Oscars again

[moneywastedonfish]

Was wondering how long a pair of oscars could live in a 34 gal tank?
Would this be cruel,
Would a single oscar be able to live in a 34 gal? For how long.
Sorry im sure this is a repeat just cant find a similar topic

 

[moneywastedonfish]

just did some reading not goning to go this route,
what about firemouths in said tank, would a pair be ok, any tankmates?

If not any suggestions for my yank, its 34 gallons, 3 foot well planted.
Currently stocked with cheap tetras that can become fish food or maybe act as dithers if they survive long enough.

 

[juanveldez]

no an oscar cannot live in a 34 gallon tank perminatly, while it would make a good grow out tank for them till they reach I would say some where in the neighborhood of 6 inches you are probably looking at a tank for the two of them of over 120 US gallons. and that goes for a pair or just one as far as the grow out tank is concerned. now as to a tank for a single oscar your looking at a tank that is at least 4 feet long and at least 20 inches wide... so if you are going to get something like that I would just go and get a 120 or larger and get 2 oscars to grow out in the tank that you have now.... that is what I am doing with my jags right now while they are small maybe about 3 inches right now they are growing out in a 29 gallon tank and I will be getting them a 150 later when it is time.

 

[juanveldez]

lol must have posted while I was typing up my post.... anyway yes you could get a good pair of firemouths in there, the only thing I can think of is that if you have live plants in there you are probably going to wish you hadn't... there is a distinct possibility of them tearing them up and making the tank into their own private salad bar. if you want some cichlids for your tank that will stay small and leave the plants alone you might also want to look into archocentrus spinosissimus, I have 4 of them in one of my 75s and while they are pretty dull looking when they are not breeding they are a good looking fish. if you are in the US and you want to get your hands on either firemouths or spinos I would say send a PM to cichlidmaster, I know that he has some F1 firemouths, and I also know that he had a pair that just bred, so he should have some F2 up for sale sooner or later. I will also direct his attention to this post for you the next time that I talk to him.

 

[moneywastedonfish]

im renting see and cant get a new tank, they dont know about the 2 ive got set up now,
also got a 10 gal full of hermit crabs, awesome little guys.

Im seriously sick of the tetras, purchased more for my girlfriend then me, and want a more intelligent active fish, all suggestions greatly appreciated. Cheers

 

[Vip]

Im seriously sick of the tetras, purchased more for my girlfriend then me,

LOL i know your pain!

 

[juanveldez]

thats cool about not being able to get a new tank, like I said in the above post fire mouths would be fine in there as well as some of the spinos. I like to think of cichlids like ice cream... theres a flavor for everybody, me personally I like to go with cichlids that not everybody has but that aren't so rare that I have to pay an arm and a leg for them hence the reason that I have the spinos in my cichlid community tank. but I could sit here all night and post a list of cichlids that would work in your tank, in the end it is all whats in your tastes.

 

[moneywastedonfish]

archocentrus spinosissimus look awesome, it says they breed fairly quickly/easily,
hows your tank aranged for these guys, im in Australia dont know if they import them here i'll find out

 

[juanveldez]

as I don't breed my fish spificlly I don't have all of the required needs for them to breed however I have alot of drift wood rock work in there now if you did breed them you would have to get some floating plants as spinos " hang" their fry meaning that they move their broods to floating plants to grow out in. I recently saw a list of fish that were allowed for import into aus, although I didn't look for the spinos and I forgot the link.... darn it wheres Chook when I need her she had a link to a forum there in Aus where they had a link to this list on there.

 

[moneywastedonfish]

cool, i can wait for that link would appreciate it though,
if only fish grew on trees

 

[juanveldez]

yeah I hear ya there I was amazed at how many fish were left off of the list however there is hope as I understand it the list is for fish being imported into AUS, however if the fish were breed there it is leagal to buy them even if they are not on that list

 

[moneywastedonfish]

yeah theres sooo many to choose from thats sort of the advice im after,
i've had quite a few setups over the years, all of which have had some minor problems- mainly mistakes ive made(overstocking or agression),
i want to create a stress free environment in the tank i have,
basically any other suggestions for a cichlid that has similar behaivoural traits to the oscar, similar look or aggression, that could as a pair or trio inhabit my 34gal tank?

just dont want to make any mistakes is all, try to get this tank right from the start.
please no apistos or kribs/rams
B)

 

[vantgE]

why you should get africans, and forget about NWhow bout some mbuna's that's right head over to the african cichlid section and ask cichlidaddict which mbuna you could fit in your tanks, ah i'd say probally 8 of them and they are so much nicer than an oscar, more vibrant, and more active,

 

[moneywastedonfish]

yeah thought about africans will check it out, sort of just researching at the moment, covering my bases.

appreciate ur time

 

[juanveldez]

hey money here is that list that I was talking about.... remember this list is for import, they may not be on the list but remember that just cause they aren't on the list don't mean that you can't have them as I guess that if they are bred there that you can still get them it is just a matter of finding them.


import list

on another note I also have mbuna and NW cichlids are a million times better than any mbuna ever could hope to be