Message for 'Wilsta'

[Wilsta]

hey eelzor are this fish at all messy? do you know much about there personality
I still curious to know how my oscar will react he has never been in the company of other fish other than oscars or infact one oscar. so experiemental it will have to be.. if he doesnt like company tough titties!

 

[Eelzor]

hey eelzor are this fish at all messy?

Uhh...umm...Yes. Please don't let that let you down! Oscars make more of a mess!

do you know much about there personality

Oh yes, they have quite a bit of character and quite tame once gotten used to. They spend most of their days swimming up and down the glass sides of tanks.

I still curious to know how my oscar will react he has never been in the company of other fish other than oscars or infact one oscar. so experiemental it will have to be.. if he doesnt like company tough titties!

We will just have to wait and see then.

 

[Losi]

Wilsta,
I forgot to mention, if you are getting a new tank and put the OScar in at the same time as the new fish then this increases the chances of them getting along.

I have been reading up on it as I too would still like to get a friend for mine as he seems a bit bored sometimes.

As you probably know Oscars all have diferent personalities so its down to judgment based on the individual as to whether or not they will accept tank mates.

Mine has been living with 3 bristlenose plecs since I have had hijm but I wouldnt put any fish of the same size as them in with him.

cheers

Losi

 

[Wilsta]

What sort of filtration would you suggest i get? I am thinking vacuum cleaner!

are the Salmontail Catfish algae cleaners? or do you suggest a pleco is maybe an other option? I am really indecsive atm

Losi thanks for the advice I would add all the fish in at the same time so they can all establish terrortories etc it may be peaceful it maybe a royal rumble who knows.. but i am not ready to decide on what fish to get as i like other cichlids such as blue acaras, gold severums and firemouths as well. Also like silverdollars for a schooling aspect.

 

[Eelzor]

What sort of filtration would you suggest i get? I am thinking vacuum cleaner!

You said your tank was 4x2x2foot. I am not sure on the gallons that is, but I recommend heavy duty filtration on that, Wilsta. An ehiem or something will do.

are the Salmontail Catfish algae cleaners? or do you suggest a pleco is maybe an other option? I am really indecsive atm

They are not algae eaters although they will eat small piece of algae wafers. Plecos are good if you want an algae eater.

HTH

 

[Wilsta]

Eelzor I have done some research and seeing that these Salmontail catfish reach 31" in size
its probably best not to keep them in a 48" x 24" x 24"... as much as i am interested in these guys if i was getting a swimming pool then maybe... but i am thinking of some other sort of catfish type that doesnt grow as big. i just dont know
some one made me think that soon enough that these guys will eventually grow to big for this tank.. plus who knows their growth rate

+ how on earth do you manage to fish them out of a tank... hook line and sinker ???

 

[Eelzor]

You don't have to keep them there their whole entire life. Just maybe until they hit more tehn 14 inches or something. Plus I went to a store today and the manager said they don't get bigger than 12 inches in an aquarium. In fact he said they don't even get bigger then 12 inches. Even if they did, simply remove them from the tank once they get too big.

+ how on earth do you manage to fish them out of a tank... hook line and sinker ???

Don't let them get that big!

 

[Wilsta]

oh really 12" isnt to bad i guess much different than 31"

how do i make sure they dont get too big? underfeed them?

i think i will be doing a lot of ummming and arrrrghing hehe

 

[Eelzor]

Ack! Your a hard one to satisfy!

oh really 12" isnt to bad i guess much different than 31"

I know, I was shocked a little too, when the manager told me that. Seems to be a pretty good size! Almost too good...

how do i make sure they dont get too big? underfeed them?

Just feed them like you would normally feed your oscar, on a normal varied diet with bloodworms, earthworms, shrimp, and eventually feeder fish. (Don't underfeed any fish - torturistic!)

i think i will be doing a lot of ummming and arrrrghing hehe

I'll put a stop to that!

 

[Wilsta]

Eelzor, salmontail Catfish i saw them in a tank with some small oscars which didnt mind the company, which is good... the catfish were about 5 inches in length and costs about $13 or so....

 

[Eelzor]

THATS GOOD!!! Purchase em'! I don't see why not.

 

[Wilsta]

Yeh i probably will i should have asked the guy at the lfs a bit about them just to see if he knows any more information about them.... but i think 1 or 2 would be good.

what size tank are you going to get for them

 

[Eelzor]

I am getting 4 temporarily in my 20 gallon (Temporary!!) but then I'll move them to a larger tank that I am not sure on the size. I am still not sure as it will take a while for the time to come.

EDIT: Wilsta, something I forgot to mention - What are the salmontail cats colouration where you are? I one at my local fish store are as silver shiny as silver sharks.

 

[Wilsta]

Well the ones that i happen to see were grey in colour slightly shiney but not much. Do they vary in colours?

 

[Eelzor]

Some do. Some can be grey, black, chrome and spotted black with grey (Look a bit like pictus except the white is greyish). Today I went to the lfs and they have 5inch ones at $12 each and new 4 inch ones at $10 each AND - to my shock they had a 7 inch one for 20 somthing I think. I just never saw them that big.