discus and oscars

[fish_mike]

would a few, like six or seven discus work with one jack dempsey, in a 55 gallon tank?

[sumthin fishy]

Seven is WAY too many for a 55, a dempsy is not an oscar, and niether JD or oscar will do well with discus. What do you currently have as far as tank/fish

[fish_mike]

i have zip right now a friend just gave me the tank for me to adopt it, i was looking at malawi cichlids, and i like green terrors and jack dempseys

[sumthin fishy]

I would not advise mixing South American cichlids with African cichlids. They have different requirements of food, water peramiters, etc. This does not mean it can't be done but the fish will be better off if you stick to one biotope. Malawis are a better choice as they are smaller than JDs/GTs, so you could have a few more. In reality a full grown Jack will pretty much fill up a 55 gallon if you want it to have room to move/swim. There are some very knowledgable folks here when it comes to africans. Any particular type you have in mind? It will be a good Idea to look into what you want before you buy it so you don't get suprised by problems such as cost of care.
(oh don't forgat to read up on cycling your tank BEFORE you get fish!!)

[fish_mike]

thanks for the info im pretty much oblicious to the subject lol....I do like oscars though because of there personality, do any africans act like oscars?

[NatakuTseng]

Discus will not go with large SA, CA or African cichlids well at all. The discus will end up falling ill, getting beaten on, and then die.

By the way, a 55gal is fine for 7 adult discus, you just need to make sure your doing a rigorous water changing regime, 50% every day or 75% every other day.

Being so new to the hobby, or at least seeming that way, I would not reccomend you buy fish like discus who are relatively touchy, and pretty expensive.

[Latvian]

(oh don't forgat to read up on cycling your tank BEFORE you get fish!!)

I know that the question sounds so newbieish bcoz I am, I just want to collect as much information as I can before I start the tank project someday. I wanted to know what have u meant by by "cycling your tank" ?

Another question, how can somone who has a big tank, let's say a 224 Gallons tank, to clean the tank or change the water ?

Thanx.

[sumthin fishy]

Fish waste is toxic to fish. Basically they produce amonia, there is a bacteria that breaks down the amonia to nitrItes, and another bacteria that braks down nitrItes into NitrAtes. NitrAtes are less toxic to fish. When you do your water changes you remove excess nitrates so your fish don't die. Read the "cycle" sticky at the top of the forrum. It is looooong but worth the good info. Do a search on fishless cycling to get more info. You can cycle with fish in the tank but it is a lot of work and stressful on your fish.
Doing waterchanges/cleaning a big tank is the same as a small tank, only takes longer.

[Latvian]

Thank u very much for ur help..I really appreciate that and I will go and read that sticky bcoz I need such a detailed info. Thanx again...

[fish_mike]

do any of the malawi cichlids have personalities like oscars?

[PumaWard]

To be honest, I've never seen another species of fish with personality like an oscar except paradise fish.

Malawis do have personality, they just don't have the brains to back it up.