210 Gallon Tank

I wouldn't mind a midas or jd

Jantilla wrote:I want something big and gentle like an oscar.

Jantilla wrote:I wouldn't mind a midas or jd

Neither of those are really gentle fish. You can of course get lucky and have one like DMD had, but mostly they don't really play nice.

Yep, I had a freakishly peaceful midas. Thats why the loss hit so hard. To be able to find a large community friendly cichlid sometimes is the real challenge.

At cayes pets they have a tank that has alot of different cichlids including oscar's mixed in. Maybe I can find something in that tank.

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How about one of these? I want the fish to swim where they want when they want. My oscar's swim the entire tank. They are always together and I like that.

No on the Frontosa. They are African, and I am sure the African owners on here can give you a million reasons why.

I guess I don't have many options. Maybe I'll get a red oscar.

If you really like Jacks you could try a blue JD, they are a lot more mellow than the standard ones.

I have tried them in the past and it didn't work out. It might now since the oscar's are alot bigger.

I have a question. In one of my wet/drys I'm using the filter pads that you can cut to size. It's blue on one side and white on the other. I think it's made by marineland. It's a little too thick for my wet/dry and I'm wondering if I can use felt instead.

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Zerc wrote:If you really like Jacks you could try a blue JD, they are a lot more mellow than the standard ones.

But EBJD are very tepermental. I mean the water has to be perfect, and they stress and get sick very easily. So sharing a tank with dirty Oscars, EBJD would not be a good idea.

You have plenty of room in that tank to add some fish. Stop over analyzing and just pick your fish. I have the exact same tank and I have in it 1 x RTM 12", 2 x RTM 11", 1 x Freddie 11", 3 x Freddie 8", 2 x Cuban 4", 1 x Strigata Pike 10", 3 x Blythe Loaches 4", and I just removed a 12" male Festae.

You have the room, fill the tank and enjoy.

madness wrote:

Zerc wrote:If you really like Jacks you could try a blue JD, they are a lot more mellow than the standard ones.

But EBJD are very tepermental. I mean the water has to be perfect, and they stress and get sick very easily. So sharing a tank with dirty Oscars, EBJD would not be a good idea.

You have plenty of room in that tank to add some fish. Stop over analyzing and just pick your fish. I have the exact same tank and I have in it 1 x RTM 12", 2 x RTM 11", 1 x Freddie 11", 3 x Freddie 8", 2 x Cuban 4", 1 x Strigata Pike 10", 3 x Blythe Loaches 4", and I just removed a 12" male Festae.

You have the room, fill the tank and enjoy.

Well I'm trying to find out what fish I can have. I have thought of a few that people say won't work. I may just stick to the fish I have. At least they will have a ton of room.

I honestly think if you get younger jacks, a even a texas cichlid, and they grow with the oscars in that size tank, everyone would be happy..... just dont go out and grab a mature one that lived alone in a tank.... or that idea of goin to the pet shop with some mixed in with oscars... grab a couple of those, if it doesnt go well Im sure you can return them.

I just hate to see that big of a tank wasted on two very inexpensive fish.. (I know you love them) but you can find free ones people tryin to get rid of daily. I just dont think they deserve that nice of a tank... Im sorry, I love your tank too much! lol.....

And the frontosa Idea would have been great, they are a gentle giant, super friendly and gorgeous fish.... but, they are an african, and require completly different water parameters... plus they arent the easiest fish to keep, have to be in a colony, etc etc.... So, until you decide to switch to an african tank, thoughs guys are out.

I think that if you want to have more fish in your tank, you should. Yep, tricky to find a good match that is also interesting to you. I'm looking forward to hearing your final decision and seeing pictures of your final tank.

Found this about tank mates for Oscars, might give you some ideas...
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Thats a pretty cool article!

DMD123 wrote:Found this about tank mates for Oscars, might give you some ideas...
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Thanks for the link

sandnuka wrote:I honestly think if you get younger jacks, a even a
texas cichlid, and they grow with the oscars in that size tank, everyone
would be happy..... just dont go out and grab a mature one that lived
alone in a tank.... or that idea of goin to the pet shop with some mixed
in with oscars... grab a couple of those, if it doesnt go well Im sure
you can return them.

I
just hate to see that big of a tank wasted on two very inexpensive
fish.. (I know you love them) but you can find free ones people tryin to
get rid of daily. I just dont think they deserve that nice of a
tank... Im sorry, I love your tank too much! lol.....

And the
frontosa Idea would have been great, they are a gentle giant, super
friendly and gorgeous fish.... but, they are an african, and require
completly different water parameters... plus they arent the easiest fish
to keep, have to be in a colony, etc etc.... So, until you decide to
switch to an african tank, thoughs guys are out.

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DMD123 wrote:Found this about tank mates for Oscars, might give you some ideas...
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This sounds familiar. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

sandnuka wrote:I just hate to see that big of a tank wasted on two very inexpensive fish.. (I know you love them) but you can find free ones people tryin to get rid of daily. I just dont think they deserve that nice of a tank... Im sorry, I love your tank too much! lol.....

