I've decided to get an Oscar

L

Lakea

Large Fish
#1
Oct 14, 2006
317
0
0
Texas
#1
This will be the easiest stocking decision ever. I finally made my way up to a 75 gallon fish tank so I am getting an oscar. I probably won't actually purchase the fish for a couple of months, but I want to start getting everything I need.

Right now the tank has one aquaclear 70 powerhead, should I get another?
I have a fluval 404 cansiter filter. Will that be enough filtration?
I am going to get a visa-therm stealth heater (I believe those are the ones the oscars can't break)
I've got some air pumps and bubble strips/walls. I think I'll be pretty good with water circulation.

Is there anything else I might need? Equipment wise. I am well stocked on fish food, but I'll probably pick up some vitachem when it gets closer to getting the fish.

Oh and as far as water conditioners, I use Start Right, but would it be better to switch to something like prime or amquel+ for the oscar?

Thanks a bunch!
 

big54bob

big54bob

Superstar Fish
#2
Dec 20, 2006
1,486
6
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On my office chair playing Runescape
#2
1.your powerhead will be fine.
2. oscars are poo machines. not sure on canisters but id suggest to install a HOB filter. I find that emperors work best.
3. Hide the filter behind a HUGE ornament. the oscar shouldn't be able to get accsess to the heater(s).


Oh pic up some cichlid food for your o. I prefer tatra cichlid crisps for leroy and his bud.

In a 75gal you could add a bud for your o.
 

skratikans

skratikans

Large Fish
#3
Jul 19, 2007
819
0
0
clemson,sc
#3
I think the fluval will be just fine, I personally dont see why you would want to add a hob filter..you should have plenty of water circulation, you dont really need the air bubbles unless you just like the looks
 

L

Lakea

Large Fish
#4
Oct 14, 2006
317
0
0
Texas
#4
Ok thanks for the input. I bought some new filter stuff for the fluval, there are so many different things you can put in there I wasn't sure what to get, so I started with the basic filter pad, carbon, and the white stuff, whatever its called. The guy told me he hasn't change the filter stuff in about two years, I am afraid to look in the filter lol.

As I said I have lots of fish food, cichlid flakes, tropical flakes, sinking pellets (my fav), shrimp pellets, bloodworms, freeze dried shrimp, wafers. I'll look at cichlid crisps, I don't think I have seen those before.
 

Orion

Orion

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#5
Feb 10, 2003
5,803
3
38
Kentucky
www.thefishcave.net
#5
O's might eat flake while they are small, but once they grow your going to want to move to a good pellet food. I always liked Hikari Gold. But a varried diet is very important.

I don't think it would matter if you had 4 huge canister on the tank, it's still going to get messy. That's just the way these guys are. Oscar's are a messy fish that produce a lot of waste. I think you'd be fine with the 404 as long as you keep up on WC's and get any crud out of the tank at the same time. The power head will help keep stuff from collecting.

As for the filter, you can save some money and get a roll of Polyfill from walmart or a craft store to use as filter floss. You can get a LOT more for the money than if you bought the 'Fluval' brand or anything made just for aquariums. If the dude was talking about the filter floss, it should be changed more than every two years. I might change mine every 6 months, but with an oscar it'll probably be more often. As cheap as the pollyfill is, it's no big deal to change it offten.
 

AlyKat

AlyKat

Large Fish
#6
Aug 3, 2007
255
0
0
New York
#6
I also feed Hikari pellets as a staple in my O tank...I switched to something else once (when I got to the store they were out) so I went with an HBH Oscar pellet...had water cloudiness that I couldn't explain, even with the same amt of water changes and feeding the same amount. I switched back when I realized that was the only explaination and the water is crystal clear once again. I also give them shrimp pellets and tropical crumbles as snacks. Oh, and guppies... :)

Filtration I have 2 HOB filters...1 Aquaclear 70 and a Penguin 200. But as Orion said, they're really slobs...and as I'm finding, the bigger they get, the bigger their poop is...ewwwww... ;)

So what color are you gonna get?
 

