New 150g SA cichlid tank, questions.

[williamsejames]

I just set up my first fish tank, and I'm still trying to work everything out. I have a few questions and concerns, and I'd like to sum everything up in one thread instead of creating tons of different threads all over the place.

First a bit of info for your reference

livestock: 2 10" breeding tiger oscars, 2 5" convict cichlids, 3 clown loaches 2-4", 1 13" common pleco, 1 7" synodontis catfish

equipment: 150g long tank, fluval fx5, 2x aquaclear 110, 2x 300w heaters, seio m1500 powerhead, 2x36" used fluorescent lights

other: 7.4ph, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <5ppm nitrate, 10% water change twice a week, varied diet of dry foods, the tank is about 2 months old. spent the first month cycling, added everything but the clowns about a month ago. I added the clown loaches yesterday.

now for the questions...

given my stock list, and assuming proper water conditions are maintained, how do you start to tell if your tank is overcrowded?

My oscar laid eggs but they grew white fungus and none of them hatched. is it possible that both are female or the male is infertile? how long before they try to spawn again?

At feeding time my oscars gobble up everything i put in the tank. unless i throw in handfulls of food nothing will even touch the aquarium floor. how do i make sure every fish is getting their correct amount of food? It seems impossible.

My aquarium has a slight yellow tint to the water, although the water is very clear the color makes it look dirty. I think this is due to a combination of my driftwood and old fluorescent lights. I tried running carbon for about a month but the water color never changed so i finally took the carbon out. I'm concerned about buying new lights because it seems all my fish like low-light environments. what's the correct kind of bulb for an SA cichlid tank or how do I remove the yellow color from my water?

I know clown loaches do better in larger groups but it's very hard to find any bigger than an inch. Is it okay to only have 3 loaches in a tank? the smallest one wanders off and I'm afraid the oscars will have him for dinner.

My aquascaping is very dull and I would like to add some live plants. Is there anything that would survive in my tank (gravel substrate) or will it get destroyed? interested in anacharis, moss balls, java fern, etc.

I know i had a lot more questions but that's enough for now. feel free to answer, some, all, or none. I'm a bit overwhelmed and appreciate all the advice I can get.

 

[elting44]

I just set up my first fish tank, and I'm still trying to work everything out. I have a few questions and concerns, and I'd like to sum everything up in one thread instead of creating tons of different threads all over the place.

First a bit of info for your reference

livestock: 2 10" breeding tiger oscars, 2 5" convict cichlids, 3 clown loaches 2-4", 1 13" common pleco, 1 7" synodontis catfish

equipment: 150g long tank, fluval fx5, 2x aquaclear 110, 2x 300w heaters, seio m1500 powerhead, 2x36" used fluorescent lights

other: 7.4ph, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <5ppm nitrate, 10% water change twice a week, varied diet of dry foods, the tank is about 2 months old. spent the first month cycling, added everything but the clowns about a month ago. I added the clown loaches yesterday.

now for the questions...

given my stock list, and assuming proper water conditions are maintained, how do you start to tell if your tank is overcrowded? If there starts to be be detectable amounts of ammonia/nitrites, or if there is aggression issues in the tank, or some of the fish are stressed/bullied, overcrowding may be the culprit. Overcrowding can be bad for a number of reasons, but the main side effect is a decline in water quality. In an overcrowded tank the bioload is too much for your beneficial bacteria to support, and the water quality suffers.

In your case your stock produces a lot of waste. 2 large Oscars and a large pleco are basically poop factories, the FX5 and 2 AC 110s have a large capacity for bio and mechanical filtration, depending on the filter media you are using. I would be cautious about only doing 2x 10% WCs. Doing a larger weekly WC, say 30-50%, will be better in terms of nitrate removal

My oscar laid eggs but they grew white fungus and none of them hatched. is it possible that both are female or the male is infertile? how long before they try to spawn again? It is possible that they are both female, or one of them is sterile, or it is possible that they are just not effective parents at this point, in some cases it takes a few tries for a pair to get it right. Typically when a egg gets fungal it will be eaten/culled and the rest of the eggs remain healthy. I have not personally bred Oscars, so I am not sure how often they spawn. The next time they go into pre-spawning behavior, keep an eye on their sexual organs, females will have a wider breeding tube, that looks like a U, while a male will have a thinner more V shaped apparatus

At feeding time my oscars gobble up everything i put in the tank. unless i throw in handfulls of food nothing will even touch the aquarium floor. how do i make sure every fish is getting their correct amount of food? It seems impossible. As long as all of the fish are getting some food, you should be ok. What do you feed the Oscars? Try feeding them large pellets, or large pieces of shrimp/earthworms and then offer smaller sized food for the other inhabitants, use caution, any uneaten food has the potential to add ammonia to your water

My aquarium has a slight yellow tint to the water, although the water is very clear the color makes it look dirty. I think this is due to a combination of my driftwood and old fluorescent lights. I tried running carbon for about a month but the water color never changed so i finally took the carbon out. I'm concerned about buying new lights because it seems all my fish like low-light environments. what's the correct kind of bulb for an SA cichlid tank or how do I remove the yellow color from my water? The yellow tint is probably from tannins, larger water changes will make the yellow less noticeable, and eventually the driftwood will stop leaching tannins into the water. As far as lighting is concerned, I use a 50/50 full spectrum/actinic bulb. I don't sweat lighting too much as I don't have any planted tanks.

I know clown loaches do better in larger groups but it's very hard to find any bigger than an inch. Is it okay to only have 3 loaches in a tank? the smallest one wanders off and I'm afraid the oscars will have him for dinner. I haven't kept loaches, but I am guessing it would be wise to not add anything to the tank that will fit in the Oscar's mouth

My aquascaping is very dull and I would like to add some live plants. Is there anything that would survive in my tank (gravel substrate) or will it get destroyed? interested in anacharis, moss balls, java fern, etc.Oscars are known for their interior design, they will rearrange the tank to their own liking, live plants will like likely get uprooted/shredded at some point. Plastic/Silk plants would be the way to go, if you don't like that look, I would pass on plants. I imagine having a Oscar in a planted tank is like having Chunk from "The Goonies" in an antique shop, it will end badly

I know i had a lot more questions but that's enough for now. feel free to answer, some, all, or none. I'm a bit overwhelmed and appreciate all the advice I can get.

Welcome to MFK, hope this helps.

 

[williamsejames]

Welcome to MFK, hope this helps.

thanks for the great advice, and thanks for the warm welcome.

I'm still interested in hearing tips from the rest of the community.