Vieja Synspilum With Oscars?

[Spishkey]

so after the death of waldorf last week Statler has been a lost soul......and the tank looks incredibly bare.
So after hunting online i managed to track down another oscar, around the same size as Statler (25cm+/-).....but....she comes with a couple of Vieja synspilum (15-20cm) and three of their young (8cm)


now the guy wont split them, they all have to go together, but im worried about 2 things
a) what effect adding three large fish to the tank will have on the filter
b) what effect adding the three big fish will have on Staler.


now i have the other 900ishL hozzie tank up and running as a quarantine tank for the next few weeks for the newies...but how should i proceed from there? one fish at a time..see how Statler reacts? or all three at once?

or would it perhaps be best leaving the vieja in a tank of their own?? (which would mean i no longer have a quarantine/hospital tank for big fish )
just looking for a bit of helpful advice from you guys

 

[ApistoNut]

why dont you split them, put your oscars together and veja in quarintine tank, let the oscars meet and greet for a few days then try adding the others after, if not then put them up for sale

 

[Verminator89]

First off, thats amazing you have a 900L quarentine tank! If only i had one that size my troubles would be over!

Secondly, adding new fish to any new world cichlid tank is always very hit and miss. It is completely dependent on the existing fish and how they are temperament wise. If you hasve a look at mattlee's journal for his Oscar Kieth you'll soon see his trials and tribulations introducing new fish to his tank. He's struggled, and lsot some good fish, even a good sized Green Terror.

Personally, if it was me i would redecorate Statlers tank. Take him out and get him in your 900L quarentine whilst you re-do his tank. Then, go and get the other fish your collecting and put them into Statlers usual tank. Leave them in their for a day or so, then add Statler back to his tank with them. He won't have a territory and the others will have just started to settle and they can all meet and greet each other. As with any other cichlids though you are going to have to watch the tank like a hawk for a while. Anything can happen at any time and the last thing you want is Statler being the one who received the bigger beating (possibly).

Hope it works out for you Keep us updated.

 

[hamfist]

Personally, if it was me i would redecorate Statlers tank. Take him out and get him in your 900L quarentine whilst you re-do his tank. Then, go and get the other fish your collecting and put them into Statlers usual tank. Leave them in their for a day or so, then add Statler back to his tank with them. He won't have a territory and the others will have just started to settle and they can all meet and greet each other. As with any other cichlids though you are going to have to watch the tank like a hawk for a while. Anything can happen at any time and the last thing you want is Statler being the one who received the bigger beating (possibly).

That's the way I would do it also. Assuming that Statler's tank is actually big enough to house all these fish long term.

 

[Verminator89]

900L Quarentine, i can only assume it is going to be big enough for them all long term. If not, i'd use the Quarentine to house them all properly and use Statlers old tank as a Quarentine (if its smaller ofcourse). Certainly seems like she has options in swapping them all around, which is going to make it so much easier

 

[mattlee]

agree with james too thats a great way of doing it so there are no teritories and all fish atart off even.

if you want to look through my journal then there is a link below my sig

i would also be very cautious about the vieja being a breeding pair as they can get very nasty when spawning and the oscars might be the bad end of it all. although if the viejas and new oscar have been together then they must be quite relaxed viejas unless they came from a huge tank.

as james stated its very hit and miss when adding new cichlids to a tank thats already got its hierachy. my oscar didnt like an 8 inch green terror i put in with him and within 3 or 4 days the GT was dead. i personally was thinking the GT would be at the oscar so it just goes to show you that fish are so unpredictable and not all like they are written about in books etc. each fish is different to the next even if the same species.....
my oscar was fine with a fully stocked big cichlid tank but after being alone for a few weeks and a large fish was added he didnt like the company and the poor GT found that out.....

 

[Spishkey]

some super points made there guys thanks so much! my plan to house ALL the new fish in the quarantine tank for a few weeks, just incase they are harbouring any nastys etc... so i have a few weeks to 'plan' the introductions. i like the adding the oscar first and the others after a few days, but then im worried if the two oscars get along, then i add the others, that they ALL then fall out and im stuck with 4 big fish that all need to be seperated.

so i think i may go for the housing the species seperate...oscars in one tank, vieja in the other...plus they can then spawn in peace as they want....!


the guy is now on the way and has apparantly thrown in a few freebies cause he just wants his tank empty...im actually a bit nervous as to what he's bringing now

 

[ChilliPepper]

I keep an Oscar and Vieja Synspila together. My Oscar is over a year old and is well established as boss of the tank, with my Red Spot Sev as second in command. All are a good size. I bought my Vieja at around 4", and took the chance of adding him into this setup. My Red Spot and O chased him a bit for the first few days, but I happen to have a very laid back O, and the worse he did was follow behind the V with his gob open Anyway, now, about a month on, they are best buddies and my Red Spot has been shoved down to 3rd in command.

So, that's my experience, and it works... For now

However I wouldn't add a breeding pair of Vieja in as I think they could be quite nasty. I reckon keeping the V's separate is a better idea.

Oscars vary so much in temperament, only you know what your fish is like

 

[leecasey]

If it doesn't work out I'll happily buy them off you

 

[ChilliPepper]

If it doesn't work out I'll happily buy them off you

Think Spishkey lives in Belgium?

 

[Spishkey]

well they're here..............but i'd say they vieja were closer to 25-30cm than 15-20cm! definatly bigger than Statler.
all fish look very healthy (apart from one of the freebies...its apparantly blind but we'll get to that after)

so he brought 2 x XL Vieja, 2 x oscars (yup 2 instead of 1...think thats gonna cause problems as these two are already bonded ) 2 x young vieja (about 8-10cm) and a bloomin big pangasius catfish (blind one)

so they're all in the quarantine tank for now acclimatising, will grab some photos when i stick the lights on later. so who goes where? am thinking the 2 adult viejas with the two younger ones in one tank
the two oscars with statler (if they go)....and the catfish??? (he's already about 30cm and skittish as hell....being blind is not helping?) thinking i may need to rehome him to someone with a super duper huge tank?




yup im in Belgium sorry

potential' problem...his fish were kept at 29/30 degrees...mine are kept at 26/27......is a 3 degree difference (long term) lethal? or will they be ok once they climatise?

 

[Spishkey]

oh dear, the pangasius has just croaked it ((( guess thats one less problem.......journey must have been to much for him in this heat

 

[minnnt]

the pangasius has just croaked it ((( guess thats one less problem

Sorry, but that made me actually laugh out loud.

How come he bought you all of them? I enjoyed reading the thread too. Can't wait to see some pictures

 

[Spishkey]

the pangasius is still alive...seems he's playing dead (lying upsidedown on the tank floor). he brought all of them so his tank would then be empty..he wants to start over with malawis

 

[minnnt]

Not very good if you thought you were getting 1 oscar and 4 V's though... lol. A bit cheeky!