Oscars with newly introduced marble needlenose fish...

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
What input would you like? I gave you some, others did as well. That tank is not sufficient for 1 of the fish you have...and definitely not for 3. A hex tank is not intended for fish that grow a foot long...and not intended for 3 x 6-7" inch fish with the voracious appetites and mess that oscars make.

Im sorry its not what you want to hear, but its the truth.

All that being said,

how many water changes a month do you do?
how many times a day do you feed them?
what do you feed them?
what filtration are you running on the tank?
 
Water change once a week
Feed them twice a day usually a mix of feeders, pellets, tubifex worms, and the occasional worm or grub and I have two whisper 30 filters running


-- Sent from my Palm Pre
 
Ok. Other than not feeding feeders and adding some sort of better filtration, you cant do much more than you are for them in the tank theyre in.

I only say that about the filtration because for me, a turnover rate of water should be 10x the size of the tank...ie: yours is 60 g tank so 600gph turnover would be a minimum. With 2 whispers, youre only doing half that (150gph per whisper 30). If your water changes are at least 50% weekly, you can combat the high amount of nitrates that the Oscars will be putting out.

Good Luck with it all!
 
wow. this is just getting more frustrating as time goes on.
wrong tank.
bad means of filtration.
using feeders and to top it all of the tank is over stocked.
It's just a classic case of jumping into a fish that you've done no real research on. when all is said and done you will have done 3+ tank upgrades when you wouldn't have had to because you were misinformed. At first everyone was politely telling you the same thing. two pages worth of expierence all telling you the same thing. You then bull headedly defended your incorrect information that, if you would have done some research in the first place, you would already have known and not been in this situation. We understand that you can't upgrade tomorrow. But those fish need out of that tank asap.

All that being said. Lets go to what you can do now.
Stop feeding live foods for now. It's too messy for the space as well as many other things that are not that great for the fish.
Upgraded filtration would be great but if you're upgrading soon look for a canister filter that you can use on your upgrade and put it onto the 60. Try to find one that has adjustable flow so you dont blast the fish out of the water.
Do 50% water changes weekly. You are going to end up with hole in the head on your oscars if you dont.
Lessen your feedings to every other day. The more food that goes in, the more waste that comes out. With your setup and stock your levels will change from good to toxic overnight(seriously)
Last but not least, research. Research feeders, filters, water changes. EVERYTHING! You don't have to, nor should you, take our word for anything. Find multiple sources on everything and don't get your info from a fish store tag. I work for a fish store and we have some inaccurate tags. It happens all the time.

I hope you got some good information from all the people that posted in your favor and were not scared away by the dicks.
 
Tipwitchaboy;4762885; said:
Both mine and kyle_91's fish are happy and in excellent health.

And no one commented on interaction of the fish, feeding habbits, water conditions, nothing... I asked for a few pointers on the fish not for you to assume that I wasn't going to take into consideration the tank.
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This Info is ALL over the internet and should've been preformed prior to purchase. Maybe next time put in a little effort and the responses won't be so blunt.

