Overcrowded and sick oscar?

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Luminescent

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 3, 2008
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Ontario, Canada
Hey everyone. I have a 35 gallon tank, housing some young cichlids They are no more than 2 inches in lenth right now. I should be getting a 90 gallon tank in 2 days, which I must obviously cycle first. I am still debating if I should put all my fish in the 90, or split them up. I'll tell you what I have, and I will let you more experienced people give me your opinions

Jack Dempsy
OB Peacock
Hap Moori
Albino Pleco
Albino Oscar
Yellow Labid
Johanni Mbuna (Male)
Bleeding Heart Parrot

Alright. So yes, all of these are currently in my 35gallon, which I'm pretty sure is a tight squeeze. The most dominant fish is my Johanni Mbuna, followed by my Bleeding Heart Parrot. All the other fish seem to tolerate them, and are just annoyed by those other 2. The only exception is my Albino Oscar. He is rather terrified and spends his days hiding in a corner. I have read that Albino fish have a more difficult time seeing, but don't know how accurate that is. I know I would be afraid if a blob swam at me at full speed. A few days ago, I was checking on my poor Oscar to see how he was, and noticed his fins were starting to fray. I don't notice any white spots on him (Ick), or any fizzy spots around the missing fins, which is sometimes associated with fin rot. Whatever is wrong, I assume he is stressed and losing some of his fins.

I will tell you what measures I am doing, to try and get him back to heath.

I did a 33% water change.
I put in some medication for him (Melafix) to help with the fin rot.
I took my 2 agressive fish (Parrot/Johanni) and seperated them from the other fish.
I added some salt/stress coat to the aquarium (not household salt, but the stuff from the fish store)

Now that I have done these steps, the Oscar has come out of hiding and seems to be more dominant than the other fish. He seems to be happy. I assume this will ensure his recovery. If anyone else has any opinions or input, I would be VERY happy to hear.

Lastly, when I do get my 90g, do you believe all these fish would live contently in the 90? I believe there would be enough room, but they might get a bit territorial once they are close to full grown. If all of them cannot go into the 90, I was thinking of putting my Oscar and Jack Dempsy in the 90, and also buying another small Oscar, making it 2 Oscars and 1 Jack in the 90. Would that be satisfactory?

I am extremely loving to my fish. Hell, I even TALK to my Oscar. I want to make sure they are very happy, healthy, and live long lives.

Thanks for your time, and sorry for such a long read.
 
When you get your 90...

I would shoot for at least a 125;) Not much of a price difference ;)
 
Hey, what your oscar went through was OTC (overcrowded tank syndrom) If I were you I would simply seperate the little guys from the big guys. Your oscar will become more dominant, aggressive, and grow even faster with fewer fish in the tank. I would leave him in the 35 with some of the smaller fish and then put him in the 90 gallon when he's around 5 or 6 inches.
 
i wud suggest tht u get one more oscar (probably a tiger oscar) and keep your jack dem and pleco. becasue the others are not so gud alone, they prefer company and wit a 90g u cant provide enough company for all of them :headbang2
 
Tongue33;1671987; said:
When you get your 90...

I would shoot for at least a 125;) Not much of a price difference ;)
Click to expand...

I agree because with a 90 you're not gonna be able to keep much more than the oscar and JD.

First I think you need to decide if you'd rather keep the africans or the americans...because basically none of the fish you have in there are suitable for a 35 and I doubt you'll be able to get away with all of those in a 90..the bioload would be far too much imo for a 90 gallon, not to mention probably aggression/territorial issues.. chances are you're gonna need to get rid of some fish though.

crisper;1800129; said:
your african cichlids really should,nt be mixed with your ca/sa cichlids. different water requirements .
Click to expand...

unless you're dealing with wild caught cichlids, water requirements really aren't all that important, imo. the cichlids he's mentioned will all be fine in anything from ph 7-9. :)

Now, I still don't recommend keeping africans and americans together though...however not because of water requirements but rather because their methods of communication are practically the opposite from one another. cichlids communicate in several ways, but one of those ways is by making their colors darker or lighter depending on mood and situation, and in general, africans and americans change colors for opposite reasons and this can often times lead to unnecessary fighting and/or deaths.
 
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