clean up crew for oscar tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
knifegill;4320924; said:
In a 75 gallon tank with two Oscars you'll be doing at least two 50% changes every week to keep nitrates under control. Why would you add more fish to that mess?
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I agree...The bottom line is that the reason you have algae in the first place is due to high nitrates in the tank! You can attempt to fight it with more pleco's, but in that size of tank I think they'll hurt, not help.

Instead, I would focus on increasing your filtration and keep the ammonia/nitrite/nitrates down. Based on the YouTube video it looks like you have some kind of sump or wet/dry setup on this tank? If so, try heavily planting the sump or wet/dry along with adding some snails (they'll just get eaten in the main tank). The more plants you add, the more competition there will be for the high nitrates generated by these types of fishes.

I'm right there with you on working harder up front so that you can enjoy it more later...and the way I've accomplished that on many of my tanks is "over-filter, over-filter, over-filter"! It doesn't keep you from doing regular water changes (although I only do about 50% once a week), but it does make it better between changes.
 
"over-filter, over-filter, over-filter"! It doesn't keep you from doing regular water changes (although I only do about 50% once a week), but it does make it better between changes.
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+1

I get the edge on that one by always staying a little understocked. I have one Oscar in a 125g with a few raphael cats and an L200. Three filters and all I do is 50% once a week to keep the nitrates in the safe range, 10ppm to 20ppm. Sure, I'd like it lower, but it's the best I can do at the moment.
 
yea its sumped and turning over about 1000gph. i was thinking of adding plants in there, just havent yet. im also gonna get my other hang on back filter and fill it solely with biological filtration. im a fan of over filtering also.


the algae was just as bad before i put the oscars in, the tank is in front of a window. the algae is not crazy bad, i just dont wont to have to clean it at all.
 
No matter how much you filter, you will have to do some big water changes pretty regularly. It is extremely rare to get a tank set up at perfect equilibrium with plants & fish both healthy. If you minimize water changes, your nitrates will be high. Over time your Os will get hole-in-the-head. It's almost a certainty.
 
No matter how much you filter, you will have to do some big water changes pretty regularly. It is extremely rare to get a tank set up at perfect equilibrium with plants & fish both healthy. If you minimize water changes, your nitrates will be high. Over time your Os will get hole-in-the-head. It's almost a certainty.
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Agreed. In fact, if you asked me what the best way to cause a chronic disease was, I'd tell you to do less water changes.
 
still looking for info on plecos...........haha.


i understand the need in water changes guys. im new to the oscar set up, but i did have a jack and gar set up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVOujLddWVA then i went to african's. with the sump it made it where i could go longer between water changes but as time goes on, im seeing i need it more frequently with the oscars. dirty mo fos
 
rapheal catfish really do need hinding places espically with oscars. i have a rapheal and i only see him at night after i turn the light on so yeah hindiong places r a must, but they r cool fish espically when they get big(they usually come out more)
 
i have a 4/5" spotted rapheal cat , does a the job great..dont see him alot tho,eventually he'll get big enough tht he cnt rele hide so get a rapheal dude , their class lookin aswel.
 
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