Okay let me "spell" it out for you; Marbled Gars a.ka. the Spotted Pike Characin (Boulengerella Maculata) are False Gar whom prefer saftey in numbers - a shoal of their own kind or similair species. They are skittish normally and have a tendency to dart irattically when spooked. A tank 5 foot in length minimum is needed to provide them with enuff running room so as that they don't sprint full steam into the glass and die. When they are not provided enuff space they develop claustrophobia, won't eat, and die. They won't fight with larger fish for food. Oscars being larger bodied and garbage can eaters will more than likely eat all the false gars food. Most False Gars are accustomed to eating live foods, weening them can be an adventure in it's self. False Gars eat free floating/swimming foods so anything that slips thru the Oscars to the bottom of the tank probably won't be eaten by the False Gar. Stress is probably the #1 cause of fish death in aquaria, Oscars handle stress really well, False Gars however do not. Oscars can be notorious for punking smaller fish, if this occurs, this will lead to stress related disease which will prove fatal for the False Gar. The Oscars may also be infected however the Oscars are treatable thru Meds. Almost all Meds will kill the False Gar as they are also very sensetive towards water quality. Oscars are very adaptle to water conditions, they can handle lower dissolved oxygen levels, False Gars cannot so it is benificial to add powerheads for increased 02 and current for 02 circulation. Now on to general water chemistry - Oscars eat alot and poop alot this creates ammonia as the waste breaks down via the nitrogen cycle and is measured by parts per million(ppm). Oscars can savely handle measurable amounts of this by-product Nitrate(20-40 ppm) False Gars on the other hand cannot. Hence - Cohabing Large aggressive eating Cichlids and Flase Gars generally ends up poorly for the False Gar. Small norrow tanks generally also end up poorly for False gars. Larger Tank sizes change everything starting with the basics of PPM. Hopefully your freind is reading this too because 3 Pacu's in 30gal. - well lets just say I can't believe anyone whom considers themselves a Monster Fish Keeper would boost a 30gal tank and 3 Pacu. The "right" thing to do for the Fish is return the False Gar and the Pacu to the Pet store and hope they refund your money. When you both do infact purchase larger tanks and make sure the tanksize is appropriate for the fish your gonna keep then we can help you keep them alive.
 
We have all done things like this when we first started, i had 2 Oscars in a 4x1x1 10 years ago with internal filtratio, i never had the internet or anybody to tell me different, the LFS said it would be fine.

In the end i ended up with 2 stunted Oscars @ around 7.5" each.

Point is, you are not here to slam this guy, laugh at this guy, bully him etc, your hear to give him advice and tell him what he's doing is wrong and why its wrong as he obviously does not think he has done anything wrong.

Don't play the idiot and laugh at his expense.

Threads like this frustrate the hell out of me on this site, not because of the OP, because of the childish responses.
 
HybridGS;4765027; said:
We have all done things like this when we first started, i had 2 Oscars in a 4x1x1 10 years ago with internal filtratio, i never had the internet or anybody to tell me different, the LFS said it would be fine.

In the end i ended up with 2 stunted Oscars @ around 7.5" each.

Point is, you are not here to slam this guy, laugh at this guy, bully him etc, your hear to give him advice and tell him what he's doing is wrong and why its wrong as he obviously does not think he has done anything wrong.

Don't play the idiot and laugh at his expense.

Threads like this frustrate the hell out of me on this site, not because of the OP, because of the childish responses.
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:iagree:
 
Just wnated to chime in on the Pacus. They are one of the most dishinest things fish stores do to people. They start out small and cute when they grow up they are one of ugliest, hardes to house properly, fish I ever had. I still like how they look when they grow up but most people think they are going to stay cute. They are also about the fastest growing fish I have had. They surpassed the 12" mark in just a few months. They are also true tank busters and the brutes can easily break half inch glass. The two I had nearly destroyed a 150g. tank they where in for just a short time while I fixed some problems with their 600g. tank. By the way, from experience, I don't consider a 600g. tank big enough to house two Pacu for life.
 
Chaz88;4765093; said:
Just wnated to chime in on the Pacus. They are one of the most dishinest things fish stores do to people. They start out small and cute when they grow up they are one of ugliest, hardes to house properly, fish I ever had. I still like how they look when they grow up but most people think they are going to stay cute. They are also about the fastest growing fish I have had. They surpassed the 12" mark in just a few months. They are also true tank busters and the brutes can easily break half inch glass. The two I had nearly destroyed a 150g. tank they where in for just a short time while I fixed some problems with their 600g. tank. By the way, from experience, I don't consider a 600g. tank big enough to house two Pacu for life.
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Yes i know pacus grow very fast in size when fed properly. Yes im on a tight budget as of today. And yes i will EVENTUALLY get a bigger tank.
 
And if anything, i can always trade in my pacus and/or sell them to my LFS when they get big and if i do not have a bigger tank by then (which i probably will). So why does it matter???
 
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