It kind of makes me laugh but my 210g set up was really for my $8.99 Midas from Petsmart.

So I really am not one to comment on this.... but I will. Keep whatever YOU like. When I redo my tank after it get cleaned up I think I will just raise convicts! Can I use a fancy African term and call them a "colony of convicts"?

What do you guys think?

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It is pretty! I hope it works out

Well the albino is chasing the RD. I hope this calm down. What do you guys think? I was at the pet store for about 45 minutes just trying to make up my mind. You never know with these monsters. He was traded in for being aggressive but was only in a 55. At the pet store he was in the convict tank.

There is always a little aggression when you introduce a new fish to an established tank, it "should" pass.

Did I make a poor choice as a pet owner lol?

I would have added a convict as a dither.

Almost forgot, nice fish!

Maybe I should get a couple convicts.

Very nice addition. Dont want to burst your bubble, but its not a RD. But it is a very nice looking Midas or Midas/RD cross.

How can you tell the difference?

I wanted a midas so I'm happy. Thanks madness

The 2 pictures below are of a Midas and a Red Devil. The 1st pic is a Midas. The Midas has a much taller body, larger nuchal hump, and see how the forehead and eyes come out almost directly over the mouth. If you were to look straight on, or directly down from above, you would notice that the Midas' mouth is shaped like a (. The fish is almost square shaped.

[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][/img]MIDAS

The RD is longer and not tall bodied, the nuchal hump is more on top of the head, and not out on the front of the head. The RD mouth and nose protrude out away from the eyes, and if you look straight at or from above, the mouth of the RD is more shaped like a <.
[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][/img]RED DEVIL

At a young age both the Midas and RD look almost identical, so if you want to purchase one or the other, you should either wait till they reach 5+" or make sure you buy from someone reputable, or you allowed to look at the parents.

madness wrote:The 2 pictures below are of a Midas and a Red Devil. The 1st pic is a Midas. The Midas has a much taller body, larger nuchal hump, and see how the forehead and eyes come out almost directly over the mouth. If you were to look straight on, or directly down from above, you would notice that the Midas' mouth is shaped like a (. The fish is almost square shaped.

[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][/img]MIDAS

The RD is longer and not tall bodied, the nuchal hump is more on top of the head, and not out on the front of the head. The RD mouth and nose protrude out away from the eyes, and if you look straight at or from above, the mouth of the RD is more shaped like a <.
[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][/img]RED DEVIL

Thanks for the info.

I prefer midas of RD anyday! was one of my fav. of all time fish......


dmd, I dont think convicts have a colony, just a pair..... does any new world fish establish colonys??

sandnuka wrote:dmd, I dont think convicts have a colony, just a pair..... does any new world fish establish colonys??

Was just a joke! They multiply so quickly....

oh, gotcha... lol.... but that didnt answer my question... is there a new world cichlid that has a colony..... piranha? I think they do? silver dollars? pacu?

A colony operates differently than a school... I would actually consider a convict pair that raised their fry and lived with them to be a colony

Here is a quick vid from the side of the tank. The fish are always together.

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Nice! It looks like everyone is getting along just fine

Yep they are getting along just fine.

Yep so far so good. It was such a hard decision to make. You never know with these types of fish. I’ll take a vid from the front a little bit later. The midas still isn't eating. I'm not sure of his diet from the original owner. I hope he can figure out that the food is up top.

He should figure it out after he sees the oscars eat enough times. I have had fish not eat for 3-4 days after being stuck in a new tank.

I like him alot and hope he stays calm. The oscar's are leaving him alone now as you can tell in the vid. I like him so much I changed my profile picture.

Some may disagree with me but I don't plan on adding anymore fish. These guys will get HUGE. If each oscar needs 55 and the midas 75 then I'm close to my limit anyways. I have a sucker to.

Jantilla wrote:Does anybody have any ideas for tankmates? I don't want fighting. I was thinking maybe a convict. They might clean up the food that the oscar's spit out.

A small school of eartheaters would sift through the sand and eat up leftover food. Such as Satanoperca and Geophagus species. They're pretty entertaining to watch and bode nicely with whatever aquascaping you decide in the future. Look these up on Youtube.

They look cool. My pleco does a good job at getting the food. The food the oscar's spit out falls to the bottom and he spends most of the day cleaning it. My pleco is active all day and all night.

So, you settled on the brown tone sand and didn't switch it? Is it Pool Filter Sand? If so, how many lbs. did you put in? I need to get all my supplies in order to finish my 195g asap. Building my 40" tall DIY stand is next.

Yep it's pool filter sand. I used 150 pounds and washed it out very well before putting it in the tank. I thought I needed 4 bags but only used three. I know you remember me not liking the sand when I only had a couple inches of water in the tank. When I filled the tank up the sand became so much lighter. I love it. Now I'm trying to find out the best way to get the waste off the top during my water change is. I did my first water change on Sunday and it's didn't go well. I guess I will learn as I go.

looks nice