First oscar not sure...

[Poecilotheria]

Hello !
I co worker recently gave me a medium size placo he was going to kill off because he didn't like the mess it made.
I have an 80 gallon tank that I wasn't using.

Now in theory i'm new to aquatics... I have tried them a number of times over the years (mostly battered and deep fried) kidding.

Seriously though the few attempts iv'e had with aquatics they never last long, this hobby isn't my forte, i'm a tarantula breeder lol.

So now with this tank... filled it with water and a pump/filter and tossed the placo in.

Two weeks later the fish is thriving and seems happy... soooo I figure ill try some gravel and a small lemon oscar...

the tank is a bit cool... i'm not sure what 'cycling' is... and all I know about water is its wet.

The oscar seems healthy enough and has been in the tank for about a day...
It arrived at the pet store the day before I aquired it and still had not settled in there... so it seems a little stressed.

It looks normal when it swims... if observed from a distance.

Heres what i'm worried about, if it sees ppl it sinks to the bottom and lays on its side...

I learn quick... and i'm studying here but looks like iv'e already made several mistakes.

Will this oscar be ok and what sort of essential things do I need to know that I may have overlooked ??

Thank you for your time !

 

[cichlidchix]

for starters, what size filter are you running on this tank? you need to be pushing at least 10x filtration for an oscar which means for an 80 gallon tank, 800 GPH (gallons per hour), as they are messy fish when they eat. with just two fish you can get away with 6x (6*80 gallons=480gph) but if you add more, which you really can, go with 10x, the two of them (plec and oscar) should get along great. you deffinately want some form of substrate in the tank, as it makes it look cleaner and aids in the buildup of what is refered to as beneficial bacteria. when you add water to the tank you will need to add a dechlorinator of some sort. I prefer Prime. it is sold at Petsmart, and most pet retailers (not walmart). once you add enough dechlorinator, check your temperature. cichlids (oscar in this case) prefer a temp between 75 and 82 ( in my opinion. my tanks stay at 80-82). i also prefer to add aquarium salt. this is like gatorade for fish, electrolytes and other helpful ingredients. follow the directions on the carton.

thats your filter, your chemicals, substrate, you have fish....lights.. make sure you have 2 things: good fitting lids (oscars and other cichlids jump) and a light. preferably10,000 K or higher, as cichlids prefer it typically. oscars eat prettymuch anything. try out a dry staple first, but mine love bloodworms and live ghost shrimp.

also, they like hiding places, so provide hiding spots. driftwood especially, but make sure it is blunt ended so as not to spear the fish lol. oscars get to be 12" in captivity, and grow fast.

hiding and shying from you at first is normal, but an oscar is a great long term fish. they are more like aquatic dogs than anything! they learn who you are, and will respond to you, as well as learn some basic tricks with enough food and patience! good luck!

 

[knifegill]

Essential are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. This cowering is common for new Oscars, they hate moving from tank to tank. Compounding your current situation is that your tank is probably cycling right now, which means lots of ammonia and nitrites that are very toxic. Plecostomus are typically very hardy, if it is one of the common varieties, and Oscars are somewhat hardy, but not at all good for cycling a tank. And an 80g is maxed out with one Oscar or one Plecostomus, the latter will eventually need a pond. Again, one Oscar makes enough waste to be the only fish in there, unless you just love massive frequent water changes. Get some live culture (beneficial bacteria) from an established tank to speed up the cycle and do a few big water changes. With the borrowed bacteria method, your tank could be stable in a week. Hope that helps.

Salt is still a debated issue. I'd stay away from it until you've read more about the osmotic regulation in freshwater fish and how salt dehydrates their tissues, creating unnecessary stress.

Oscars also do not like bright lights, or need them. Many a shy Oscar blossoms under reduced lighting.

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

its probably just getting used to its new home.

