Tank mates suggestions please

[Nofh 13]

i am having to change the water quite often and the only reseon that they r in a 55 gal is becuase my 140 gal was craked and i have ent had the im to fix

 

[ChilliPepper]

Info is from one of KingEl's posts from a few months ago (don't remember where it was posted, I just remember hearing him say before that they can get to that size, and I trust that he was correct). And the "average" O will not stop growing at 12", I'd say 14" is probably average, though it is definitely not uncommon for them to reach 15"+.

I don't know who that is coz I've just joined the forum, but I'm happy to go with most site's max of 14".

I really am not going to argue with you over what the average size of an oscar is. I'm just going on what I've read. Maybe he will get bigger over a few years, great if that's the case, but I'm not bothered either way as I have the space.

Also, you presume that my current tank will just be "it" for several years. Please don't make assumptions.

My original post had nothing to do with average sizes of oscars anyway, and it isn't something I asked for advice on either. I was asking for tank mate suggestions, but after 3 pages no one has given me any....

 

[Aquanero]

This is and was my thought process. I do not think your tank is overstocked at the present time after correctly understanding your stock list. However as I stated the footprint is more important than the capacity in this case. A 168 gallon tank with an FX5 can handle the Bio-load and maintane good water quality with the weekly w/c's you do. It is the 3ft sq that is going to be the issue going foward as the fish mature and claim larger terratories, a more traditional 180 gal rectangular tank would afford more horazontal movement and spred the terratorial boundries. A square tank such as yours would be a perfect invironment for more vertacal species such as Discus or Angle fish or a nice reef set-up. There are many options for a tank such as yours, Oscars being the cows of the cichlid world spend thier lives eatting, growing and craping putting a strian on the bio-load capacity of thier environment and some as you know can become very beligerant over time and claim a larger portion of the tank if housed with smaller less aggrisive mates. So to answer your question as to additional tankmates, I would not add any more. Without just saying don't do it, I've tried to give a lucid explaination as to my reasons why I would not add addition fish if it was my tank.

 

[Amphilophus88]

JD's and GT's have about the same aggression levels, actually my Jack Dempseys are more aggressive then my Green Terrors, so I think a Jack Dempsey would be a bad choice. If the footprint was bigger, like aquanero mentioned, you had more options. In that case Green Terrors and Jack Dempseys would work. Maybe a firemouth?

 

[ChilliPepper]

This is and was my thought process. I do not think your tank is overstocked at the present time after correctly understanding your stock list. However as I stated the footprint is more important than the capacity in this case. A 168 gallon tank with an FX5 can handle the Bio-load and maintane good water quality with the weekly w/c's you do. It is the 3ft sq that is going to be the issue going foward as the fish mature and claim larger terratories, a more traditional 180 gal rectangular tank would afford more horazontal movement and spred the terratorial boundries. A square tank such as yours would be a perfect invironment for more vertacal species such as Discus or Angle fish or a nice reef set-up. There are many options for a tank such as yours, Oscars being the cows of the cichlid world spend thier lives eatting, growing and craping putting a strian on the bio-load capacity of thier environment and some as you know can become very beligerant over time and claim a larger portion of the tank if housed with smaller less aggrisive mates. So to answer your question as to additional tankmates, I would not add any more. Without just saying don't do it, I've tried to give a lucid explaination as to my reasons why I would not add addition fish if it was my tank.

OK, thank you for your post.

I think Severums are not too different to Discus or Angelfish, except that they get bigger.They are all deep bodied fish. I do not like either... Well, I like Discus, but they wouldn't like my hard water and I am not a huge fan of Angels now having kept some. They are not a patch on Sevs though.

I've read that Sevs don't grow particularly fast. Up to 4-5" they can, and then they slow down. So I have a while before they are full grown, obviously my Oscar won't take as long, he grows an inch a month approx.

I am not wanting something aggressive. I do not want an aggressive tank. Maybe some Silver dollars would be a good idea afterall.

I agree my tank would make an amazing reef, and that is something I have in mind for the future. Hopefully by then I'll be able to get a 5ft tank as well and put all my NW cichlids in there.

 

[ChilliPepper]

JD's and GT's have about the same aggression levels, actually my Jack Dempseys are more aggressive then my Green Terrors, so I think a Jack Dempsey would be a bad choice. If the footprint was bigger, like aquanero mentioned, you had more options. In that case Green Terrors and Jack Dempseys would work. Maybe a firemouth?

