My poor Oscar and my first CA Cichlid

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
You might want to try putting some backing on or painting the back of the tank, it will help him feel more secure and should settle him down abit. Also some dither fish, swordtails work well and are geographically correct.
 
I agree with Dan, I paint styrofoam panels black, and put them on 3 sides, and the bottom of my tanks to provide a more secure vibe for the fish, and help maintain constant temp. Mid 70s are fine for JDs, when I snorkeled with them, the waters were "not" by any means warm.
BTW, if you have a tiny scratch or cut on your hand when you put it in the tank water, you will know if you have stray electric current, the cut will tingle.
Large live bearers are good dithers, and what JDs live with in nature.
I consider a 75 gal too small for an adult oscar, but OK for an adult JD.
And by the way both oscars and JDs are omnivores, so vegetation is normal part of the diet for both.


 
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duanes said:
I agree with Dan, I paint styrofoam panels black, and put them on 3 sides, and the bottom of my tanks to provide a more secure vibe for the fish, and help maintain constant temp. Mid 70s are fine for JDs, when I snorkeled with them, the waters were "not" by any means warm.
BTW, if you have a tiny scratch or cut on your hand when you put it in the tank water, you will know if you have stray electric current, the cut will tingle.
Large live bearers are good dithers, and what JDs live with in nature.
I consider a 75 gal too small for an adult oscar, but OK for an adult JD.
And by the way both oscars and JDs are omnivores, so vegetation is normal part of the diet for both.
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Thanks for the reply. All my other tanks are painted apart from this one. I have heaps of foam so will paint some and cover most of the tank. Yeah, I agree 75G is a little small for an Oscar so I want be looking at another until I get a bigger tank.

I was thinking of getting some rams, would they be ok? I have no issue in picking up some swords or mollys. I have read about giving them some veggies so will do that.
 
dan518 said:
Also some dither fish, swordtails work well and are geographically correct.
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Would Rams work? or is it a big no no?
 
tlindsey said:
You just have a very active JD don't see anything odd in the way it swims.
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I was sort of worried about that lol. It's not scared of anything as well...I was hoping I wouldn't have a crazy jd. All my pets seem to be a little strange and crazy ;)
 
dan518 said:
Risky, at some point they will come in to direct territory conflict with the jd.
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O ok no issue, I'll wait for the JD to grow and get the Ram's once he is moved. I guess cory cats are out of the question as well? I will get some Mollies tomorrow
 
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I believe adding rams to the JD tank will be a death sentence for the rams, maybe worse than you experienced with the chocolate.
I doubt any other cichlid will be tolerated, or if you do add one that is more dominant, in a small tank like that, then the JD will be dead.
It may be, that in that tank, no other fish will be accepted by the JD.
You see in my videos large JDs living with live bearers, but those Cenotes have thousands of gallons, and a lot of room for the mollies to evade when attacked.
In the Cenotes, 9 out of 10 strikes by the JDs miss, but in a small tank with no where to go, a JD will seldom miss.
 
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