Maxing out Oscars in a 125

[Snake_Eyes]

Interesting. Mine don't go above 20 ppm for 5-7 days with an 11 inch jag, 11 inch festae, 14 inch FH, 8 inch GT, 10 inch JD, 7 inch Tex, and 2 cons in a 125. I use API liquid too.

Yeah I don't get it either.

 

[D.Pulcher]

So I am thinking about having an Oscar only 125 tank. Given the following conditions, what is the max number of Oscars I could do in a 6 ft 125 gallon, not taking aggression issues into account?

Filtration-2 AC 110's, 1 whisper 60, and 1 fluval 305= 1,600 GPH

Water changes-every 5-7 days, 75%

That is insane amount of water change with that you could easiely take enough bacteria to kill anything. I'm just letting you know from past exsperiance the only reason to do that severe of a water change is if something is really wrong. Most times i only do a 15% off my 150gl. I have never heard about people doing that much of a water change.

 

[twhittle]

That is insane amount of water change with that you could easiely take enough bacteria to kill anything. I'm just letting you know from past exsperiance the only reason to do that severe of a water change is if something is really wrong. Most times i only do a 15% off my 150gl. I have never heard about people doing that much of a water change.

You could do a 100% WC everyday and not lose any bacteria as long as you don't rinse your filter media in tap water. That is a myth that you lose beneficial bacteria with large water changes. Many, many people on this site do 75% WC every week or more. That will do nothing to hurt your tank or fish. It's just a lot of work. If someone loses fish this way, they are either doing something wrong, or there is something wrong with their water. I have had cichlids for nearly 23 years and have always changed this much water with no ill effects. The don't change too much water advice is a myth.

 

[Bderick67]

You could do a 100% WC everyday and not lose any bacteria as long as you don't rinse your filter media in tap water. That is a myth that you lose beneficial bacteria with large water changes. Many, many people on this site do 75% WC every week or more. That will do nothing to hurt your tank or fish. It's just a lot of work. If someone loses fish this way, they are either doing something wrong, or there is something wrong with their water. I have had cichlids for nearly 23 years and have always changed this much water with no ill effects. The don't change too much water advice is a myth.

I agree your BB is not suspended in the water, It grows on the media you provide in your filters and a small amount will grow on the stulff inside your tank. I have never experienced a problem with large W/Cs

 

[sandtiger]

There is nothing wrong with large frequent water changes. Some people; dicus breeders come to mind, change a good portion of their water daily. Bacteria does not live freely in the water, it attaches to substraight, decor, filtermedia etc. Not even using a siphon in the gravel will remove it, that stuff is made to stick.

 

[cichlidsguy]

IMO it all depends on how you maintain the tank, If your going to stick with 5-7 day water changes then go with 2. However if your going to keep an eye on the parameters and do water changes as required to keep nitrates around 20ppm even if this takes 3 pwc a week, Then i would say 3 or even 4 may be possible. At the end of the day it all depends on your love of fish, If you spent your entire life locked in a room would you like to share it with someone to talk to or a few people to argue with.

Steve

Sorry i did not understand whether this was a question or a statement.

 

[andyourblueblood]

wow alot of stuff going on here! i do think 75% is a little overkill though! i do

10 gallons on my 55 every day
5 gallons on my 29 everyday and
5 gallons every other day on my 45.

 

[twhittle]

wow alot of stuff going on here! i do think 75% is a little overkill though!

Why? If I am already in there, the more the better. It removes a larger percentage of nitrate if you do more. I would do 100% if I didn't have to take the fish out. The more the better for them.

 

[DasArab]

There is nothing wrong with large frequent water changes. Some people; dicus breeders come to mind, change a good portion of their water daily. Bacteria does not live freely in the water, it attaches to substraight, decor, filtermedia etc. Not even using a siphon in the gravel will remove it, that stuff is made to stick.

Yes but discus breeders use prepared RO water to do this. Much better to do 2 or 3(ie remove 25%, refill, remove 25%, refill, remove 25% refill) 25% wc's twice a week.

 

[sandtiger]

Why is that better? If the water going in matches what came out what difference does it make except that it's cleaner? I have been doing 50-70% water changes on all my fish since I started in the hobby and never lost a fish from it.