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MEAN oscar!!! | |
riri1 Fish Addict Posts: 537 Kudos: 435 Votes: 44 Registered: 04-Mar-2005 | I need help with stocking a 250 gallon tank and my oscar is not letting anyone in the tank without a fight and he has killed about $100 US of fish and it sucks cuz the only thing that i got in the tank for a while was a 15" TSN and he is only 8" or 7" and i need something else to put in there so it wont look plain! i have had 4 jags 14" and up and 3 midas cichlids 14" and up and 2 TSN cats 15" and up and he keeps on killing them and it is makeing me really mad cuz i want it to be a large oddball/large catfish/ large cichlid tank. an it is makeing me mad i have tried moveing decorations around and putting new ones in i found a really aggressive midas cichlid and he killed it so i dont know what to to so can u help me plz!!! i really need the help and i cant get fish that cost more than $500 US plz!! thank you a lot!!!! |
Posted 05-Jun-2007 05:39 | |
longhairedgit Fish Guru Lord of the Beasts Posts: 2502 Kudos: 1778 Votes: 29 Registered: 21-Aug-2005 | This isnt just aggression, this is basic territoriality, your oscar is doing the responsible thing and ensuring that not only is the territory exclusively his, but that its also kept completely free of any fish that might even remotely eat his fry, whether he actually gets an opportunity to breed or not, or whether the opposite sex is available or not. You wont be able to stop him.Your oscar is telling you that this cannot be turned into an arms race, hes taken on fish capable of killing him and won. He'll keep going until something mutilates him. Having lost that many fish of both distictively different form and equal aggressiveness, you may have to just take the not so subtle hint that this particular fish wants things his own way, is basically going to remain a bit of a serial killer, and by complicity will make you into one too if you keep dropping fish in the same tank with him. Pass him on to someone who is happy just having a single oscar, or just accept the fact that hes not going to allow any cagemates , possibly ever. Its one thing to try a fish and see if they fight and remove them to safety if they do, but youre just letting the oscar kill, and that is not responsible fishkeeping. To me its just not acceptable to let that death toll rise any further, most people would not have let it get that far. Unless you can house fish in a way that allows them to recover should they be attacked ,have multiple aquaria, and are on hand to supervise the fish to ensure all goes well, youve no business just buying fish and dropping them in. Its VERY bad practice. The trouble with cichlids is , they just dont accept limitations sometimes, you could put him in with a giant gourami, an arowana,waroo, bagrids, huge pacu etc, he'll keep fighting until the other fish is big enough or mean enough to kill him. This is not just a big predator that attacks only what it can eat- he doesnt want company, and whatever goes in that tank that moves will be attacked, he even wants the plants clear. Even the heaviest doradid will eventually succumb to his attacks in the end, or retaliate and cripple him. This isnt a stocking issue, its a personality issue. The tank is his, accept it , or get rid of him. Don't put any more fish in that tank.Some of the fish that have died in that tank would be a precious , prized and much loved specimen to somebody else. Its a tragic and cavalier waste to allow it to happen. Its not about cost, its about respect for life. I too have kept fish as aggressive as yours, and some even more heavily armed, things that could literally eat an oscar on sight,or beat the hell out of it, but I dont allow it to happen , I move them to where they can do no harm, and where neccessary, accept that it will be a specimen tank. It wont ever be a catfish or oddball tank until he's gone. |
Posted 05-Jun-2007 08:44 | |
wish-ga Mega Fish Dial 1800-Positive-Posts Posts: 1198 Kudos: 640 Registered: 07-Aug-2001 | You have two choices. 1. Keep your full grown oscar (but no others) 2. Rehome your full grown oscar (and have a new setup) People who plan to keep more than one type full grown introduce them as juveniles (and still have problems with adult territorial behaviour - so raising together is no guarantee). You can't let him have the run of the tank then change your mind. Don't get mad, get smart. Hard and expensive lesson ==> full grown oscars have big personalities. They don't like to share. Doing the same thing over and over? Getting the same result! It's expensive. Stocking aggressive species hoping they will keep each other at bay is NOT the answer. After two losses rethink your expectations. You spent $500? Very sad. Those are large fish that had been cared for and raised for years. $500 would have gotten you a new setup you could have stocked the once. What humans think looks nice nature doesn't always cooperate (same with gardening) ~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~ |
Posted 06-Jun-2007 05:24 | |
riri1 Fish Addict Posts: 537 Kudos: 435 Votes: 44 Registered: 04-Mar-2005 | yea well i got another 100 gallon tank for him and now i need to find some fish for the 250 gal plz help me on this and the oscars is going to be feed feeder shrimp. so i want some cool odd ball fish plz help me on this stocking! one of my center pices in my house! |
Posted 06-Jun-2007 05:39 | |
larry c Hobbyist Posts: 95 Votes: 0 Registered: 16-Mar-2004 | How about another Oscar? |
Posted 19-Jun-2007 20:30 | |
wish-ga Mega Fish Dial 1800-Positive-Posts Posts: 1198 Kudos: 640 Registered: 07-Aug-2001 | odd ball fish.... I don't know what you mean by that. You are not giving us much to go on. Can't just pull species outta the air for you. what sort of set up do you want? ====> african rift? marine? breeder tank? species tank? what sort of behaviours interest you? What is your definition of odd ball? ====>rare species? specialised needs? territorial behaviours? personalities? Respect that you are here and sort of doing the research. But you seem to have a very erratic approach with minimalist detail. Leap from one thing to another all over the joint. Makes it very hard. ~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~ |
Posted 20-Jun-2007 02:20 | |
ConvictCurvicep Small Fry Posts: 7 Kudos: 2 Votes: 0 Registered: 30-May-2007 | Your Oscar is just being a normal Oscar. My question is 'Have your ever had anything in the tank with him while he ws growing up?' I ask this because I have two Oscars of my own. Both were bought at the same time from the same tank. One I put in my little 20 gallon tank with a Channel catfish. And the other one I put in his own tank. Now this was an experiment on my part. I had read if you raise them by theirselves they develope some issues. Well, after three years I can honestly say, there maybe some truth to this. My albino white oscar is in a community tank and he never bothers anyone. My tiger oscar will not let anyone in the tank with him at all. It's been 4 years and they're both huge now. But, they both live comfortably in their bigger tanks now. Hope this helps. Fish are friends, Not Food. -Bruce(Finding Nemo) |
Posted 20-Jun-2007 17:02 | |
poisonwaffle Mega Fish Posts: 1397 Kudos: 591 Registered: 11-Feb-2003 | Would you be interested in breeding Oscars? You could put a female in the 250 with him and hope for the best. If he beats the living daylights out of her, then take her out and put her in a different tank. Correct me if I'm wrong, but IIRC 250 gal is big enough to breed Oscars in, right? You could use the 100 gal as a fry tank Good luck, riri |
Posted 20-Jun-2007 21:10 |
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