Tank establishment?

Question

i'm getting an oscar fish on saturday...What will i need... i already got a established tank so i'll just use some water from that and add some tap water to balance it out and some spring water too. I have a turtle in my established turtle tank..so yeah a turtle is basically a walking ammonia paradise. Plus the water from the pet store it should be fine. What fish should i add and shrimp. And what gallon tank should i get for a baby oscar. I was thinking a 20? and a good filter and some veggetation. He should do well. How long will it take for him to start eating will he eat the moment i put him in the tank?

i'm a new fish keeper but i like reptiles the most outta all the animals :)

Answer 1

Ok, well you need to research Oscars first before you decide to get one. Getting it cycled first is a good idea, but for a single Oscar you will need a 55 gallon tank minimum, a 75 is a lot better for them. They will uproot plants so live plants are not a good idea. And it will probably take the fish a day or two to start eating when you get it. Like I said though, it sounds like you don't know a whole lot about them, which makes this a bad idea. You need to do your research fist before getting a fish that has the possibility of getting 15 inches. Here's a good site to start.

http://www.oscarfishlover.com/

Answer 2

Your baby Oscar will be an easy foot after a year, so it is ideal to give him a tank that gives him growing room... A 55 gallon tank is the bare minimum, but 75 gallon is immensely better... You could really only keep the Oscar in a 20 gallon tank for 2 or 3 months before a necessary upgrade... It will eat any and all plants, and what it doesn't eat, it will tear apart... If you have your heart set on plants, try attaching Anubias and Java Moss to driftwood. Oscars are very smart and should be provided with something interesting to do, like swim around a large, complex tank setup (rocks and driftwood are great)... Just water from your tank isn't going to be too helpful, instead, squeeze used filter media into the new filter, allowing the maximum amount of bacteria to be transferred... The new Oscar will probably be extremely stressed the first few days in its new environment, so wait at least a day before feeding it, though it may go a week or more before actually eating... Oscars will eat anything they can fit in their mouths, including shrimp (which they will readily devour) and small fish. Fast, active fish like Loaches make great tankmates as well as other large, peaceful fish. Oscars are not aggressive, they just don't know better than to eat things... Aggressive fish like Jack Dempseys will likely bully Oscars, so they should be avoided... Contact me if you have any questions.

Soop Nazi

EDIT: You need an initial source of ammonia or bacteria to allow the beneficial, nitrogen fixing bacteria to colonize the filter, preventing future ammonia spikes... so it is absolutely necessary to add water or filter media from your turtle tank into the new tank.

Answer 3

Don't put the pet store water into your tank, it could contaminate your water. Just fill your tank with tap water, treat it with a dechlorinator, turn on your filter and heater and let it run.

Just adding water from an established tank isn't going to cycle your tank. You need some gravel or a filter pad from the mature tank to seed your new tank. Your new tank needs to have an ammonia spike, followed by a nitrite spike, followed by a reading of some level of nitrates.

It can take 4 weeks or more before you reach your goal of 0 ammonia.

If you choose to put an Oscar in before your tank is fully cycled, you may lose him to the stress.

As far as tank size, get as big as you can afford. Those cute little oscars grow like mad and can be 12" or more in less than a year. If you start with a 20 gallon, you will be looking for a larger tank in 6 months or less. 75 gallons or more would be the right size for an Oscar. At least for a while.

If your Oscar is healthy, he should start eating right away, though you might want to wait a day or two before you feed him.

You should know that Oscars LOVE redecorating tanks and will constantly uproot your plants and knock over your decor. But it's very entertaining for them, so go ahead and just be ready to replant a couple of times a day.

Oscars are just cool fish, lots of personality - give yours a good start by allowing your tank to cycle before you buy one.

Answer 4

Take my advice and hold off from getting your Oscar. Oscars require larger tanks and more substantial filtration. For a start, 20 gallons is almost a quarter of the size you should be looking at for one Oscar. I think you should be doing some serious reading before buying your Oscar. May I suggest visiting Oscarfishlover.com. We can give you all the advice necessary to set up an Oscar tank properly and care for your Oscar in the correct way. You're talking about adding shrimps in with an Oscar, I'm sure the Oscar will love that, just like I like eating lobster. Tankmates must be chosen carefully, again, we can advise you on what sort of fish make good tankmates for Oscar.

Answer 5

first of all, the water from the pet store is NOT automatically ok for your tank. from the years that i worked at a pet store... there are antibiotics and all kinds of other added chemicals in that stuff. you should never fully rely on water from the pet store to be ok.

secondly, fish need water with out the chlorine. yep, even our tap water has chlorine in it. check out a product called dechlor... or you could put water in the tank and let it sit over night. the chlorine is supposed to evaporate out.

never ever use water from one tank to replenish another. you yourself said that your turtle is a walking ammonia paradise... why would you want to subject your new friend to that?!

you should probably do some research before you actually buy an oscar. they are semi aggressive fish. i dont think you can put anything else in the tank with them. (other than other oscars and maybe some cichlids... cichlids are pretty aggressive too)

dont just assume that youre fish will do well automatically. when you move, how long does it take for you to get fully acclimated to your new surroundings? a week or two? yep, same goes for your fish.



i strongly urge you to hold off on buying an oscar. do some research first. go to the store you intend to buy it from, find a book and read it.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

i foucn a site that deals with fish and oscars and a list of other tropical fish, there is two different sites there