know my cichlids will grow to about 4", pirrahnas will get pretty big, my oscars are pigs and the exodons will reach 6" MAX. I have alot on my plate I know, but for the first time, I actually like my tank set up. I dont want to go overkill and get a million gallon aqarium, but I know I'll have to go bigger. What size would be good?

You are looking at a 300 us gallon MINIMUM...

that is a lot of fish... Is it possible to keep the smaller Cichlids in the 85 and O's and Pirrahas in a 300 gallon?

Remember you are going to need a MINIMUM of 2 FX5's or the equivalent on that 300

Nickisue wrote:

Yes I was thinking of moving my exodons and my smaller cichlids to my 85 and just keeping oscars and the red bellys in a gigantic tank, now heres the thing, I've been snooping around looking at the breeding process for oscars, if I have a pair out of my 4 O's and they are mixed with the red bellys, I know the O is gonna be super aggressive to their nest, will my tank turn into a all out cage match? or would they be fine?

That depends on the Oscars... and only time will tell... but at this point what choice do you have???

Nickisue wrote:

I was on craigslist and I found a 275 gallon tank with stand and pumps, etc. pics show that everything is in awesome shape, and they're selling for 1,000. That's probally what I'm going to pick up. I know you said 300 is minimum, but at that deal I cant pass it up. Worst comes to worse, i'll give one of my oscars to my friend. For now they're going to live in the 85, they're still little guys and the way I see it is I have 2 months give or take before I have to transfer fish to differnt tanks. Will that work? or do I have less time? I know oscars grow fast, but I cant see them doubling size in 2 months?

You can try to stretch it out 2 months but PLEASE keep an eye on your water peramitors...

that is a huge bioload in an 85... What filter are you running?

with much dedication and effort, you can enjoy your fishes with a lot of works.
while waiting for the bigger tank, yes...keep an eye on your water, or else
they will vanish one by one.

08rollaS wrote:


mine doubled in two months - from about 2 or 2+1/2 inches to their current approx 5"
I've read several times that growth of 1" a month is very common

This mix of fish is ok, however as stated earlier pristine water is a must. Taking into account the bio load all of these fish will produce. We all know Oscar's can wreak havoc on an aquarium cleanliness, but more so the food you will be feeding the piranha, this could foul the water very quickly. It will take a lot of work. You want to go overboard with your filtration. A pair of Marineland C-530 canisters on the 275 gal should be adequate, provided you are diligent with tank maintenance.

I would say get the largest tank you can afford.
Try your local buy and sell. Aswell as Kijiji.com, and Craigslist.com

Right now I'm running a whisper 30-60 filter on my 85. It does the trick just fine. I'm super anal with my tank and how clean it is. Tank maintence isn't an issue with me. I'm fact I change my filter cartriges every 2 weeks, clean my sand every other day with the vaccum I got, and take a sample of water to my local store to make sure things are fine (I'm an idiot and didn't get a water tester yet) my water is crystal clear 100% of the time. I feed my redbellys and everything else frozen krill and it does cloud my water after each feeding. I always clean the tank after I feed them that. Lucky for my my redbellys pig out on my tiny cichlid pellets. I know once they get bigger it will be different. Everything seems to be happy and they are very active. Now all I need is that bigger tank and I'm set.

You need a bigger tank, and A LOT more filtration. the filter you have now is not enough for 1 Oscar in any tank... Start buying BIG canisters!