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I have a 10 gallon tank, it has a 10-20 gallon power filter on it. It only has 1 oscar and 2 firemouth's in it, But I was wondering what is the best way to keep it clean and how often should I clean it. Is vaccuming the best way?

Unfortunately you cannot keep an oscar in anything smaller than a 50 to a 100 gallon tank. The stress on the fish and on the water parameters will be way off the chart. I am sure that your oscar is probably a baby now, but when he achieves 12 inches in length you will understand.
Please see if you can get a larger tank in the meanwhile. Craigslist is a good resource for good used tanks.
To answer your question, vaccuming will not be enough. You will need total and complete water changes every day, or at least every other day. Vaccuming is only good if you have a healthy cycled tank, and a normal bio load.

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The calming qualities of a good aquarium are irrefutable

he is a baby atm. maybe only 4 inches right now. and if he cannot live in these conditions, why would the people at the fish store, who seemed very knowledgeble, why would they sell me the tank and the fish to go in the tank, knowing what size tank it is?

There are many fish stores that just want to make a buck. I really can't tell you why they would lead you that way. Sometimes people just talk about things that they know nothing about. So maybe they didn't lie to you, because they didn't know what they were talking about.
I just know that here, I can't tell you that keeping an oscar in a ten gallon tank is healthy, or good in any way. Fire mouths and oscars are not beginner fish, they are serious and have complicated personalities.
I want you to have a fish for many years. In the right tank, an oscar will live for years an years. In a ten gallon, you will be lucky to have him live through 2009.

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The calming qualities of a good aquarium are irrefutable

Right here on this website, the instructions for care of an oscar call for a 125-200 gallon tank.
Simply go to profiles, then ciclids, then click on Astronotus Ocellatus. Or better yet, here is the link. Look under care...

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/475.htm


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The calming qualities of a good aquarium are irrefutable

ok I do plan on getting a bigger tank with in the next 6 months, but for right now I would just like to keep them alive, so do I need to do a complete water change everyday?

A complete water change might be necessary with the stocking you have. Best thing to do would be to test the water daily to see how much it changes so you can determine how often you should do water changes.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

More then a couple months for a bigger tank and you should consider taking them back and trading them in for something that is more suitable for the ten gallon. That way you can have permanent fish for your tank now and look at getting the cichlids when you have a home for them. Its really not fair to your fish to have them suffer in such a small home until you can get them a bigger one because "you like those ones better". Its best to research the fish you are wanting to get before you buy them that way you know they will be ok in the home you provide them.

most stores if they know your a newbie,dont care and will take you for a ride,most of the time,they just want to get your cash,thats why most of us from this site,say to search around for a good local fish store,then once you find it,stick to it.also if you are planning on getting a bigger tank thats great,but for now,id atleast trade the oscar back to the store,even the firemouths are in my oppion are to big for a ten gal,but if you keep up the cleaning,etc,ect,they will probly be ok for the 6 months untill you get you larger tank.but if the oscar is to remain in there,he will double in size within six months,they grow pretty fast,and he will just polute you water with hes non stop bio load....

Jagg

who seemed very knowledgeble

You possibly walked into the LFS and they saw customer with $$ that is all they care about.
Yes they are knowledgeable in sales and many are not in fish keeping. The best way to test a LFS is to ask them a few simple questions that you know the answer to.

I would return the fish then look for a good quality preferably privately owned where you should be able to get reliable information.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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