improving my filtration

[LBDave]

Agreed

My only add is keep the water temp as constant as possible. Suggest 79-80 or 81.
Oscars are hardy and can take large water changes with little impact if temp is constant. When I change water temps fall about 3 dgr max. Back up to temp in 3 hours.
I am a firm believer in water changes. Just not every other day. Only do that for high ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. You can also use seachem prime for ammonia and nitrates but this is a stop gap.

 

[The mad titan]

Hang in there. One thing I have read and I'm a pretty firm believer, when starting with small fish try to stock the tank early so they grow up together. And with your oscars get some dither fish. Personally I like silver dollars. These help tamp down aggression. Be advised that you oscars will grow fast. Be careful if you add oscars at this point. Must be the same size. I started with 2" oscars in September. Now they are about 5 or 6". Yesterday one jumped out and bit my finger when I fed them. They are voracious.
The advice I was given when I told this fish farm about my tank size and fitting only one or 2 oscars is get 4 or more (less chance of fighting). Remember - There is always a pecking order. If you are going to try with just 2 make sure they grow at same rate. All the warnings I have read say eventually the oscars will start fighting (territorial). We shall see. I have one oscar slightly smaller than the rest. She gets some scrapes but she eats as well or better than the others. Size is keeping up. Make sure if you have any problems with oscars aggression (and with other fish) that you keep them well fed. Plants and dithers help to. Don't be afraid to do a 40-50% water change if you feel it's needed. Be careful about tank temp. Make sure you have a strong heater. Use plenty of dechlorinator if adding fresh straight to the tank. I live in SoCA so water is never real cold. Also, I use vita-chem. You may want to read about this.
Pretty much you have 2 new puppies.

Wow, that's a great idea and for full transparency this is the first time I heard of "dither fish". I plan or doing more reading on it but it sounds like a great idea. Any other suggestion on fast schooling fish? Know I know that I'll have to add a lid. As it stands, I'm not having any issues with aggression...at the moment and both are growing at the same rate now. Honestly they look identical. Over the last couple of feedings I've notice that the parrots are acting more timid. Every time I do a WC I change up the decor, this may be the reason not sure. I haven't decided on the look I want to stick with for now I'm just using slate and drift wood for hiding but I'm leaning towards and looking for a larger piece of wood decor for the center piece. Yesterday I received my vita-chem, Kent garlic and selcon and slowly implementing into their diet...not all at the same time. I try to mix up their diet with Hikar Cichlid and bug bites Chchlid formula. I even cut up shrimp and scalp (left over from the puffer) and a little of veggie pellets. I plan on ordering some live worms and keeping them, I'v read that this is what they eat in their natural habitat.

 

[The mad titan]

Nothing to add other than definitely get that test kit. Its a must, especially with juvenile fish and i would just do fin level water changes. Remove as much water as you can leaving enough for the fish to swim in. It wont add that much more time to the 40 or 50 % wc's.

On the top of my head you probably at 1000 to 1300 gph not bad for now but that test kit will tell you if its truly ok. No ammonia = ok. Maybe wanna add as they grow.

You can go nuts and redo the sump but i dont see that as a must at this point

Thanks! I have test strips and will test today before I perform my maintenance on the canister and the sump.

 

[celebrist]

Test strips are notoriously unreliable in most of the experts (I don't consider myself one) opinions

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Good copy, and will do. I haven't done any maintenance on the FX since I had them but will take care of that this week end as well. I was considering removing the mechanical filtration and running another FX. What to you think of that? I know I can't completely remove water changes and maintenance but will this help reduce it some? Thanks for the reply.

More filtration doesn’t have any affect on the amount of water changes that are necessary. The better the filtration, the better it converts ammonia into nitrites and then nitrates. The water changes are performed to reduce the nitrates, replenish oxygen, remove total dissolved solids, remove hormones, etc. Filtration cannot help with any of those except for replenishing oxygen via surface agitation. Therefore, the amount of fish in the tank and the waste they produce is the driving reason to do water changes. You have oscars, which are known to give off tons of waste, so you need to do more water changes. I agree with J jaws7777 about doing fin level water changes if you can. That’s what I do on my 220 and it has kept my fish healthy and growing well. You will get much better growth, coloration, and health from your fish if you do larger water changes frequently than if you do smaller water changes less frequently.

Long story short, the amount of filtration has nothing to do with how much and frequently water changes are needed.

If you want to preheat water, you can find food grade 55 gal plastic barrels on Craigslist pretty cheap. I have two of them so I can age the chlorine out of my tap water and preheat the water to temp.

 

[LBDave]

As you can see, lots of opinions. I do agree that water changes are good. Some take it to the extreme.
Also, I test for nitrites and nitrates with API test kit. Also use a seneye for ammonia.
Test strips are not the best.
If you are willing to spend the money check out universal rocks for synthetic drftwood centerpieces. They also make backgrounds.
https://www.universalrocks.com/fish/tree
BTW- My oscars love frozen peas. Great for vitamin C.

Ok I'm off to clean my tank and change my water. Not to "fin level" cause I don't want all the fish banged up! Probably do 40%. What does fin level mean anyway. Is this for a 24" H tank? What if the tank is 36" high?

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

As you can see, lots of opinions. I do agree that water changes are good. Some take it to the extreme.
Also, I test for nitrites and nitrates with API test kit. Also use a seneye for ammonia.
Test strips are not the best.
If you are willing to spend the money check out universal rocks for synthetic drftwood centerpieces. They also make backgrounds.
https://www.universalrocks.com/fish/tree
BTW- My oscars love frozen peas. Great for vitamin C.

Ok I'm off to clean my tank and change my water. Not to "fin level" cause I don't want all the fish banged up! Probably do 40%. What does fin level mean anyway. Is this for a 24" H tank? What if the tank is 36" high?

Lol, “fin level” means you get the water down low enough that your fishes’ fins are sticking out of the water. Tank height has nothing to do with it.

FIY, my tank is 24”x72”x30”H. Once a week I pump out all of the water until my fish are partly emerged or laying on their sides and then refill. My tank is pretty heavily stocked though, so it’s what I need to do to keep my fish healthy.

 

[Jexnell]

Fin level water change means taking the water level down to the dorsal fin of your tallest fish. In the pic I am doing this in Toni's tank.

 

[LBDave]

I was being facetious. Sometimes when draining the tank that low fish will jump and hit things. Especially if you have fish like silver dollars. Jexnell's photo is good it gives the Mad Titan an idea of what level you are talking about.
Just say'in - The oscar in the photo is a lot larger than the oscars Titan posted about. So "fin level" is really just saying remove water to a pretty low level.

 

[The mad titan]

As you can see, lots of opinions. I do agree that water changes are good. Some take it to the extreme.
Also, I test for nitrites and nitrates with API test kit. Also use a seneye for ammonia.
Test strips are not the best.
If you are willing to spend the money check out universal rocks for synthetic drftwood centerpieces. They also make backgrounds.
https://www.universalrocks.com/fish/tree
BTW- My oscars love frozen peas. Great for vitamin C.

Ok I'm off to clean my tank and change my water. Not to "fin level" cause I don't want all the fish banged up! Probably do 40%. What does fin level mean anyway. Is this for a 24" H tank? What if the tank is 36" high?

Yes, great advice here very resourceful information, I just purchase the API test kit and I was able ti clean my canister yesterday. I plan on doing a large wc this evening...fin level. Thanks for that link to the site, some nice items. I'll post some before and after pics. That's funny about the peas, I was in the store with my wife and got a bag and told my wife don't cook these earlier this week.