Well, I'm a new member, probably not going to post a whole lot, but I figured I'd make an intro for my new baby. S/he's around 4.5" and I've had him for a little over a month. Still haven't named him though(hm. . . can't find something that sticks yet!) He's in a 60 gallon tank(a bit tight, I know, but it has to do until I can find a cheap used 75) with a rena XP3 canister filter(which needs more media. . .) and a bit of anubias and java fern on driftwood(which will stay until the little bugger decides to start chewing it) I've got a striped raphael as a bottom dweller. My last oscar was a pig. No matter how small of bites of food he was given he'd still blow half of it out, and I figure that a second fish in the tank to clean up after is a bit better than having rotting food on the bottom of the tank. I've also got a half million guppies in with him. Brat. His tank was a community tank(until I got tired of trying to make the plants look nice in such a big tank/decided that I missed my "wet puppy" too much and tore it down) before I got him and instead of trying to find a store that would take a lot of guppy fry I figured I'd leave them in there for him. Couldn't hurt, my last guy NEVER got feeder fish, but I knew beyond a doubt that these ones were healthy. He seems to be intimidated by them 
He hides behind the java fern until I put the container with his pellets where he can see them. Then he comes to the top like a little rocket. And the only time I've seen him take so much as a swipe at any of them is when they get too close to his food. I'm still hoping he'll figure out that they're tasty before long. Or that my crawdad will grow pretty quickly and will "enjoy the company" a bit more than the O does.
I was wondering a couple of things though. When I give him something new(crickets the other day, a pea before that) he'll snatch it up then go behind his java fern and sit there with it in his mouth until he decides that it is not going to kill him to swallow it. Is that normal? I know are supposed to be picky, but my last guy would just look at it for a minute to decide if it was edible and then grab, chew, swallow, beg for more. The crickets were pinheads, so they weren't too big. And the pea was barely bigger than one of his pellets.
Also, since I've gotten a different answer everywhere I have asked. . . My rena is about half filled with media right now, I never had the money to fill it all the way with my last oscar, then only had it on a community tank. But I figure it would be better for me to mess with it as much as I need to while the fish is still 1/4th his adult size. What should it have in it? More bio-media or more mechanical? Currently it has 4 sponges and half a basket of bio-rings. Should I take out a couple of the sponges and add more bio-media, or just fill what I've got left with bio-media? Also I've got a penguin 350 that I've been considering adding onto it. Could I cut one of the sponges from the canister and put in there for extra media or would that cause it to overflow?
Lastly, the few pics I have.
(my fav pic 
)
When he was a bit littler and hiding in his fav spot in the tank.
He hides behind the java fern until I put the container with his pellets where he can see them. Then he comes to the top like a little rocket. And the only time I've seen him take so much as a swipe at any of them is when they get too close to his food. I'm still hoping he'll figure out that they're tasty before long. Or that my crawdad will grow pretty quickly and will "enjoy the company" a bit more than the O does.I was wondering a couple of things though. When I give him something new(crickets the other day, a pea before that) he'll snatch it up then go behind his java fern and sit there with it in his mouth until he decides that it is not going to kill him to swallow it. Is that normal? I know are supposed to be picky, but my last guy would just look at it for a minute to decide if it was edible and then grab, chew, swallow, beg for more. The crickets were pinheads, so they weren't too big. And the pea was barely bigger than one of his pellets.
Also, since I've gotten a different answer everywhere I have asked. . . My rena is about half filled with media right now, I never had the money to fill it all the way with my last oscar, then only had it on a community tank. But I figure it would be better for me to mess with it as much as I need to while the fish is still 1/4th his adult size. What should it have in it? More bio-media or more mechanical? Currently it has 4 sponges and half a basket of bio-rings. Should I take out a couple of the sponges and add more bio-media, or just fill what I've got left with bio-media? Also I've got a penguin 350 that I've been considering adding onto it. Could I cut one of the sponges from the canister and put in there for extra media or would that cause it to overflow?
Lastly, the few pics I have.
)
When he was a bit littler and hiding in his fav spot in the tank.
