Neville

Welcome !!!!!!!!!!!!


30 Gallon FW Tank

6 Angelfish

White Gravels
Fluorescent Lighting
Small Stones
1 Artificial Cave
Under Gravel Filter

Neville

i've changed my tank lighting from incan to flourescent....Tanks look much better with new flourescent lighting........

atmmachine816

I bet they doo. Your gona love the change.

Neville

Tips on OSCAR Fish

This article will help you a lot if you are a new Oscar owner, so please read before you start though it is a bit lengthy.

Oscars get very big in a relatively short space of time. They are also very messy fish, both in their eating and toilet habits. You’ll need at least a 55 gallon tank for 1 Oscar, but if u want tank mates a 125 gallon tank would be perfect. Oscars may grow up to 12-18 inches and live up to 10-15 years. Oscars grow pretty fast, a juvenile Oscar will grow 1 inch a month in the first six months and then it will slow down. Roughly, an Oscar should reach around 7 to 8 in. within the year, after that, their growth rate slows right down. You won't notice a rapid increase in their length; however, you will notice that they bulk up considerably. A two or three-year-old fish could range from nine to 12 inches.

Oscars come from the tropics so they need to live in a heated environment. The temperature of an Oscar tank should be between 21°C and 28°C although Oscars will be okay with water up to 30°C. Just remember that the hotter the water, the less oxygen there will be in the water so it's important to watch out for signs of oxygen depletion, especially in summer. A telltale sign will be fish opening and closing their mouths a lot.

When keeping Oscars, you have to bear in mind that these fish like excavating and moving things around. If you want a pretty tank with lots of nice plants then don't bother with Oscars. Every Oscar owner will tell you that plants don't last very long in an Oscar tank. For some reason, Oscars love uprooting and destroying them, it is very common so don't be surprised if this happens to you. You can give them a handful of rocks to play with.

Sometimes you may notice your Oscar sitting on the bottom of the tank; you may also even see your Oscar laying almost on its side. In most cases, this strange behaviour doesn't last very long. Oscars are not the most active fish; in fact, they can be really lazy sometimes. However, they normally respond when you are anywhere near the tank.

Oscars are what we call monomorphic. This means that males and females look the same. Unfortunately, you won't be able to go into a shop and choose a male and a female like you can with other species of fish such as guppies. Only when Oscars start laying eggs will you know for sure that you have got a male and a female. The females egg tube is round and the males sexual organ is pointed and looks rather like a thorn.

Oscars will eat bloodworms, pellets, earthworms, dried worms, crickets, shrimps, prawns, insects, small white fish, feeder fish etc. In the wild 60% of their diet is made up of insects. Rivers shrimps are very good diet for Oscars. Oscars need lots of protein, and a poor diet may result in a disease called Hole in the Head (HITH), which is fatal for them.

Oscars like to be boss. There are various fish that could pose a problem if mixed with Oscars; some of them are the Jack Dempsey, Terrors, Flower Horns, Parrotfish and Blood Parrots. If you want community fish such as Tetras, Mollies etc., put them in a tank of their own because they probably won't last very long in with the Oscars. Some suitable tank mates are Clown Loach, Green Severum, Tinfoil Barb, bala shark, Silver Dollar and Common Pleco. It is better not to keep 3 Oscars together because 2 of them may team up and attack the other.

Neville

TIPS

hi guys, i would like to add some tips on fishkeeping on this topic especially for begineers. hope it will help............

1. Start with the biggest tank u can afford, as they r easy to maintain and can support a bioload more easily, bigger tanks also have more space to dispose wastes.

2. Cycle your tank, it is very important. read the article about cycling on this site.

3. Don't overcrowed tanks, rule is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water.

4. be careful when u choose tankmates, study a lot before adding new fish or tankmates. keep compatible tankmates in a tank.

5. Perform frequent water changes to keep your fish healthy.

6. Keep aquarium lights on for 10-12 hrs only, keep it away from direct sunlight, u can keep the air pump on 24 hrs.

7. Start with 1 or 2 fish at a time. Study a lot before buying a fish.

i would also like to add some tips on goldfish, Guppies, Mollies, Angels, Bettas and Platies...........

