FIU Panther's 125G: Oscar Tank

FIU Panther

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 24, 2008
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South Florida
I'll be using this thread to keep a log of my 125g oscar tank where I'll post update pics and questions I may have come up in the future regarding these guys.

I spent two weekends looking for a (1) red oscar and (1) albino/lutino oscar all throughout my area with no luck. This is a fish that is usually at every big box store/lfs so it's been a strange situation. I decided on these guys after a previous post I had where some of the more experienced members suggested I stick with a soft water species due to my soft water KH3/GH5. Jexnell's posts about "Toni" were what sealed the deal on the species.

This led to me picking up two albino/lutino oscars and an electric blue acara today at Petsmart. I called a bunch of places and went to a few LFS and the availability was zero except for one LFS selling "lemon" oscars which looked like lutino's but were in bad shape.

The guys I picked up today are currently in a 20g(H) for quarantine/observation and will be transferred to an unstocked 125g once their quarantine is over. The 125g is being filtered by 2 AC110 and 4 Hydro Sponges. I have an FX6 in storage I don't use for future use if I ever decide I need it; I'm not a fan of canister filters as I find them a pain to clean.

Oscar 022121 (4).jpg
 

esoxlucius

Alligator Gar
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Dec 30, 2015
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Look at them cute lil guys, all google eyed and scrawny. Monsters in the making, lol. Be sure to keep this thread alive. We don't have enough of these type of threads where the development of fish are followed from juveniles through to adulthood and beyond. I've got one going with my little chocolate cichlid which i'll periodically return to.
 

Toby_H

Polypterus
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Jun 21, 2007
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Oscars are always fun. Nice score...

Generally speaking, it's wise to put fish in quarantine when we first get them. The reason is so that if they are sick, they don't get our other fish sick. But... since your 125 gal is unstocked, there are no "other fish" to get sick. So I see no reason not to put the Oscars straight into the 125 Gal.

Also, since this is a new set up, it prompts me to ask questions about cycling. Is the 20 Gal cycled? How about the 125? If either are, what was your process of cycling them?
 

FIU Panther

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 24, 2008
207
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South Florida
Oscars are always fun. Nice score...

Generally speaking, it's wise to put fish in quarantine when we first get them. The reason is so that if they are sick, they don't get our other fish sick. But... since your 125 gal is unstocked, there are no "other fish" to get sick. So I see no reason not to put the Oscars straight into the 125 Gal.

Also, since this is a new set up, it prompts me to ask questions about cycling. Is the 20 Gal cycled? How about the 125? If either are, what was your process of cycling them?
Good questions, I have been running sponge filters for about a month in another 125g that houses my clown loaches. I used one of those for the 20H and added some Fritz7. These guys will also be getting between a 5-10g water change everyday for two weeks and I'll be siphoning out their waste during the change.

The reason for them going into the 20H instead of the empty 125g is because if they develop something within these two weeks it'll be easier/cheaper to treat in the 20H and they are so tiny it'll be easier to feed in the 20H until they associate me with food.

***

Speaking of treating, should I just observe these guys for two weeks or should I put them through a General Cure treatment and RD's Epsom Salt infused food while in QT?

***
 

Jexnell

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Jul 17, 2017
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I feed my new fish Hex Shield for the first two weeks. It also helps to get them to make the jump to NLS pellets.
 
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FIU Panther

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 24, 2008
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South Florida
Fed these guys for the first time today and they are greedy filthy bold little things.

They were fed two small feedings a few hours apart and ate everything I tried preferring pellets over flakes even at this size. The first feeding was NLS Thera A and Algaemax regular sized pellets and they devoured them, the second feeding was Xtreme Krill Flakes and Xtreme Nano pellets they also ate those well.

The only one not eating is the EB Acara but I think he's still getting used to his environment. When I'm not near the tank for a while he tends to swim around but as soon as he sees movement he goes in hides by the sponge filter and won't come out for a while. I'm hoping with some more time he'll also be out and eating.

I vacuumed the barebottom QT tank this morning and it was full of Oscar poop, it's incredible how big their poop is even at the 1.5-2" size! I already see why tank maintenance has to be a priority with these guys.

Also ordered more NLS Thera-A regular as that's a staple with all my fish and I'm low and placed an order for NLS Ultra Red Medium. I figure the Ultra Red will probably bring out the red on these guys more. I believe these guys are red lutinos, although they have red eyes they have black on their fins which would disqualify them as albinos.
 
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