# I HAVE A CONFESSION ABOUT MY TANK



## willrwilli (Jan 15, 2008)

Okay here is the scoop. Please keep in mind I am writing this to get advice on my situation, and not to be attacked like I have seen happen to others on this site. Now since that is out of the way, lets get to it. In March I bought a 125 Gallon tank. I had the resources to get a bigger one, but due to the advice of the pet store I got the 125. When I purchased it I told the store manager I wanted oscars, and asked how many can I put in a 125. She responded as long as you feed them well and have good filtration 6 (six) would be fine. So I figured well if I can do 6 in a 125 why buy the bigger tank. So I bought 6 baby oscars. Fast forward 6 months, and I know many of you frown upon this. But things seem to be okay. Since they were all put in on the same day I have very little aggression. Sometimes there is a chase, and a stare down, but nothing more than that. I do have a few large rocks for decoration, and hiding, but no big fights. My routine is every Wednesday I do a 50% water change and gravel vacuum with my Python. And I treat the water with Prime. For filtration I have 2 rena xp-3 filters, 2 marineland heaters, and for bubbles I have a bubble wall the whole length of the tank. I have never had any HITH symptoms, or any other problems, just some ick about 2 weeks after set up. With my current tank maintenance will it be the kiss of death leaving them all in this tank. They are all about 7 inches long. Also my water is fine due to the frequent water changes.


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

How about some pictures, I love an oscar only tank.


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

attack attack attack  is it a 6' long 125g tank?if so *** seen more in a 6' long tank.but it had a big sump for filtration.there were a few messed up lips but all of them were full grown and there was no rocks other than substrate.i think there was 10-12 decent to full grown o's in the tank.i wouldn't do it personally,but it seemed the owner only had them for the sole reason of feeding live food to them :roll:


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## willrwilli (Jan 15, 2008)

fishwolfe said:


> attack attack attack  is it a 6' long 125g tank?if so I've seen more in a 6' long tank.but it had a big sump for filtration.there were a few messed up lips but all of them were full grown and there was no rocks other than substrate.i think there was 10-12 decent to full grown o's in the tank.i wouldn't do it personally,but it seemed the owner only had them for the sole reason of feeding live food to them :roll:


Yes it is a 6' tank. If I could do it over again I would have just got a 200 gallon tank and called it a day. I found a steal on craigslist for a 200 about 3 months ago, but when my wife found out the 200 gallon tank was being added in addition to the 125 she killed the deal.


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

i would say you have the room but if one gets to rambunctious you may have to rehome him.i would give it a shot.i know allot of people might say otherwise.but people overstock other tanks and say its just fine so......


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

I would like to see pictures too!!  I love oscars and I can certainly understand your wanting a bunch of them!!!

Shame on that store manager though! 

Would your wife go for the bigger tank if you were to just do a replacement? Sell the 125 after you get everything switched over to the bigger tank?? Or is space an issue?
While I wouldn't say that your situation is good, if you can keep up with maintance and all the fish get along, well, that's half the battle. But I do wonder what your nitrates are.


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## willrwilli (Jan 15, 2008)

heylady said:


> I would like to see pictures too!!  I love oscars and I can certainly understand your wanting a bunch of them!!!
> 
> Shame on that store manager though!
> 
> ...


I would love to post a picture to show off my tank. How do you do that on this site? The nitrates are at 0 now with todays water change. They are usually right around 5 right before the water change. As for my wife, I guess I have to tell you the whole story. I have been into this since January. I started with a 26 gallon because I got a good deal on it. Once I found out I could not put more than 4 or 5 african chchlid's in it I bought a 55 gallon tank, and sold the 26. A month later I got Oscar fever, and got a great deal on the 125 tank at a 50% off large tank sale. When I rolled the 125 into the house she thought it was replacing the 55 gallon tank. (Do you see a pattern here yet) So when she saw both tanks set up she just kind of dealt with it. So this is a long answer to your question but maybe in 3 or 4 months she would go for it, but not now. She thought it was too much too soon. As all of us on this site know you can never have too many tanks. Room is not a problem, I have a spot in my basement where I could fit 2 or 3 200 gallon tanks.


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## bell (Dec 12, 2005)

i would look into building a sump, done properly it can really do the job of keeping water clean when you have multiple oscars.....
a good sump system will also keep things healthy should you miss a water change or something....along with increasing the water volume and set water level in the tank.

as far as dealing with the wife, get her interested.....it worked for me, my wife loved to sit and watch "her" albino, just don't ask them to help maintain or clean the tanks....


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

www.photobucket.com its free and easy :thumb:


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I completely understand your desire to have a tank full of Oscarsâ€¦ I had the same desire a few years ago and I also (coincidently) started with 6 Oscars in a 125 gal. I didnâ€™t have any confidence this would work long term so I upgraded to a 6â€™ round 300 gal Rubbermaid for them.

At 7â€


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## simo1973 (Jul 22, 2007)

my brother had a 6 long tank with 5 oscars in , all about 10inch with no probs, 
it can work with hard work, (water changes)


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## sdbeth (Oct 2, 2007)

good job with water changes, on the bigger tank it is always easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission, go for it.....


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Please don't take this as jumping all over you, or bashing... I'm just going to share with you my experiences and you take take them how ever you'd like 

I have an 800 gallon aquarium. It's 14' long, 3' from front to back and 30" tall. At one point I had 8 oscars in the tank along with many other large growing cichlids. About the most interesting thing I've learned keeping CA/SA cichlids in this tank is that when they give chase it rarely lasts over 6' and almost never lasts over 8'. That being said... I feel that once your oscars mature (which should be over the course of the nerxt couple of months) the males will want to take over and spawn. That's when the fit's going to hit the shan. If I may I'd like to suggest another tank kept on hand just in case of a melt down. The problem is being lucky enough to be there during the melt down.

On a side note. I personally have never been able to keep multiple oscars for any considerable length of time until I built my 800. The obsession started with a 185 when I was 18. Then a 240 when I was 25, and had to wait til I was 31 when the 800 came along.

I wish you good luck!


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

i would take TheFishGuy's word as gospel.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Oh c'mon now, Lord knows I've made plenty of mistakes...


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

> Oh c'mon now, Lord knows I've made plenty of mistakes...


exactly


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## willrwilli (Jan 15, 2008)

Anyone know of any aquarium stores that are running 50% off sales on large aquariums?


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

We're really not supposed to advbertise or mention stores on the main forum. My suggestion is to check out craigslist and ebay for good deals.


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## ksane (Mar 19, 2008)

Yea, I also think the biggest problem will be aggression once they reach sexual maturity. Which is coming up any day now <g>.


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## willrwilli (Jan 15, 2008)

Well so far so good, but I just had a brain storm. Does anyone know where I can get some good plans on building a 200 gallon and up tank. I am very handy and I am tossing that idea around.


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

search the d.i.y section.there are lots of them.


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