Fish displacement

[thekingcobra]

First of all let me say this...I still have a very clean tank, and what seem to be healthy happy fish...BUT...my oscar is obviously stunted as far as his growth goes.
I have seen many Oscars in pet stores and some I just looked at in awe at thier size. I believed mine was growing normally, and for some time it did. But he seems to have stopped at roughly 8 inches.
Right now he is in a 55 gal with the following tank mates. (Please dont blow gaskets here) I'm trying to explain the situation I am in and looking for a good way to resolve the issue.
55 gal contains: 1 x 8" Oscar, 1 x 5" blood parrot, 1 x 5" Jack Dempsey, 1 x 4" Sunfish, 2 x yellow perch 5" and 3", 1 x 4" Jag, 1 x 5" Texas Cichlid.
Now in a second tank 10 gal, I have 1 x 4" catfish, 1 x 2" green terror (stunted growth as well) and 3 or 4 small unknown breeds.
I have in total...1 x 55 gal, 1 x 30 gal, and 2 x 10 gal tanks.
How can I house these fish properly and what ones should I take back or give away?
I dont need the "I told you so answers", and I would appreciate not being ripped apart. I see the error of my ways and would like to fix things to make my fish happier. I also have 6 different filtration systems for the afore mentioned tanks and heaters and all goodies to make them operable so its just a matter of distribution of the fish.
Also, for the record...the mentioned above fish in the 55 gal tank...have never fought, or had any problems...minus the fact that the Texas and the JD dont like each other and stay to opisite ends of the tank.
Thanks again in advance and I WAS WRONG...now please advise me on how to fix the problem.

 

[cenecker]

I wouldn't be too worried actually. IME oscars really shoot up to about 6-8 inches and then thier growth slows dramatically.

I won't bash on you for your tank size, since you seem to already know you're a little overstocked. "Stunting" is not a terrible well researched field but the general conclusion is that it is caused by two factors - one - water quality...obviously, two - a lot of fish emit hormones that inhibit growth. The theory is that these hormones allow them to breed at a smaller size and continue multiplying in smaller bodies of water. Obviously a tank is a VERY small body of water. The good news is - both of these problems can be combated with LARGE FREQUENT water changes. I'd suggest at least 50% once a week.

So anyhow change a lot of water and things should be alright, but yes you definetly have too many fish in the tank especially as they will continue to grow. I'd say move the sunfish to the 30, they could be reasonably happy in there for most of thier lives. Other than that, the oscar really needs the 55 to himself to grow to full size, and even then it will get a little small for him if you want him to attain true monster size (they CAN get 15 inches and larger).

Theres no magic solution - you need more tanks, bigger tanks, or fewer fish

Good luck and WELCOME TO MFK

 

[kyleking007]

yeah I wouldnt be to worried about it at this point they do slow down once they get so big. what are you feeding and what are your water changes like? other than that I would only have to say you might wanna start saving for a larger tank. welcome to MFK! we are all here to help.

 

[thekingcobra]

Thanks for the sympathetic reply. I used to frequent the forum in "Oscarfish" and was continuously getting ripped apart. It was nice to actually get a decent reply.

 

[thekingcobra]

yeah I wouldnt be to worried about it at this point they do slow down once they get so big. what are you feeding and what are your water changes like? other than that I would only have to say you might wanna start saving for a larger tank. welcome to MFK! we are all here to help.

Well its good to know I dont have major immediate concerns anyway. I know I overfeed, which is obvious by my waterchanges. I have a play sand bottom and all the access food debris settles to the bottom and is quite visable. I usually do about a 50% once a week, sometimes more frequent depending on the amount of waste seen on the bottom. I usually feed twice a day, morning and night...depending on my work schedual sometimes only in the evening. But, I feed a small pinch of flakes for the smaller fish, a teaspoon of small pellets and 4 - 5 oscar sticks. Once in a blue moon I treat them with a couple shrimp, worms, crickets, or minnows, but not very often.
But to clarify something...I have 2 huge(unknown size) filter systems on the 55gal which obviously handles alot of the waste for me. So how should I distribute theses fish amongst the tanks I have? Can I with what I have now or should I liquidate and go for one big tank?
Thanks again in advance.

 

[kyleking007]

if you are doing 50% a week and have a mass of filtration you should be fine with what you have. the only thing I am seeing is that you may want to get some different kinds of food. you would get bored eating the same bland sticks everyday. try some krill, bloodworms, brineshrimp, ect. this will help the color of your fish and may even make them grow a little faster. goodluck

 

[thekingcobra]

ok, I've tried Krill which sank to the bottom no one seemed to care for them...
And I founf the bloodworms and brine shrimp very messy. What about beef heart for color...I used to feed the Oscar beef heart when he was small and he loved it, and he also seemed to grow very fast on it.