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May 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| 90 Gal American Cichlids.
This is going to be a Blog charting the growth/progress of my Cichlids in the 90gal tank. Hopefully to give others an idea of how big/fast these guys can grow, and also of any aggression and compatibility issues I encounter along the way to them growing up. I'll include Photos so you can see the difference in them as they grow. | 
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May 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| First Fish, 20.12.08. Pair of Oscars.
These were the first fish I decided upon, a pair of Red Oscars. They were around 2 inchs long at this stage and got on very well together. At this stage they were going to be the only fish in the tank.......... | |
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May 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| One month later, they'd grown around an inch each, and still got along well. No problems so far........ | |
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May 14th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Beautiful Nick! | |
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May 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Not long after this however, the bigger of the two decided that maybe he didn't want to share the tank at all and began to pick on the smaller Oscar. At first there wasn't much to it, just a nip here and there, and the odd lunge at him, but before long the smaller of the two was to scared even to come out and feed. I decided this wasn't fair on him, and gave him away to a friend of mine, who had just got a 90gal for himself and was looking for an Oscar. So that left me with a bit of space to play with. I didn't think another Oscar was a good idea, so after a bit of thought, and discussion on Fishlore,(especially with Amanda and Shawnie!), I decided to try a couple of Jewel Cichlids, which are known to be aggressive and able to stand up to much bigger fish. Here they are on their first day. | |
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May 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| After a couple of weeks the Jewels had settled in nicely and coloured up well. The Oscar didn't seem to mind sharing with them at all, possibly because they were so much smaller than him, and thus didn't pose a threat in his eyes. Encouraged by this, I decided to risk another smaller Cichlid, this time a Blue Acara........ | |
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May 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| The Acara did very well too, and a few weeks later I was lucky enough to pick up four baby Convicts. I decided to sell 3 of them, and kept the biggest, most aggressive male. He's the smallest fish in the tank, but NOBODY picks on him, he'll even challenge the Oscar for food, who is literally 20 times his size. | |
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May 14th, 2009
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| All this while I had been trying to find a Jack Dempsey, but with no success. Finally my LFS found on for me. He was in poor shape but as you can see from the pics, he soon recovered well and coloured up nicely. He is by far my most aggressive fish now, only bossed around by the Oscar, again only because of size though............ | |
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May 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| As of today then the final stocking list of my tank is 1 Red Oscar-7 inches, 1 Jack Dempsey-3 inches, 3 Jewel Cichlids-3 inches, 1 Blue Acara-3 inches, 1 Convict-2 inches. All of the fish get on as well as you might expect in an aggressive Cichlid tank, theres the odd argument but nothing major. Hopefully they'll continue getting along as they reach full size. The tank runs a wet and dry hood filter and a 5000ltr/per hr external Cannister, as even at this size they create a lot of waste. If I think it needs it, I'll add another filter as they grow. This is Brute now, 5 months after I first bought him home. Thats 1 inch of growth per month, to give you some idea of how quickly Oscars grow, and why it isn't acceptable to keep them in a small tank, even for a short time. | |
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May 14th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Great blog Nick..
I love to see the progress on fish as they grow and change. Your red Oscar, Brute is really a handsome thing, great markings. I have seen the Reds at my LFS and between the tigers and the reds.. its a hard choice on which is nicer looking. Your boy is gorgeous. Guess it was just as well that you gave away the other Oscar tho, in that size tank with the other fish, it may have been just a wee bit cramped in there.
Keep up the good work, your tank looks great!  Look forward to future photos of the 'kids' as they grow.  | |
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May 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Green Water
The water has turned green, I'm hazarding a guess at more exposure to direct sunlight at this time of year. After some great advice from Lucy and Carol, I will be doing a Blackout for a few days, hopefully this will sort the problem! | |
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May 19th, 2009
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| Love the tank Nick! Let us know how that green water does.
Listing the progressive sizes and growth rates is very helpful thanks
carol | |
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May 19th, 2009
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| Hi Nick,
I had to do that to my 55 awhile ago and it actually worked. Only thing different was that my fish at that time were being moved to a new tank, so I didnt have to cover them up as well. After four days I took the black plastic off and the water was clear again.
Best of luck with your own black out of the tank and Im sure everything will work out fine. | |
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May 19th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Remember to do a large water change afterwards to remove any dead algae that may be in the tank.
Carol | |
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May 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
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May 19th, 2009
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| Thanks Shawnie! I owe a lot of the progress to the great advice I've received on this site from you guys since I joined! | |
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May 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| sometimes I wonder how I ever kept fish alive prior to joining here ...poor things...it looks awesome ! | |
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May 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| The fish & tanks look awesome! | |
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May 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Black Out
Yesterday I covered the tank. The fish don't seem to mind too much, as long as I still feed them! I'll give it another day and see how it's getting on! | |
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May 20th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Goody  Yesterday I covered the tank. The fish don't seem to mind too much, as long as I still feed them! I'll give it another day and see how it's getting on! | Nope can't feed the fish Sorry . The tank has to stay covered completely and not opened. after ward do a large water change and feed the fishes
Carol | |
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May 23rd, 2009
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| Ok, after blacking out and a good water change the water is crystal clear again. Thanks for the advice guys! | |
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May 23rd, 2009
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| Wahoo!!! Awesome looking
Carol | |
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May 23rd, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Glad it worked Your tank looks great! | |
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May 23rd, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Very nice tank! I like the Oscar | |
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June 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| 16/6/09
Things seem to have gotten a little too rough for the Acara so I've removed him. He was getting constantly bullied by the Jewels and Convict, and although he tried to stand up for himself he was outmatched. I've had to change stocking in my other tanks to accomodate him, so he's gone into the 39gal with the Angels, Kribs and large Platies. Everything seems fine in there for now, so I might have a think about getting another fish to go in the 90gal. It'll have to be pretty tough and able to stand up for itself. Any ideas? | |
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June 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| green terror ?  love those bad boys! | |
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June 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| I'd absoloutly LOVE a Green Terror, but I've never seen any ANYWHERE over here. A terror would be perfect! Someone in town is selling young Flowerhorns, what are they like? | |
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June 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| flowerhorns are just AMAZING!!!!! but not sure they can keep up with your guys...all the ones my buddy has, are docile for your troops...but maybe an adult could swing it?
they are super expensive here...$50 for a 4 inch baby | |
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June 16th, 2009
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| The ones for sale here are unbelieveably cheap compared to what I usually pay for fish. $30 for a 4 inch Juvie. But I don't fancy it's chances if they're usually docile.......It's not the Dempsey and Oscar that are the aggressors, it's the Jewels and especially the Convict, he's a vicious little bugger! | |
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June 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| they are more like an oscar and dempsey kinda personality(flowerhorns) do you have a dempsey in there also? they would be good...especially if you can find a bigger one......I know about cons ...got my males in with africans ...should see my boys now ...I swear one looks like a flowerhorn with his bull bumped head..hes a good 6 inches and then some...no way anyone can order you a green terror? even then , you would need one about the same size as your con or he might even take that bad boy on ...funny how much fish are in some areas...crazy for sure | |
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how did i miss this thread grrr...great great amazing job nick!!!!! amazing how far things have come since you joined!!! 