Neville

GOLDFISH

1. Goldfish r heavy waste producers, so do not overfeed them or they will die, because they have a poor digestion system, give them food only they can consume within a minute; twice a day.

2. Best tankmates for a goldfish is other goldfish. don't keep them with fin nippers like barbs.

3. They need a cold temperature.

4. Temperature 5-27 degrees C, pH 6-7.5, grows up to 6" or more

Neville

BETTAS

1. Bettas love to live alone, don't keep them with guppies, mollies, angels or goldfish or other long finned fish. don't keep them with barbs or other fin nippers.

2. keep them at least in a 2.5 gallon tank.

3. don't keep 2 males together or they will fight to death.

4. provide enough hiding places.

5. temperature 21-29 degree C, pH 6-7.5, grows up to 2.5"

Neville

ANGELS

1. Angels r territorial and agressive eaters, don't overcrowed them.

2. They prefer taller tanks.

3. Temperaure 23-29 degree C, pH 6-7.5, grows up to 6 inches.

4. U can keep Gouramis, Plecos, Large Tetras, bala Sharks with them.

Neville

GUPPIES, MOLLIES, PLATIES

1. They r livebearers, so their behavior and maintenance r almost same.

2. keep 2 females for 1 male.

3. they breed very easily, be prepared to have fries.

4. Guppy- Temperatue 19-29 Degree C, pH 7-8, grows up to 2"
Molly- Temperatue 21-28 Degree C, pH 7.5-8.5, grows up to 2-4"
Platy- Temperatue 18-26 Degree C, pH 7-8, grows up to 2"

5. Don't keep them with fish big enough to eat them.

6. when the female is ready to give birth a dark spot will grow bigger on its stomach.

7. Parents will eat their fries if they r not removed or u can keep heavy plantation so the fries can hide.

armadillo

Great work, Neville!

Neville

Thanks armadillo, i hope it will help the newcomers.....

armadillo

I did something similar (in my signature, under 'bads') and was hoping for a flurry of similar experiences being posted, but didn't really take off. Shame.

timg

To the Mods:

Why not set up an articles section where you can list types of fish and list the ideal conditions, tankmates, breeding habits, etc.? It could be open to all to place their specialist knowledge of species on. This could be setup as separate sub-topics under a specific heading such as "Know your fish".

You could restrict message posting to this board, but allow images, or even moderate the postings before they appear, to ensure that the information is correct and valid for the section.

COBettaCouple

Do you mean something similiar to these pages? http://www.fishlore.com/TropicalFishProfiles.htm

timg

I guessed there would be something like this already, but I hadn't found it!

Neville

Hey guys!!!!! How r u? I can't believe I'm saying this but I've sold all my tanks and fish except one 10g tank; I'm very busy with my MBA classes and job and it was getting really tough for me to maintain so many tanks, so I thought I should sell my fish as I can't take care of them properly anymore! I'm so sorry and so upset for my fish now, I miss my tanks; but there is nothing I can do! My classes started last week; I've resigned from the previous job and joined a cell-phone service provider company called WARID Telecom; it's a new company in our country. I enjoy working here. I'm doing my MBA on Human Resources Management.

And I've turned my 10g goldie tank into a piranha tank!!!!! Relax guys these r our local piranhas; they grow up to only 2-3", bought 7 of'em; couldn't resist. My friend Tony inspired me to do this; I was getting bored with goldfish. These piranhas r aggressive!! They r omnivorous, they bite everything! They bite the rocks, they bite the driftwoods, they bite the plastic plants and even the Wallpaper. Very interesting fish and I enjoy watching them when I come back home after working hard all day. I feed them pellets, dried worms, beef, mutton and shrimp. They get really messy during feeding time. I've attached pics on the first post of this topic. I miss my Angels.

N.B.: The Pleco in the pic is not mine; I'm just keeping it for a month for my friend as he is on a vacation.

Neville

I would like to add some tips here on Piranhas; Piranha fans will find it useful....

PIRANHAS

Piranhas r very interesting fish, people say that they r very aggressive but they can be very loyal too; I have 7 of them and they follow me back and forth.

Piranhas r carnivores and they eat a lot!

Don't feed them live food only; it can become quite expensive, try to feed them pellets and dry food mostly and feed them raw meat and shrimp occasionally.

Freeze the live food before feeding to kill germs.