I rehomed my GT. I did not buy a GT knowingly, she was sold as a Blue Acara. I found out as she grew what she was and as I loved her, I tried everything to keep her, but in the end it didn't work, several hundreds of pounds later.

I will forget the JD idea, I do not want aggressive fish. I do not want to watch scrapping/gill flaring etc. That's why my GT went.

Regarding the footprint, it is actually a very large footprint. My fish do not just swim backwards and forwards, in fact they only ever do that when I am standing in front of the tank feeding them.
In my tank they have a varied and interesting environment to live, and are all growing and colouring up nicely so obviously very happy. Actually, for my fish who occupy all levels, a high and wide tank works perfectly.
Of course the ideal tank would be 8x4x2 or something like that, but how many people can afford that?

I think I'll leave this thread now. I'll stick to doing my own research like I normally do as I know my tank and my fish the best

 

[Amphilophus88]

I rehomed my GT. I did not buy a GT knowingly, she was sold as a Blue Acara. I found out as she grew what she was and as I loved her, I tried everything to keep her, but in the end it didn't work, several hundreds of pounds later.

I will forget the JD idea, I do not want aggressive fish. I do not want to watch scrapping/gill flaring etc. That's why my GT went.

Regarding the footprint, it is actually a very large footprint. My fish do not just swim backwards and forwards, in fact they only ever do that when I am standing in front of the tank feeding them.
In my tank they have a varied and interesting environment to live, and are all growing and colouring up nicely so obviously very happy. Actually, for my fish who occupy all levels, a high and wide tank works perfectly.
Of course the ideal tank would be 8x4x2 or something like that, but how many people can afford that?

I think I'll leave this thread now. I'll stick to doing my own research like I normally do as I know my tank and my fish the best

Yea I also did my own research without asking for advice, worked out perfectly for me as well. Just wondering, was the Green Terror damaging your Oscar or just flaring and a bit of chasing? Because flaring is not really a problem, even chasing isn't if it doesn't happen all the time

 

[ChilliPepper]

Yea I also did my own research without asking for advice, worked out perfectly for me as well. Just wondering, was the Green Terror damaging your Oscar or just flaring and a bit of chasing? Because flaring is not really a problem, even chasing isn't if it doesn't happen all the time

Yeah, she was actually damaging him. I witnessed them liplocking quite a few times, she would actually seek him out and chase him, so it wasn't even as if he was in her territory. He'd get scrapes and bitten fins.
The major thing was she was actually making him aggressive. She'd just p£ss him off keeping on at him. All he cares about is when his next meal is coming. She would rather scrap than eat. She'd wait until he had his gob stuffed full then start picking on him. She would also chase my Sevs occassionally, but not as much and only if they were 'in her way'.
I think one of them would have got seriously hurt if it continued much longer. He'd have been able to eat her face off before long anyway.

Such a shame as she was a beautiful example of a female. Have not seen another such stunning female, everyone says they are dull but she was amazing.

 

[Aquanero]

Such a shame as she was a beautiful example of a female. Have not seen another such stunning female, everyone says they are dull but she was amazing.[/QUOTE]

I have always said a good GT is one of the most beautyful freshwater fish in the world. I would like someday to do a large spices tank. Absoulty stunning fish IMO.

 

[Amphilophus88]

Yeah, she was actually damaging him. I witnessed them liplocking quite a few times, she would actually seek him out and chase him, so it wasn't even as if he was in her territory. He'd get scrapes and bitten fins.
The major thing was she was actually making him aggressive. She'd just p£ss him off keeping on at him. All he cares about is when his next meal is coming. She would rather scrap than eat. She'd wait until he had his gob stuffed full then start picking on him. She would also chase my Sevs occassionally, but not as much and only if they were 'in her way'.
I think one of them would have got seriously hurt if it continued much longer. He'd have been able to eat her face off before long anyway.

Such a shame as she was a beautiful example of a female. Have not seen another such stunning female, everyone says they are dull but she was amazing.

Ah I see yes sometimes it just doesn't work out. I had an Amphilophus Zaliosus and he just wouldn't stop chasing and attacking my blackbelt, but he ignored some of my other fish. The reason I asked was because I thought you brought the Green Terror back to the store because of just flaring, cause you said you dont like flaring.