 

[justonemoretank]

You need to take a sample of your water to your LFS, and have them test it. Ammonia should be zero, Nitrite should be zero, Nitrates under 10. Cycling is when beneficial bacteria grow in your filter media and gravel, and these bacteria consume ammonia, turning it into nitrite, and then into nitrate. You can purchase additives which claim to add this bacteria, the most effective being Dr. Tim's One-And-Only. This bacteria will grow, but will likely not grow quickly enough to handle the bioload you've added before your fish are stressed. If your levels are out of whack, it will sicken your fish and possibly kill them. Your tank size is marginal for a full-grown Oscar and a pleco. Common plecos can grow huge, and I mean almost two feet. Oscars grow about twelve inches, and some report Oscars up to fourteen inches. You're going to need filtration which provides turnover of the water by at least ten times per hour. This information should be on your filter or the box. Look for gallons per hour, divide by the number of gallons in your tank. If you don't get ten, or at least somewhere close, you're probably not going to be able to keep that filter on the tank for the life of the fish. In addition, I would not add additional fish to this tank, as it would stretch the boundaries of the volume in the tank and biological filtration that you have. You should purchase a heater, unless the room in which the tank is kept stays around 78 degrees (would be a warm room). Both of these fish come from warm waters in the wild, and will get sick if not kept in tropical conditions. Not sure if you were thinking about it, but don't feed feeders. Oscars don't need them, and they introduce parasites and bacteria into your tank that can be bad news. Pellets will work well for a staple. You'll need a siphon to clean the gravel you've installed. Perform 25% water changes weekly, at least. If you find that your nitrites are too high at any time, you'll need to change water more often. If ammonia and nitrate are ever more than zero, you are underfiltered, the tank is too small, or you're overfeeding your fish, and the biological filter can't handle the bioload. A cycle is what I described in the beginning of this post, and it is declared 'finished' when ammonia is zero, nitrite is zero, and nitrate is detectable (this, after ammonia has been introduced -- an empty tank isn't cycling!). Whew. Sorry, but I wanted to be thorough. Let us know if you have any other questions!

 

[Natural_Born_Killer]

Everyone above seems to have very well covered alot of the technical - so just wanted to throw in regarding your comment about him sinking to the bottom and on its side.

This is very common Oscar behaviour - mine do it constantly. I like to think they are either in a dreamy state or just having a good old fashioned sulk about something.

Oscars are great fish, so think you made a great choice in him.

Keep up with the water changes, testing the water, feeding him good food for his life and you are in for a great wetpet.

 

[ibz_rg]

The laying on the side deal is simply stress. This happens frequently to newly purchased Oscars, and most fish in general (the stress thing). Just make sure conditions are right for him. Mine were typically most active at the 80 degree mark. Any higher or lower, they'd start to slow down. Oscars are typically good beginner fish. Easy to take care of and are rather hardy. The only downside is the constant water changes. Good luck to you and your new pets!

 

[Poecilotheria]

Thats some great info thanks to all of you !
I should be able to manage all that.

The tank was about 2 weeks old when I put him in, and the water out here is unchlorinated, i'm not sure what we use but i'm told its fish safe.

My only question left is about the water changes, does this have to be done by hand or is there a reason it cant be automated ??

Thanks again !

 

[ibz_rg]

Get a gravel vac. Purchased at any LFS. All it is is basically a reverse funnel. You move it up and down in the water rapidly for a few seconds and water starts automatically flowing. Much easier than using a cup or bucket and it gets all the dirt and soil out.

 

[knifegill]

Only a few gravel vacuums start automatically by shaking. Most can be started the easy way, by dunking in the wide end, picking the vac up out of the water so the water begins to drain down the hose, and plunging it back in once there is enough water in the hose to make the siphon work. And the only reason not to automate it is that you'll need to physically remove a lot of debris each week, which a drain-and-refill system won't do for you. If you could automate the intricacies of every motion needed (filter pad swished in bucket, scrubbing of the impeller every month, etc.) then it could be automated, I suppose. I vacuum about two or three buckets from my Oscar tank with a siphon into a bucket, then throw in a pond pump for the remaining water. Then I use a bucket to refill from the bathtub. It's about eight bucketfulls, so not too much work, really.
My O is nine inches long and fifty percent changes once a week in an 80g are keeping the nitrates at ten or lower...