hi, you may have seen from my newbie thread that i am returning to oscars after a 4yr gap from living with them.

The major thing this time is that i'm going it alone so to speak without the hands on help of my father who's fish they were when i lived there.

I have my eye on 2 tiger oscars in this setup, i know its not quite the magic 110Gallons (US) but 108 Gallons (US) is as close as i can get with the space i have free

http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/erol.html#19963X5590

My question is this, is the filter supplied with that enough filtration for the tank @ 1000L/H or 270G/H (US)i could always add another secondary smaller filter at a later date if required of course.

Secondary the substrate, i know oscars love to dig and i have watched for many minutes oscars reconstruct their tanks. I was thinking a smallish gravel of about 1.5inches for a tank base does that sound a good idea?
with some artificial plants and structures.

cheers

TJ

I couldn't find what you were referring to on that link. if you can't post it again, we can have a look at what you are talking about. What you got to remember is Oscars are very messy, talking from experience, you have got to have absolute top-notch filtration. If you don't, you're going to be forever having to clean the filtration system out which I don't like doing because I'm sure the beneficial bacteria like to be left to their own devices without being disturbed all the time.

The substrates you are talking about sounds great. I wouldn't bother with any plants, even artificial ones. They will not have any hold in the substrate and will get knocked out of place all the time.

have edited the link it should work now.

Good point about the artificial plants, from what i remember my dad must;ve been lucky as they rarely touched his plant life. Or he changed it quickly when found floating at top of tank after oscars ad decided it looked better there lol

actually, I have got some artificial plants in my 300 gallon tank and the Oscars don't touch them at all, but in the 125 gallon tank, they are always pulling them out. I think it's the fact that the 300 gallon tank is so big, they've got plenty of space at their disposal so don't even bother with the plants, I don't think you'll be so lucky with a smaller tank.

I still can't find any tank on the link you sent me. However, we have got one of those pet supermarkets in torquay. I wouldn't say it's geared up for large cichlids, more community fish. I certainly wouldn't buy one of their tanks for Oscars, not one of the complete setups anyway. They are just small community tanks with very small filtration systems. I think they sell canister filters but I can't remember, it's been a few weeks since I went in there. They don't sell very big tanks though, not the one here.

ok here is the tank specs

Volume: 400 Ltrs
Light System 150cm Electronic ballast and 2 x 36 W tube
Pump: 1,000 Ltrs Per Hour
Heater: 300 Watt
Juwel Filter System: Jumbo
Aquarium Size Dimensions: 151L x 62H x 51W cm or (60.4" L x 24.8" H x 20.4" W)
Cabinet Size Dimensions: 151L x 73H x51W cm

Filter info:

The Juwel Jumbo filter features 8 Ltrs Bio - Power! The biggest Bio - Internal Filter system in its class and as is typical for JUWEL: This highly efficient and easy to maintain filter system is as complete as it can be:

The Juwel Jumbo is equipped with a powerful pump for ca. 1000 Ltrs/hour
All filter media in the most practical filter basket:
Poly Pads for the large dirt particles
The Juwel Jumbo holds Active Carbon Sponges to extract chemical impurities from the water
Coarse and fine filter sponges housing the bacteria cultures to effectively clean the water.

i know i dont need the carbon sponges unless want to remove meds/treatments etc.

I see, the Juwel 400, almost 100 gallons. Juwel aquariums are very expensive, I used to have the 350. Have you considered having one custom-made? you could probably get a 150g tank with cabinet for quite a lot less than what they are charging for the complete setup. Filters and lighting are not particularly expensive.

Anyway, the Juwel jumbo filter is the same one that is installed in the 350. Unfortunately, the jumbo filter will not keep up with the Bio load that two adults Oscars will produce. In fact, when I had to 7 inch Oscars in my 350, the filter used to get gunked up very quickly indeed. And that was with 4 sponges plus the mechanical which doesn't really do anything. These filters are perfectly okay for a tank full of small community fish, however they just cannot cope with fish like Oscars. You need a much larger filter. From my experience, canister or sump filters are the way to go.

OFL wrote:


i worked it out at 108US gallons is that correct?

I have not looked into the custom tank option however that could weel be a good answer to keep costs down to start with to enable me to purchase a canister filter.

Any sites that i could be directed to for custom tanks?

remember that US gallons are bigger than UK gallons.

Have a look at this website, it's pretty crap, don't know who did it but they haven't even put any page titles in, so I don't know how they expect anyone to find them on the Internet

Anyway, it'll give you an idea of what they do. They build standard size tanks, but they also undertake custom-made ones as well. I don't think you'll find anyone cheaper and they will deliver straight to your door [extra unfortunately] I did have a few issues that they sorted them out without any arguing. You'd be much better off going to them, rather than forking out nearly 700 pounds for a jewel. Oh, if you do go to them, mention my name and website. Doing this will ensure they do a good job for you [Long story]

acaquatics.co.uk/Prices.htm

ok cool i'll research more tomorrow i gotta get sorted for work tonight.

one thing on filters its need to be double the volume of the tank/h rate is that right?
cheers for the help.

doubling your filtration is an extremely good idea when keeping Oscars. After all, they create a lot more waste than most fish. It's not a necessity, it just makes for a clean the tank.

I grabbed my dad on MSN before i went to work last night, and he's all excited about my idea. He's even diggin out some books on Oscars he has in his loft for me.

Also giving me a testing kit he's got spare for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels along with PH and Hardness for when i start my fishless cycle on my new tank when i decide what route i go "off shelf" or custom.

Been a while since been on so quick update.

I ended up getting the Juwel Rio 400 with cabinet in the end it gets delivered tomorrow

Picked up 40kg of black/white gravel substrate a few fake plants which i plan to silicone into place on the base of the tank and some mopani wood which will get a good soak and boil this week, will do a dry run layout first.

Also got a fluval 405 canister filter and a API testing kit. Just need to pick up some household ammonia and set the tank up to begin the fishless cycle.