My Biggest Aquarium YETTT!!!!

[FrozenFins]

Its 135 gallons, its my biggest aquarium yet and its coming FRIDAYYYYY.

I snagged this deal from kijiji for a 135 gallon aquarium, stand, Fluval 406 canister, 306 canister filter for a cheap price.

My plan is to FINALLY keep some oscar fish... YAYYYY. Its been a tank I've been wanting to keep since I got into this hobby, 3.5 years ago.

Tank Mates??

So I'm hopping for 2-3 Oscar fish. Would you reccemend to stay with 2, or should I go with 3?

For tank mates I've been eyeing down plecos. I doubt I'll be getting these oscars at full size, I'm hopping a nice medium size. But we will see what the fish shop has for us. I'm looking at getting either the Royal or Sunshine Pleco. Which would you reccemend for such a tank?

Severums Maybe? How many?

Scape

I have this heavy peace of driftwood I'll use. I understand plants and plecos dont mix because they will tear them up. Can I glue rhizomed plants like Java Fern, Anubias to this driftwood?

Food

I'm thinking Hikari Cichlid Gold, Hikari Food Sticks, along with frozen foods like shrimp, blood worms, all the goods.

 

And finally, is there anything I NEED TO KNOWW before getting into "monster fish". Aside from the "do your research, make sure your tank is big enough, etc"

 

 

[anitstuk]

On 11/10/2022 at 3:16 PM, FrozenFins said:

Its 135 gallons, its my biggest aquarium yet and its coming FRIDAYYYYY.

I snagged this deal from kijiji for a 135 gallon aquarium, stand, Fluval 406 canister, 306 canister filter for a cheap price.

My plan is to FINALLY keep some oscar fish... YAYYYY. Its been a tank I've been wanting to keep since I got into this hobby, 3.5 years ago.

Tank Mates??

So I'm hopping for 2-3 Oscar fish. Would you reccemend to stay with 2, or should I go with 3?

For tank mates I've been eyeing down plecos. I doubt I'll be getting these oscars at full size, I'm hopping a nice medium size. But we will see what the fish shop has for us. I'm looking at getting either the Royal or Sunshine Pleco. Which would you reccemend for such a tank?

Severums Maybe? How many?

Scape

I have this heavy peace of driftwood I'll use. I understand plants and plecos dont mix because they will tear them up. Can I glue rhizomed plants like Java Fern, Anubias to this driftwood?

Food

I'm thinking Hikari Cichlid Gold, Hikari Food Sticks, along with frozen foods like shrimp, blood worms, all the goods.

 

And finally, is there anything I NEED TO KNOWW before getting into "monster fish". Aside from the "do your research, make sure your tank is big enough, etc"

 

 

 I recommend starting with just two Oscars. They might become territorial and they are easier to manage when there is only two of them.. I remember looking online this year if Plecos eat rhiziomed plants and most sources say they won't. I recommend trying some Java Ferns first and then add more later. 

I also got a question, have you tried BN plecos? I know that lots of people have them and you might get more information if something goes wrong with them. Obviously all decisions come down to you. Looking forward to an update and a journal!

[nabokovfan87]

a lot of oscar tanks are barebones because they injure themselves.  Something to keep in mind planning the scape.
 

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/10/2022 at 5:16 AM, FrozenFins said:

Its 135 gallons, its my biggest aquarium yet and its coming FRIDAYYYYY.

I snagged this deal from kijiji for a 135 gallon aquarium, stand, Fluval 406 canister, 306 canister filter for a cheap price.

My plan is to FINALLY keep some oscar fish... YAYYYY. Its been a tank I've been wanting to keep since I got into this hobby, 3.5 years ago.

Tank Mates??

So I'm hopping for 2-3 Oscar fish. Would you reccemend to stay with 2, or should I go with 3?

For tank mates I've been eyeing down plecos. I doubt I'll be getting these oscars at full size, I'm hopping a nice medium size. But we will see what the fish shop has for us. I'm looking at getting either the Royal or Sunshine Pleco. Which would you reccemend for such a tank?

Severums Maybe? How many?

Scape

I have this heavy peace of driftwood I'll use. I understand plants and plecos dont mix because they will tear them up. Can I glue rhizomed plants like Java Fern, Anubias to this driftwood?

Food

I'm thinking Hikari Cichlid Gold, Hikari Food Sticks, along with frozen foods like shrimp, blood worms, all the goods.

 

And finally, is there anything I NEED TO KNOWW before getting into "monster fish". Aside from the "do your research, make sure your tank is big enough, etc"

 

 

Please post some pictures as soon as it's done!!!

Here's a vid that @Zenzo did on Oscars:

 

 

[FrozenFins]

@TheSwissAquarist

I have a journal linked in my singicture for updates!

[Guppysnail]

I am going to tag @dasaltemelosguy on this one. His Oscar is quite the interesting character raised from a tiny thing to holy crap size. He may have advice for you and especially on keeping more than 1 together. 

[dasaltemelosguy]

Being a neophyte, I started out with four juvenile Oscars. All were under 1" when I brought them home from PetSmart, adorably cute, playful and friendly which I thought would last forever. Two of them were, in fact fairly passive, one was more typical of a "semi-aggressive" fish and the one I still have is just plain crazy.

