We did not as we only have our one tank. The arowana only stayed in the bag for a little bit so acclimate to the temperature of our aquarium. Would it have worked out better if we did?
Need help with my Oscar fish
- Thread starter WDBono
- Start date
100% yes is the answer.
You should always quarantine new fish before adding them and this could be a prime example of why it should be done. Hopefully nothing will develop and its the Oscar just being weird, in all fairness they can be nuts.
Just keep a real close eye on him. If he starts flashing against anything or doesn't stop this twitching you'll need to reassess the situation and take it from there.
A few things for you to think about.
1. A 150g tank with one Oscar and one pleco is just about right as long as you keep on top of your water change schedule to cope with the high bio load these two fish can put out.
2. Adding the arowana was a mistake in a couple of ways. The tank is too small, once the arowana grows, and you didn't quarantine the fish which leaves your tank open to all sorts of problems.
3. Your reported parameters of 0, 0 and 0 are NOT what you'd expect from a healthy tank. You should always have a positive nitrate reading, and when it gets to a certain level then you do your water changes to reduce it again.
4. As mentioned, the best case scenario here is that your Oscar is being dramatic, which they are known for. Worse case scenario is that your arowana introduced "something" to the tank. All you can do at the moment is monitor the situation.
Good luck.
1. A 150g tank with one Oscar and one pleco is just about right as long as you keep on top of your water change schedule to cope with the high bio load these two fish can put out.
2. Adding the arowana was a mistake in a couple of ways. The tank is too small, once the arowana grows, and you didn't quarantine the fish which leaves your tank open to all sorts of problems.
3. Your reported parameters of 0, 0 and 0 are NOT what you'd expect from a healthy tank. You should always have a positive nitrate reading, and when it gets to a certain level then you do your water changes to reduce it again.
4. As mentioned, the best case scenario here is that your Oscar is being dramatic, which they are known for. Worse case scenario is that your arowana introduced "something" to the tank. All you can do at the moment is monitor the situation.
Good luck.
Oh ok thanks for the advice! We didn’t have to do anything like that when we added the pleco but we bought them at around the same time frame and it was back when the Oscar was smaller and more shy so we thought the Oscar and the arowana would get used to each other eventually. If my Oscar continues to exhibit strange behavior or it gets worse is there anything I can do to help calm it down? And what does flashing mean?
Wow thanks so much for your advice!! We’ll definitely keep an eye on the nitrate levels when we change the water. What would be normal parameter levels be and at what point would they have to be reduced? Thanks so much again!
In an established healthy tank ammonia and nitrite should ALWAYS be 0ppm. However nitrate is a little different in as much that, unlike the other two, there isn't a magic bacteria that "processes" it further. No, you're stuck with nitrate and it will just gradually build up. 5, 10, 20, 80, 100+ ppm's. The higher the level the more problems your fish are likely to encounter further down the line. The only conventional method of removal is to "dilute" it, by way of water changes.
Some hobbyists will not tolerate anything more than 5 or 10ppm. Others will go as high as 20ppm. For some the cut off point may be 40ppm. A good level that most of us on here abide by is around the 20ppm mark, or anything in the "orange" zone on the API test card. Do you have an API liquid test kit? If not, you need one.
Basically test your water and when those nitrates get towards the 20ppm level then do a partial water change to bring them down, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat each week. You'll soon get to a point where you know what your nitrate is without even testing for it. The only things that will alter that balance are if you add more fish, thus increasing the bio load thus raising your nitrate quicker or, if you reduce your stock, thus reducing your bio load and your nitrate will creep up more slowly.
It's all very simple once you fully understand a)the nitrogen cycle, and b)once you get to grips with what the bio load is in your system.
My oscars would twitch and shake when fighting I think it’s a display of dominance. When they were 3” I had them in with some 4-5” goldfish that were overwintering and they completely shredded one like pieces were everywhere and after they became noticeably more bold, I wouldn’t say aggressive but they were out more and seemed more confident
Flashing is when a fish quickly scratches itself on its surroundings, they can’t scratch itches with their hands like we do, so they do that.
Usually related to disease, but may be a territorial display.
Many fish, especially cichlids, will quiver as a territorial/aggressive/breeding sign. Very common in Africans.
Usually related to disease, but may be a territorial display.
Many fish, especially cichlids, will quiver as a territorial/aggressive/breeding sign. Very common in Africans.
Thank you so much for for the advice! We have an API testing kit at home but I didn’t know about the nitrate. How would you go about increasing the nitrate levels? And would you recommend a full water change just in case the arowana did bring something into the tank?