Orion

Orion

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#8
Feb 10, 2003
5,803
3
38
Kentucky
www.thefishcave.net
#8
All oxygen exchange takes place at the surface of the water. So even if you had a million bubbles per second in the tank, all those bubbles IN the water aren't going to do you any good as far as oxygenating the water. However like I said, the gas exchange takes place at the surface, so the one thing that the bubbles does is break the surface of the water creating turbulence, therfore creating the gas exchange.

But, HOB filters certinaly stir up the surface of most tanks well enough to provide more than enough air for the fish, and most canisters do as well. So they aren't really needed to aid in gas exchange. The bubbles can create a verticle current in the tank that might help keep debris from collecting, but it's not too efficient at it because it's pretty limited at the scope in which it can 'keep clean' and power heads or filters are much better suited for the job.

Ain't a thing wrong with bubbles in a tank, but they serve more aesthetic uses than anything.
 

AlyKat

AlyKat

Large Fish
#9
Aug 3, 2007
255
0
0
New York
#9
Orion said:
Ain't a thing wrong with bubbles in a tank, but they serve more aesthetic uses than anything.
Click to expand...
Ahhhhhh, gotcha...thanks! I know with the crays though, they need to have lots of air...so other than crays, I just always thought air was not really NECESSARY, but that it helps keep good water quality.

Oscar will have his air today as I'll be doing a water change today! I bought all the stuff, may as well use it, right? ;)
 

L

Lakea

Large Fish
#10
Oct 14, 2006
317
0
0
Texas
#10
AlyKat said:
So what color are you gonna get?
Click to expand...
I haven't really decided on a color, I like the albino, but really whatever O catches my eye when I go shopping for one.

And as for bubbles I do like them, and my fish have always seemed to enjoy swimming through bubbles. I just bought one of those bendable bubble wands, they are pretty neat, so I'll have to find a place for it.

The guy I bought the tank from gave me two air pumps, a Rena and an Hagen Elite plus tons of tubing. I have never used either brand.
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#14
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
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Florida
#14
Filtration-wise, a good general rule of thumb with oscars is to make sure you have at least 10x turnover for HOB filtration and 4x turnover for canister filtration (or any combination thereof...you do the math!). As an example, my 75 gal. oscar tank has two AquaClear 110's, which are each rated at 500 gph, for a total of 1000 gph turnover. Divide that by 75 gal., and it puts me well over the 10x turnover rate (which would be 750 gph) for HOB filtration.

Hope that makes sense.
Got any updates for us yet?
BV
 

L

Lakea

Large Fish
#15
Oct 14, 2006
317
0
0
Texas
#15
Well I didn't get an oscar... yet. I did get another canister filter and Eheim 2217 I got it for forty bucks but I need to get a hose for it, so I'll have two canisters then.

I'll tell you what else I got though, just picked him up today for free!


Beautiful little JD. His is about four inches maybe less. I'd still like to add an oscar though.

I'll also say I drove an hour away to get him, kind of crazy I know but I feel it was worth it. He was living in a 30 gallon with other fishies, I think he will be much happier!

 

L

Lakea

Large Fish
#19
Oct 14, 2006
317
0
0
Texas
#19
Thanks guys! He is still really shy, hides a lot, hopefully he'll get a bit more brave.

I've been talking with some people about putting an oscar with him, the oscar I am looking at is probably just over 7 inches right now, the JD is about 4 1/2 inches. I was told to put the JD in a bucket and move all the caves around and stuff, then introduce him back in when I put the oscar in there.

I know it may or may not work. Both fish are free so if it doesn't work out I don't mind giving one or the other away. I don't know, I'm not making any final decision right now.
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#20
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
0
47
Florida
#20
Nice JD!
As for adding that oscar you mentioned...it's worth a shot.

The sooner you add him, the better...
You'll just need to keep a close eye on things for a while to make sure they're not killing one another. Might work. Might not work. Definitely worth a shot though!

Good luck, and keep us posted. *thumbsups
BV
 

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