oscar to small?
- Thread starter reapertheoscar
- Start date
nah im probably exaggerating cause I would vaccum gravel when im bored .
Probably not more than half a year.
Probably not more than half a year.
I say kudos to you man!
You are an outstanding fishkeeper. Better than 99.9% of us that have to do weekly water changes to keep nitrates <20ppm on day 7. All the filtration in the world doesn't prevent nitrates from happening in a tank with breathing, eating and pooping critters.
Honestly, imo that is not a horrible growth rate. From your original post you have had the fish 9 months and it has grown 4 to 5 inches. 1/2" per month is on the low side, but not by that much. I had 2 juvies in the same tank and their growth rates were vastly different. Aggression was not an issue, just different fish with different genetics. I can't really see where a 3 month stay in a 20g for a 1" fish would cause any lasting adverse effects. All you can do is keep nitrates low and provide a quality diet. The rest is up to the fish.
if I am to understand what you are saying, you do one water change about every 6 months and your perams are always good. every thing is 0. I am sorry but this is just not possible. you are doing your water tests, or your testing equipment is faulty or what ever. no offence meant.
Personally I try to keep my nitrates as low as possible.
Like pops, I also use an API freshwater "master" kit, it's cheap (considering the price of some kits) and fairly accurate as well.
I test my water before and after each change. If the test after the change says the nitrate is above 10ppm, I'll do another large change the next day to "reset" it to zero. This normally happens every six weeks or so on my big tank with my current WC schedule and a little less frequently on the smaller ones as they're not stocked as heavily.
Good luck with your oscar.
You do understand that right after adding water is not a good time to test. You have to let the new and old water mix well to get a true reading. Trying waiting several hours after a water change.
Also if you have 10ppm nitrates and do a big water change, by this I assume 50% or in and around there. You are still going to be left with 4-5ppm.nitrates not zero. The only way to zero out would be to start from scratch.
I give it an hour or so after changing before I test, I realize that testing directly after is pointless. My tanks all have approx 10x hourly turnover (slightly more on the big tank) so an hour or so (sometimes longer, I'm rather absent minded at times) is plenty of time for it to mix.
Large meaning 80%+, if I do a second change, it's down to fin level or 'eye up'. Of course it doesn't go to "zero", I should have worded that differently, it goes down low enough that my api kit doesn't register it.
I really should start being more clear with these things... Sometimes "close enough" isn't good enough I guess.
