CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

wizzy wrote:Oh Mark and Dan, I'm laughing at these stories. They are great . Thanks for sharing them . I really really can't wait . The tank is arriving next Friday so its going to keep us good sorting it out over Christmas. I have a tetratec ex1200 canister filter seeding itself in another tank. They are an impressive filter . The tank will have that and the inbuilt juwel filter . Can you tell i'm excited lol ?

Yes, I'd be excited too! Actually, a single Oscar and Dempsey is a classic combination, fishkeepers have been keeping these species together for years. Jack Dempseys, by nature, love to hide in and under things, so it would be a good idea to create a few hidey-holes in your new tank. Things like overturned flowerpots, etc. They like to duck into them and peek out at you Keep us updated on delivery-setup and progress!

Pictures will be 'wizzing' there way just as soon as possible xxxx

Well ello again folks ...hope you all had a great Christmas ansdHappy New Year for Tuesday. A quick update.... the tank is in the front room and filled. I am just testing the inbuilt filter out... not yet added my saved up gunky sponges until the fish go in. I'm awaiting the temp to rise so I can make sure the heater is working fine. The substrate is half white sand and half gravel ...2 granite boulders and stacked rock cave with a flat slate top across and 3 other log caves about the place. I have shoved some plants in as I couldnt resist but I am well aware that i'm going to find them floating  I am going to transfer the canister filter across when I move the fish.

I still havent made up my mind yet as to tank buddies ! I'm investigating Pictus cats at the momment....any thoughts ?
I'm not sure that I want to put a plec in although there are some gorjus gorjus ones about.. but they are such poop machines !!!What between that and the Oscars rabbit droppings ....hummmmmm lol. I'm just admiring my beautiful white silica sand for the time being lol.
When you lot talk about 'rainbows'  which do you mean ? Whats the scientific name ? Thanks xxxx Wizzy

Pictus Cats and cichlids - Bad combo lol

Pictus are covered in fin spines. Last thing you want is for your Oscar to have a temper tantrum and end up with that thing stuck down his throat.

Good tank mates, (from experience) are armoured cats, like your L numbers. (although, ive kept an oscar with got hold of a 12" sail fin and wouldn't let go...) synodontis cats (although their african, they make a nice colourful addition, and grow big enough to hold their own) and BIG dither fish, like your rainbows (called rainbow fish, i think their from australia and new guinea) giant danios, silver dollars.

Dont worry about pleco waste, a filter big enough to handle an oscar is plenty for a pleco. Weirdly, the bigger a pleco gets, the less hell poop.

Just sat looking at my own 100 Gal "front room dominator"... tempted by an O myself lol, local lfs is catering to my every whim at the minute, offered to pretty much go catch me that wild tiger i'd mant lol

See what the new year brings eh?

Best of luck with the new tank.
Craig

<< laffin at 'front room dominator'. Yep I know that feeling. It's taken a bit of getting used to Craig...subtle isn't the word to use loll.
Ok not Pictus.<< scribbles those off the list.

The fish are in......1 oscar, 1 JD, 6 rainbows,1 royal plec,1 sajica ( gawd knows why lol )an 1 convict fry that refuses to be eaten
All is well for now.

craig_uk wrote:Pictus Cats and cichlids - Bad combo lol

I have Pim Pictus in with my O & there is no bother.  They were all put in the tank as juves & there are plenty of hiding spaces for the cats.  My Acara had a go at one as a juvenile and has not made the same mistake twice (now shares his hideout with 1  ).  Which leads to another point of course, namely who are these people that reckon a fish has a 3 sec memory.  Obviously never looked at a fish in there lives.

Besides which, pictus are far too fast for an O, he tried to catch a juvenile Rainbowfish today - that was funny      absolutely no chance.

I think you'll find something you'll like, or want to try something new or adventurous, my idea for tank mates was to have fish to cover all sections of the tank so to help keep clean as we all Know O's are messy eaters so i went for a mid tank feeder to help get left over feed then some bottom feeders to clean up If feeding levels are good and right amount of fish, your tank should stay cleaner longer, Practical i thought.

Good post Tony!  It's always practical to keep top feeders, bottom feeders, and mid water types together to help keep overfeeding from becoming an issue. Additionally, especially in a gregarious community, having fishfaces at all levels also makes the tank look good, too

yes I love my top feeders......my gourami loves it in his tank with Oscar.....he's too fast for Oscar!!  Good luck on the new tank, sounds awesome!