Thanks for the welcome minxfishy
It was cycled for 5 days before today, all the tests were perfect yesterday so figured today would be ok to pick up the fish. not sure on the brand of filter it is, but it cycles the whole tank 5 times a hour. The tank is 6 x 2.5 x 2.5 feet.
Yes hoping for a pair for me. I'm actually hoping on keeping them all if they tank well together, obviously in a much larger tank at full size, or re-introducing my mother to oscars.
Honestly dont know if I could rehome outside my home. I would just find room for another tank and keep them all.
at the risk of sounding like a right cow.. here i go.
it takes weeks to cycle a fish tank,for any fish,and although oscars seem to be tough, they infact as susceptable to poor water quality as any other fish,
what you have done is "just add a filter" which we all have, but still had to go thru cycling the tank, this involves keeping ammonia, nitrate and nitrite to acceptable levels, which with 5 oscars you are going to find almost impossible to do ...when you say that your filter "cycles" your tank water 5 times an hour,what you actually mean is that it has a turn over of 5 times, which just means that the contents of the tank run thru it at that rate,
is there a chance you could take the fish back to where you bought them from so that you can get on and cycle the tank ? i hate to have to say it,but if you try to do a
fish-in cycle you will almost certainly lose some if not all of them to the ammonia,what you would have to do is test the water maybe 3/4 times a day and do huge water changes accordingly.. on a 6ft tank i wouldnt fancy that one bit
please dont think im getting at you, but its going to be hard work for you and may mean death for those beautiful oscars,they are such huge waste producers ( sourse of ammonia) that i would be looking at adding at least 5 times more turnover by means of an FX5 or similar filter, but still you would need to stay on top of the water changes
fish waste=ammonia >nitrite>nitrate ..( nitrite is the less toxic in the cycle, but still toxic at very high levels)
you will need to arm yourself with a good quality water testing kit =API freshwater master testing kit.and like i said test frequently thru the day for the next 4-5 weeks
and water change.
i hope you do get a pair out of them, but in the mean time especially as you
are going to have water quality issues, you need to watch for signs of aggression,5 oscars in a 6ft tank wont last peacefully for long before all hell breaks loose.
right thats enough for now, im not trying to put you off or disrespect your methods, things have changed since you last kept one..for the better as far as fish are concerned. your very welcome to the oscar club and we are always willing to help and give advice on these beautiful fish, but sadly we cant come round and change the water for you
but for anything else, you can give us a shout
and im looking forward to the pics ( if you decide not to return them)
shelagh xxx
welcome to you too chilly willy
i hope we can help keep you motivated
