... and the LFS guy said 75 gallons was easier...

[Calusa]

First, it was the elephant nose incident.

I carefully inspect everyone before they go into the tank... must have NO signs of anything, especially ich.

So. I go down to have a look after school, and the male betta that I cut loose (they're typically in betta housing units on the side, each betta gets the whole deal, not just 1/4 of it) abotu a week ago looks like he's been dead a week, yet I saw him and fed him, all was well, no behavioral problems, no signs of being picked on, or picking on others, beautiful colors, attacking bloodworm like crazy- like usual. So, he musta died like... last night, because he looked horrible... the others had obviously been eating off of him either before or after he died. WHAT THE HECK WENT WRONG? Nothing looked out of place- not bite marks like the elephant nose had.

I'm growing a very ugly, burnt sienna algae on my tank decorations. AUGH.

AND! it appears as if some have ich, so I bumped the temp up a bit, and making sure I'm not misdiagnosing a few glowing scales on the black moor... I don't want to treat all 75 gallons, I'd have to remove the tank decorations- I can only find the staining type of ich treatment. But I'll do what I have to to make it work.

and.. I fell in love with an oscar, and bought it. it looks very... spotted-ish, not with a normal "oscar" coloration- I'll have to post some photos so I can see what you all think.

I would like to go back to elephant noses, but I know that my tiny, baby oscar won't be able to stay in the 5 gallon very long. What will I do? haha....

I also saw some paradise fish.. I'd like to know if anyone knows much about them...

Basically what I'd like is.. a pair of oscars, a pair of puffers (figure 8 or spotted), a buncha bettas, some paradise fish, and about 4 elephant nose.... and a few flounders and kuhli's to go in with the elephant nose... I think... I'm going to need a bunch of tanks =P Maybe I'll end up splitting the 75 gallon anyway... *shrugs* I just want to stablize it first.

 

[cichlidmaster]

Let's attack the algae problem first....

Brown algae are actually diatoms and not true algae. They coat ornaments, real and fake plants, glass, and gravel with a thin, dark brown layer. Brown algae prefer low light levels. They commonly grow in new tanks or those with low levels of light. Increasing the intensity or quantity of lights may decrease the growth of brown algae but in turn will increase the growth of other algae. Brown algae is easy to physically remove with an algae pad as it does not adhere as strongly as green algae. While some snails and algae-eating fish will inadvertently eat some brown algae, most algae-eating fish prefer green algae and will only eat brown algae if they have no alternative food source. Plecostomus and otocinclus are the most likely fish to eat it.

Next....the possibility of ICH,

Sometimes, moving fish can be enough stress to bring on an attack of Ich.

ICH will appear to look like a sprinkling of salt on the fish. Ich usually attack the fishes gills first and the the body. If it is ich your best course of action is to treat the WHOLE tank to be sure to eradicate all of it!!!

I know you said you could only find one type of med, but if you can try and find Maracide by Mardel. You may want to consider ordering it on-line and have it shipped priority next day for a few $$ more. Maracide IMO is THE BEST ich medication on the market. You could also try the salt method, but without remembering what's in your tank I would be careful using salt.

IMO (and a lot of other cichlid keepers) oscars require 30-40 gallons per fish when adults!! A pair of oscars is really all a 75 gallon tank could handle. Your oscar would do ok for now in half the tank, but if fed properly grow very fast and would not be able to be kept in that small a space for very long!!

IMO paradise fish, bettas, elephant nose and kuhli's would not survive with oscars. The flounders may, but unlikely and splitting the tank in half to house even one oscar is not advisable!!

CM

 

[Gibbo]

Puffers IMO are only good in species aquaria, because some are really aggressive whilst others (smaller species) can be quite passive and stress very easily. They can take a lot of settling in (maybe a few months) before they're really happy. My advice - slow down a bit and do a lot of research into these fish. CM knows his cichlids and Oscars can be extremely agressive creatures and generally don't tolerate any kind of tankmate when full grown. They also produce a hell of a lot of waste!!! B)

 

[mostanks]

hi calusa-

well here's my 2 cents,puffers ime are very hard to keep,they have very strong jaws and they ain't scared to use them,also and experts correct me if i'm wrong they excrete some kind of poison which can seriously harm and fish that nips at it.oh yeah!and they'r brackish water fish.

the oscars eventually will make that 75g look really small