oscar questions

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Dustonthecabnit

Dustonthecabnit

Gambusia
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May 1, 2009
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- a friend of mine has had a tiger and an albino tiger in a 55 tall for around 5-7 years. There obviously stunted being at only around 8in . I recently got a 180g tank and talked her in to letting me rehouse them. Now itll still another couple paychecks before ill be able to get the tank running but my question is- Are they going grow any more? or once there stunted they stay smallish? and what else could I put with O's that size? if they have only ever lived with each other and a pleco (also stunted!!) would they be too territorial towards other fish? Its a 6x2x2 tank and i already have a LARGE peice of driftwood and a bunch of large to med rocks so im thinking it would work maybe - con's or dempseys????? any ideas suggestions thoughts would be apprieciated. Again itll be a month -month and a half before this starts happening so im just trying to get some ideas together so i have a solid plan. THANKS!!:popcorn:
 
likely stunted for life, and if it's been 7 years, they only have about 3 left max.

convicts will likely be considered a food item, jd's of equivalent size would work though.

that said oscars tend to identify themselves with their owner and they might stress considerably being moved away after having the same person for 7 years. In a good scenario they wont eat for several days and will pout at the bottom of the tank laying on their side or hiding.

in a bad scenario they will simply not eat at all, get too stressed from the owner change and start to lose weight, color, etc.

not much you can do but be aware and watch.
 
They'll grow. Last December I adopted a 3 yr old Oscar who'd been in a 55 g all that time with 2 other Oscars, he was 6" when I got him. Literally 5 months later he was 10 inches. His growth slowed after that but he's still growing. I've always read stunted freshwater fish will grow again if kept properly but that saltwater fish won't. I don't know about saltwater but I do know an Oscar will grow again :-) Here's his picture. 1st pic is the day I got him, 2nd picture is 5 mo later. (Same fish, really!)
picture.php
 
it might grow some, but it is already a pretty old fish...about the tankmates, should be fine, since at that size it probably won't eat full grown convict
 
7 years old isn't old for an Oscar... 12 ~ 15 years old is very realistic for a properly kept Oscar...

That said, 7 years old is pretty good for 2 O's stuck in a 55 gal for life. I wouldn't expect them to grow much more nor to have much time left in them. But it's great that they are going to get to retire in a nice big tank.

As for tankmates, shy away from anything in the Amphilophus or Parachromis familes... Most other medium Cichlids will be fine...
 
Thanks guys!
I wasnt really worried about them getting stressed from the move too bad. I would be using some media from there tank , same temp , we live so close our water is the same, plus the set up its self would be three and half times bigger than there current home. AND the fish have known me and recognise me as someone who brings it food. BUT I was just there and asked how old they are .....10. she has had them for 6 our other friend had them 4, (i was mistaken about this fact)
 
wow, well keep and eye on them and see how they do. most would max out at 10 years in that situation but you could end up with a few more years.

in that case though i would avoid young fish, much liek a new puppy would stress out your older dog, young fish can stress out the older.
 
Congrats on rescuing those oscars. IMO a few severums/uaru might do good in that tank.
 
thanks everyone! im going to do it! Now off to the DIY to build my w/d . Any one ever build one for a 180 out of a 55? my first time , if yall know where to look let me know or ill be sifting through pages for a week. thanks again!
 
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