CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Hello. My Oscar, named Jack, is about 10-11 inches long, and is in a 75 gallon tank. He looks quite lonely in there and I wondered if anyone knew if he's too old and large to introduce a new friend. I think I know of somewhere to buy large fish (not sure of what kind are in supply though) but they are rather expensive. Would a tank divider help to grow babies bigger, or would Jack knock over the divider like he does everything else? Sorry to ask so many questions, but I've been a little short on resources. Thanks! Jen

Well Jen,
Your O is pretty large to let him play with the smaller guy's. Depending on his temper and his diet, You might be able to put a fish that is obviously larger than Jack's mouth, for obvious reasons, and one that is very fast and has places to hide. All you can do is try, or put some toys in the tank for him to bust up.
Chuck

Thanks for writing back so soon. Jack has a ball he can play with in there now, and sometimes he does but not often. It's a foam cat ball, although I may have to take it out soon, his mouth is getting bigger everyday! LOL I'd hate for him to get it stuck in his mouth!! At this time, he eats anything I put in the tank, so I'm a little afraid to add a new fish. I may have luck with something big though. Probably about what, 6 inches? and about 3 inches high? LOL Thanks again! Jen

Hi Jen,

Yea, I'd go with what Chuck said, if you get a small fish he better be FAST You can try out a Bala shark since I think they're not too expensive, and see what Jack does with it...I think you "Might" be ok with a 6" oscar depends on temperament of each etc...but I would say best thing is to try to get a mate for Jack do you actually know if it's Jack or Jackey(Jackette)?

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

I think he is a Jack, but I don't know for sure. He doesn't have the 3 spot thing, but it looks like he has something like a gonopodium behind his anus. It could just be fins though because there are 2. They look like spikes (sorta like the ones on his back) He has more of a pointier head than a round one. But I don't know that much about sexing them. In fact, Until I found your site yesterday, I was under the impression that they couldn't be sexed! Huh. Who knew! LOL What are your thoughts? Jen

High resolution pics. Joe's pretty good at sexing them if the size and pic quality is very good. Other than that, pull your fish out the water, filp it's on there back and check out the undercarriage. LOL. No don't do that, you are gonna freak your fish out for the rest of his/her life. HAHA! Oh well, just go on hunch, it's less frustrating!!
Chuck

LOL That would flip him out! I remember when he got transferred to a 75 gal tank froma 25 gal tank. We were moving to a new apartment at the same time and I had to use a trout net to catch him! (Everyone still laughs at me for that one) He then had to spend a few days in a 10 gal tank till the new one arrived. He was NOT a happy camper! It took him about 2 weeks to finally start exploring his new tank!
I do have pictures being developed now, but I haven't seen them yet so I don't know about the quality. If they turn out I will send you a link to one. (I'll put one on my web page.) If they don't turn out, any tips on photographing them? I took the photo's at night so there would be no glare on the outside of the glass, and tried getting as close as I could without crossing that too close for focus line. I have my fingers crossed. Pictures should be back by wednesday. I'll try to have them scanned and posted by wed night.
Thanks!
Jen

Actually oscars can be trained to be handled but I don't know if I'd like to hand-catch one that big
Maybe give Jack a Jack Dempsey a few inches smaller than him. Although that would be pushing it a little in a 75 gallon. My two oscars have a Jack Dempsey and some plecos but they ignore all of them most of the time, they'd rather bite eachother

Hi Guys,

Sorry, didn't get to reply to all posts as quick as I've wanted, been sick again. Now, Jen, I recommend that if you try to handle your Oscar to try to sex it by venting, you should use a cloth that he can not SEE through. For example, put the CLOTH on the inside of your net. When I scoop up the oscar and his head goes in the net, even partly, he gets 'paralyzed' he doesn't move. Just looks at me with that one visible eye . Anyway, just put the cloth over the face. Try to hold the oscar mainly UNDER water, upside down with just the ventral side sticking out of the water a little bit. Watch out for the sharp dorsal fin
I might post something on taking pictures. Quick info, if using a flash ,'ANGLE' the flash so light doesn't reflect directly back into your camera. I use the NIKON 990 CoolPIX digital camera. Very good camera, takes very HIGH res pictures, 3.34Megapixels.
Ok, gotta go through the other posts

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

If I would turn him upside down, what would I be looking for and exactly where? I have a rough idea, but that's something I only wanna do once! LOL

Hi Jen,

You would be looking for the genital papillae, the "tubes". Called ovipositor on the female(lays eggs). It is a small protrusion right next to their poop-hole(anus). The male's is round and pointed while the female's is more barrel shaped(oval shaped) and is wider than the males, because basically the female needs to pass 2mm in diameter eggs through there. To judge well though you usually need to get them to 'lower' their tubes since if they're barely sticking out it may be hard to distinguish between the female's and male's characteristics unless you have a keen eye. You know I have been meaning to post some usuful pictures on this forever. I will try harder to make the time to do it.

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

I think you are doing a great job. If you check out suite101.com in the aquarium section, you see the competition isn't that stiff! Lots of posts, but not too much info on what you need to know.
Hey, you don't know where I could find a picture of Hole-in-the-Head do you? Just so I know what to look for. Jack is pretty big, and I heard it hits the big ones.

Jen

Thanks, well wish I had taken pictures...o well, mine did get HITH disease but they were young. You can tell though, it can literally be a "hole" in the head. may start out looking like a "dent" ...mine happeded to heal pretty quick after i removed the activated carbon.

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

Cool, Jack has these things (pin-size white spots) that look like the old TB or tetanus tests. You know the ones with like 6 or 8 needles in a circle? They haven't gotten worse since they appeared, but then again, he attacked a rock and broke off a piece, so it could just be damage!
Jen

Hi Jen,

Are they more like 'growths' on the skin or 'dents' in the skin, like you said could be damage, when they bite themselves and take some skin off, you'll see white. Does your fish try to rub/scratch itself etc..? If so it may be Ick (Ichthyophthirius), it's a parasitic disease pretty common with fish. If so try clout or other antiprotozoan med...
My fish never had ich, anyone here had to deal with it?

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com