In the nature they live in dirty water where lights can't reach that clearly so they r a little afraid of lights; so put enough hiding places and driftwoods (I found this info from fishlore member Trpimp 147) and my piranhas r a li'l afraid of lights too.

They get very messy during feeding time so u will need extra filtration and frequent tank maintenance.

They grow up to 12" but our local versions grow up to only 3"!

Temperature approx. 22-27 degree C.

Don't keep them with other species of fish; u can keep large plecos with baby piranhas.

It's better to keep them in a school of 4. They need at least a 30g tank but u can
keep babies in a 10g.

armadillo

Hi Neville. This is good work. Could you take a look in the molly and kuhli loach sections? I've stickied a caresheet there. I think what you're doing on pirhanas is exactly that and it would be great if people got to re-use information from your precious experience.

What do you reckon? I mean, could you copy/paste this precious info in a new post called 'caresheet for pirhanas' in the pirhanas section? I think that'd be great for future pirhanas owners.

Neville

i have seen your caresheet, nice work , i did the same thing in the piranha section, as u suggested. how is my tank by the way?

armadillo

Your tank is cooool! Really green, I love it. I'll be the fish do too!

Oh, I see you've done lots of 'caresheet'-type work in this section. If you to the same copy-paste to each fish' section and pm me, I'll sticky them.

Neville

Thanks Laure-Anne!

Actually i have a lot of experience on Livebearers, Angels, Goldfish and betta, i had them before, but i've sold all my fish as i am very busy now and couldn't take care of them properly, so i have only piranhas now.
that's why i think i don't have the right to post caresheets on those species as i don't have those fish now. i'll leave that to current angel, livebearers, goldfish and betta owners .

armadillo

Oh OK. It's up to you. But for me, it's a question of getting it started, and then updating it with everyone's comments/additions. But I understand your point. Am just saying your comments would be as valuable as someone's who still have them.

timg

valid argument there Neville. You have experience, even if it is past and know a good deal about the raising, caring and methods for those breeds. If you were to get some tomorrow you wouldn't need to ask advice, would you? When you apply for a job, you detail past experience, whether you are filling that position now or not. please write the sheets and let others benefit from your knowledge.

Neville

hey guys, u r right, i added 2 caresheets on goldfish and guppy, hope it will help others, because i think in fishlore we believe "Nobody knows everything but everybody wants to know something " u guys can add your suggestions there.


Laure-Anne i sent u a PM, don't know whether u got it or not. let me know.

armadillo

Hi Neville. Thanks so much for the sheets! So guys, please feel free to add comments and stuff so we can add your advice to these too.

timg

Well done Neville that's great, and now all we need is a few more like that! When I get five minutes free from tending to my lot, I think I'll have to follow your example!

armadillo

Oh that would be great, Timg. You've got so many fish, will be hard to choose one to do a caresheet on!

Neville

Hey guys, I’ve sold my piranhas, they were getting too big for a 10g and they were too messy to take care of; I’ve bought 1 pearl gourami, 1 dwarf gourami, 1 blue gourami, 2 small angels, 1 rainbow shark, 1 zebra loach, 2 dalmatian mollies and 2 red platies. A bit crowded but I’ll return the angels if they get too big.
Everyone is very peaceful in the tank! The zebra loach is very hyperactive; it keeps dancing by the side of the aquarium, angels r very curious about it! Pearl gouramis r a bit shy, rainbow shark is also doing fine. I will post some pics soon.

Neville

All my gouramis look very peaceful! They r not bothering others, angels r also looking perfect; the pearl gourami was afraid of me at first, but after I fed him a couple of times, he started to recognize me, this afternoon he started dancing when he saw me in front of the tank, I named him ‘pearly’ but he is still a little shy of other fish in the tank. The dwarf gourami is very beautiful; he is not afraid of anything and is very gentle. The blue gourami is very introvert, he likes to stay alone and don’t mix with other fish but does not harass other fish. The zebra loach is very active as I said so is the rainbow shark, the mollies and platies r also fine.
I really started to like these gouramis, they r very interesting and have great personality especially the blue one.

Neville

hey guys, changed my fish again, as many fishlore members said that my tank is overcrowded; bought 2 fancy goldfish for my 10g, i will send some pics soon.