Oscar OK in bare tank?

[Ulu]

I heard of a story where an octopus unlatched it’s own tank, went over to the feeder tank, cleaned house, then went back to its original tank and relatched itself back in.

Whenever a story sounds too crazy to be true I always recall what Mark Twain said:
"The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to be credible."

The corollary to that being of course that real life is always quite incredible.

 

[Matteus]

Whenever a story sounds too crazy to be true I always recall what Mark Twain said:
"The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to be credible."

The corollary to that being of course that real life is always quite incredible.

Lol. This for sure could happen. Haven’t you seen finding dory. Lol.

Tbh it obviously sounds far fetched. But so does LEGO building blocks. But I’m not judging weather or not it actually happened or not. I don’t think I would ever have an octopi so not sure if it really matters.

On that note, I have also heard of people training oscars to jump through hoops, which I also have never personally seen. But I do believe the credibility of it knowing how intelligent they are. I don’t quite know if I would want an adult Oscar to get used to jumping out of its tank.

 

[PhishMon84]

One of my LFS has open since the early 70’s- there is an old fish “training kit” for sale there. It was probably there the day they opened. You know what the packaging looks like weathered cardboard worn out photos.
It has a few hoops and some ping pong balls- one on a string.
Almost like cat toys- maybe you can get your O to do an agility course!

 

[Ulu]

I don't think he will jump through hoops, but who knows? He could be a fish genius!

He appears to be mostly an Amazon Rockbiter.

I gave him some plastic things and he is starting to show some interest.

But Felix is not a lonely fish.

He lives at the crossroads of our house. He can see 3 rooms, plus his own foyer, and he also sees a big mirror and can see down the hall "behind" his tank.

He sees us, plus the cats and dogs, coming amd going. He reacts to most of it with good grace and mild interest.

Unless he sees me and he is hungry, which is almost always.

 

[Serpentine]

Lol. This for sure could happen. Haven’t you seen finding dory. Lol.

Tbh it obviously sounds far fetched. But so does LEGO building blocks. But I’m not judging weather or not it actually happened or not. I don’t think I would ever have an octopi so not sure if it really matters.

On that note, I have also heard of people training oscars to jump through hoops, which I also have never personally seen. But I do believe the credibility of it knowing how intelligent they are. I don’t quite know if I would want an adult Oscar to get used to jumping out of its tank.

I actually remember reading that story. IIRC the octopus helped himself to an all you can eat crab buffet on multiple occasions. The mystery of the disappearing crabs was finally solved when he was caught on camera. They also collect toys to play with in their dens in the wild and have been known to actually die of boredom if not kept sufficiently stimulated in captivity. Their lifespans are tragically short though. Some live 6 months, some up to 2 years but it's just too little for such an amazingly complex creature. They are expensive to buy and keep and have nasty, sometimes lethally venomous bites.

My Oscars and other cichlids like playing with those Holee Roller rubber balls for cats or small dogs. They can roll them around but also pick them up and carry them around. Brightly colored floating ping pong balls are a hit as well.

 

[Serpentine]

A word of caution on the natural stones and crystals.... Some are dyed or sealed with who-knows-what chemicals and some stones contain mineral compounds that are toxic to fish. It's a good idea to do some quick research before you plunk a stone of any kind into an aquarium to make sure it's safe. If in doubt, don't use it.

 

[Ulu]

Thanks Serpentine. We picked these rocks up in the desert 50 years ago. Mom was a rockhound, and Dad was in the Air Force. Whenever we moved, the govt shipped the rocks around the country for us in crates labeled "technical books."

The stuff I'm using raises the GH a tiny bit, but no more.

 

[Ulu]

I put a whole lot of rock on my property for drainage last year and I'm talking dump truck loads full of it. There was about six to seven yards of river rock, cobbles, and very large gravel.

Now at my leisure, I'm going through it picking the interesting things but I have still a huge crate of my mom's stuff that I have not even sorted through and there must be a hundred geodes in it plus petrified wood etc.

 

[Serpentine]

I put a whole lot of rock on my property for drainage last year and I'm talking dump truck loads full of it. There was about six to seven yards of river rock, cobbles, and very large gravel.

Now at my leisure, I'm going through it picking the interesting things but I have still a huge crate of my mom's stuff that I have not even sorted through and there must be a hundred geodes in it plus petrified wood etc.

Just be careful. I sound like a worrywart but I learned about the risks of even untreated stones and crystals by accidentally killing an entire tank of very expensive ornamental shrimp that I had meant to breed because the rock I thought they would enjoy climbing on had naturally occurring copper as part of its mineral composition. It broke my heart. It isn't only that pH can be altered but also that the rock can actually be poisonous.

Quartz is pretty safe, as are untreated rose (pink) quartz and its light green cousin aventurine. I have a big slab of aventurine in my Opae Ula shrimp tank. I haven't had problems with petrified wood in my cichlid or tropical fish tanks. Holey rock will raise pH quite a bit but I use it exactly for that purpose in some tanks. Malachite is stunningly beautiful but toxic as all get out. I don't even wear it directly against my skin in jewelry. Very small amounts are used in making the medication malachite green.

You get the point. Just a cautionary note to everyone that rocks can either be beautiful decorative features or disasters for your animals depending on their natural composition or processing.

 

[Ulu]

Thank you for taking the time Serpentine . It's possible that I am making my snails infertile. So far I don't have seem to be having fish problems but that doesn't mean that I don't have undiscovered problems. Every one of my 10 tanks has been running for less than 18mos.

None of the rocks that I used appeared to have any obvious verdegris or green corrosion. Some do indeed have crystals inside but they mostly appear clear, slightly yellow, or slightly purple.

I am aware about the problems of invertebrates and bottom fish and typically I will clean & test a rock and soak it.

Then I will put it in a tank with snails. If it contains heavy metals the snails should die off, but So far they do well.


I've got geodes in tanks with various bottom fish, & so far I haven't had any problems with them. I must say that the snail population in my tanks do ok and lay eggs frequently.

I frequently crop snails and snail eggs and feed them to my oscar, to control the population and because Oscars just love snails.

But I have never raised shrimp and I think that would be the real test because they are so delicate. I should buy a dozen shrimp and throw them in a tank with some test rocks to see what happens.

Anyhow back to the topic? Oh what the heck...
Here's some more random pictures for Christmas!