American Cichlid water

whats the proper PH for oscars and such? got 2 heaters for the 55 getting it going again today + got some gorgeous african babies from a fellow fish enthusiast

I keep all my american cichlids at 7.0, and that's not a hard thing to do because that is what my tap puts out. You can add cichlid salt to harden it up a bit. I used to but only added half of the recomended amount. Also I hope your not putting those africans with oscars. That's really, really bad. Amd I would strongly recomend against it.

they are being seperated today hence the question ... though one of my new heaters is busted and zaps you when you touch the tank(no critters yet and removed the heater till i can fix it) but i picked up 2 so the other one is still in, americans are going into the 55 africans are staying in the 80(PH of 8.2, my breeder friend's recomended level for the fish ive gotten from him)

Gosu,
How the heck did you end up with africans and Oscars in same tank?????
As soon as those africans grow tired of dodging Oscar pouncing at them the Oscar will eat them. 100% for sure, that is of course if your oscar is feeling ok (8.2 is high for Oscar) and large enough... I agree with VW and strongly recommend against doing this and you need to yank your oscar and put him somewhere more suitable immediately...

calm down ladies lol and the oscar is half the size of everybody else hes 2-3"

The problem isent size or who would over power who or anything like that, its simply water perameters and language. They don't speak the same "language" they are both aggresive fish and might be able to handle the others aggresion but they don't understand what they do to trigger the other fish. Central and south american cichlids defend there territory with aggresive displys and other signs that the africans can't read. They don't know that turning slowly to the side and flaring of the gills means get the hell away or I'm going to attack you. And oscars kept at a ph of 8 is not ideal and africans kept at 7 is not ideal. So why would we do anything but try to provide ideal conditions for our fish? Nobody is coming down on you at all just giving advice and experiance and isent that the point of the forum. I really hope you don't take offense or get upset over some constructive advise. That's not my, or from the sounds of it kings, intentions at all. We are just trying to give a heads up to what is in store in this instance. It is to be expected that fish will adventually die in a situation like this one. And nobody wants to lose fish.

there is simply no other option or they wouldnt be together, im not misunderstanding, let them tolerate eachother until something else can be made available, i was just teasing about the ladies comment

buying yet another heater today, a 40gal tank, a 30gal, and 2 10gals so i have all sorts of new apartments for my fishes time to make my own sump!

Good luck with everything!

Gosu, Kick back fire one up....No worries man, We have all had fish together at some point that didnt belong with eacother.. I was not in anyway trying to offend you, Just letting you know whats in store for those africans.. However I love when the south americans turn sideways and puffs up, its funny to watch how stiff and strong they try too appear, however it just means the fish is unhappy or Horny.. But you for sure want to get that oscar in a lower ph... Rob the filter media from your established tanks to help boost the time of the on your new tanks you can also use the decorations and gravel.. Good luck to you gosu we need to hang out and be disabled together..
Anyways Im sure you will do fine oscars are pretty burly when it comes to water parameters... I have a friend that raised an oscar for 13 years on no water conditioner or ever checking the water parameters.. Oscar was huge and super friendly and lived with a Goldfish that was 10-12 inches big that he had won a the totem lake carnival...Im done yappin...Enjoy

An oscar and a goldfish living together. Cause that makes sense

CrashSmAshley wrote:An oscar and a goldfish living together. Cause that makes sense

Thats what I said to him, he claims they never bothered eachother ever...

How did the oscar withstand all that goldfish waste? Was the tank heated or did the oscar have to live in cold water? Either way both suffered on that one lol.

ive had the 55 gallon setup and running with just gold fish for about a week(old filter media) and its been warm for about 12 hours now its ready for the oscar soon

If I remember right it was a 50-55 gallon top fin kit and it was heated.. Also last time I was at dudes house the fish were 13 years old (2 years ago) and big and healthy looking so Im assuming the suffering was minimal if any.. I have not talked to him in awhile so Im not sure if they are still alive or not

Gosu wrote:ive had the 55 gallon setup and running with just gold fish for about a week(old filter media) and its been warm for about 12 hours now its ready for the oscar soon

I would dump the goldfish and allow the biological filtration to catch up with that gold fish waste.. Goldfish are huge waste producers, and really shouldnt be used as cycling fish.. But whatever works to each his own....

Huh. That's odd

he doesnt seem to mind any, but i want him to be in his enviroment

CrashSmAshley wrote:Huh. That's odd

Whats odd??

That the goldfish and oscar were doing so well together

CrashSmAshley wrote:That the goldfish and oscar were doing so well together

Ive actually seen goldfish living with oscars a few different places now..

I guess goldfish are just so damn hardy lol

yeah the gold fish can handle wide variety of temp ph and hardness, most resilient fish ive ever seen lol! i dont even acclimate the bastards just toss em in, and i dont wanna risk any of my other fish so im using the feeders that cant be eaten yet - but its a 55gal with 2 double back packs and that home made canister filter

so theres lots of cleaning power

Gosu wrote:so theres lots of cleaning power

You'll need it