The Oscar I still have decided that there simply was not enough room for more than him (or her, I still don't know).  He will not tolerate another Oscar. He kept the other three hiding 'in prison' and Oscars rarely if ever hide, so I rehomed them because he was the prettiest...and before he decided on the death penalty! 

He's now about 14"+ and is bizarrely intelligent and interactive. He will stare at me and when we connect eyes, he then points his nose to the surface to give me a 'hint' and drops back down and resumes staring me down.

We once moved a 6' wooden carving of an alligator abstract near his tank. He clearly recognized it as an animal and relentlessly tried to get to it, so we had to move it out of his sight, or he just would not cease the attacks.

I didn't film that event but here he is first looking at a kitty, then me, then the kitty, trying to figure out the cat (sorry about the glare-notice he's about the same size as the adult kitty and yes, both eat pothos!): 

Oscar & Seba (60 Seconds)

He's friendly and playful with me until he sees a glove I use when I clean his tank, even when I put it on outside of the tank, he gets extremely aggressive:

Gloves Off (90 Seconds)

He recognizes food bags and gets excited like a puppy when he sees one. He will sometimes aim nose-down with his tail at the surface and splash for attention. 

He's also extremely moody. I can't tell you how many times I though he was sick or even dead as if ignored too much, he'll lie on the gravel on his side and lose all color. But he's just pouting. A simple pet on the head or any snack and color returns and he's animated again. He's 3 years old this month so I'm used to his antics and behavior. 

I had to add much more gravel as he loves to dig. He'll often create a 'canyon' overnight:

Diggin' Oscar (90 Seconds)

Only ONCE did I see him scared. I accidentally dropped a siphon in the tank and when the hose fell in, it curled around, and he saw it as an eel-like predator and hid, for the 1st time ever, or at least I'm assuming he saw it as such as he has no interest in it when I use it normally. 

I had him with Severums but he allowed them no peace, despite their large size and docile nature. I had him with three Pacu's twice his size and even a koi (I had absolutely no idea what I was doing back then) but he kept the lot of them in prison, so I rehomed them as well. Maybe this would have been peaceful in a much larger tank but that was more than we wanted to deal with.

He attacked my four parrot fish except for a little one which he ignores for some reason, and they are always together. I had to rehome two of them. He's still with two, the little one he seems to actually like and a much larger parrot who is just as nasty as him, they bump heads but little else. But except for those two, it began to appear he had to be effectively alone. Even in a 125 gallon. 

Our final attempt to have something else in the tank was a school of 13 adult silver dollars. We created a 'lucky bamboo forest' after seeing @Odd Duck's for them to hide in and eventually even Oscar grew tired of chasing 13 fish. All is peaceful now. A chase rarely lasts more than a second or 2 and has never resulted in injury. 

I love the Silver Dollars and especially the Severums, beautiful docile...incredibly dumb. I think I have smarter plants but they're so pretty, however he will try to kill them, so the Severums are in another tank now.

Oscar however is easily the most personable and intelligent fish I've ever had but he's made it quite a challenge. I'd never part with him...but I'd also never do it again!  

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by dasaltemelosguy
Removed Dupe

[FrozenFins]

@dasaltemelosguythanks for all that! your oscar definitely is the definition of a water dog. 

 

Name suggestions?

I want a group name for these 2 oscars.

LAYS AND RUFFLES??

DWIGHT AND JIM??

 

 

 

[OceanTruth]

Congratulations on scoring the big boy tank!!!

[FrozenFins]

Thanks for alll that info @dasaltemelosguy. 

 

[Odd Duck]

Oscar Wilde, Oscar De La Hoya, Oscar the Grouch, Oscar Meyer, Oscar de la Renta, . . . You see where I’m going, here?  😉 😆  I’ll let others advise on Oscar keeping as I’ve never kept any.

On the plecos, the Sunshine plecos are carnivores leaning toward omnivores.  Royal plecos are a whole group or species and the largest species can get up to 24”!  A little big for even a 135 gallon so careful selection would be key.  They are herbivores that require wood in their diet.  Otherwise fairly similar temp and pH ranges.  You’ll have to decide if you want the Oscar’s constantly stealing the food from the pleco or if you would rather the Oscar allowed the pleco to eat it’s veggies mostly in peace.

Congrats on scoring the big tank!

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

A coworker of mine kept an Oscar and 3 blood parrots in a 55g for over 10 years. Obviously that tank was far to small but they still got along until the Oscar eventually knocked the glass lid off and jumped to his demise. I think Oscars, being a fish with a lot of personality, are fish that present a lot of variables when it comes to tank mates. Some can be chill some can be psychos, it just depends on the individual fish. 
 

As far as plants go, I’ve never had issues with plecos tearing them up (I’ve only ever kept bristlenose though) but my cichlids sure love too. The most successful plant I’ve kept with them is Anubius Coffeefolia. I believe it’s ribbed leaves are tough than most Anubius which had helped it survive. They have torn it free from the rocks it was superglued to a few times though.

[Odd Duck]

My 2 rescued common plecos are big enough they dislodge and damage plants sometimes, but they’re around 10” and 11” or so.  They aren’t eating healthy leaves, they’re just clumsy and shove through the middle of them sometimes and thrash them.