My 25 Gallon aquarium

G

gasmonkey

AC Members
Dec 1, 2004
22
0
0
OK, first of all, I got a 25 gallon starter kit, with gravel, and a 200 filter, and heater. now, being the stupid fool I am, It was a spur of the moment thing and set me back $230 for it all and the fish (worth $35) and gravel (pretty good price). Now, not realizing what Id gotten into and not having read up on it, I have now found out some interesting stuff.... like I have too many fish in too small a tank. Heres what I have: 1 Convict, 2 Oscars (Albino, Orange) Pleco and crab. All are small (2inches or less). I now read Id need at least a 75 Gallon tank for those three, bare minimum I can scrape by on. Anyways, how long do I have before I have to upgrade my tank? (like when my fish hit what size should I get a bigger one?). Second, I think maybe my tank has ick, but not 100% sure. Only one Oscar looks like he has it, and the pleco did a week ago, but he looks fine. its not full blown if it is ick, only around 10-12 spots, but it doens;t look like salt, and it ISN"T visible out of the water. maybe Im overreacting/seeing things? anyways, that was 4 days ago, have used Ich treatment for 72 hours now, and raised temp to 82-83ish. its still there. how long should it take? and someone mentioned putting salt in to help. Can I put salt in a freshwater tank?? Im confused on that one. (BTW, my tank is almost 3 weeks old now) my crab died even with a half dosage of the ich treatment, he went immobile after I put it in, and was dead 12-18 hours later. And my light in my aquarium, what are optimal lighting conditions?
and lastly, How often should my tank light be on? 24/7? 12 hours a day? never, just sunlight? anyways, please no lectures on tank size and cruelty, I plan on upgradeing in the next 3-9 months..... as long as I can get out of this tank will help the financial situation. BTW, my cichlid gets along fairly well with the oscars, but does nip the odd time, but the OScar just swims away and the Convict doesn;t chase. The two oscars seem to have "paired off" if thats what you call it, they always swim and hang out right beside each other. (maybe not, im not an expert)
 
Well first off you will need a bigger tank as soon as you can afford it I wouldnt wait any longer than 6 months. Even that is asking much.

Second with those three fish I could see problems developing. Generally fish are okay if they are around the same size but Convicts are little *******s and can irritate other fish to death. But again should be okay since they are the same size, for now anyways. Once they start to get bigger it will become a constant battle for territory though. This will probably lead to the death of fish. I would recommend choosing one or the other or getting at least a 125Gal. tank so they can have plenty of room. Even in that size of tank it will be lots of territory fighting but shouldnt lead to serious problems.

Third the ich thing. Sometimes you may have to do multiple doses of ich treatment. Do one treatment let it run its course 48-96 hours then do a 50% water change and if necessary do a second treatment and so-on. Just make sure to check your water conditions regularly.

Fourth the lighting in your tank should generally not be on longer than 8-10 hours a day. However I know many people who leave their tank lights on as long as they(the person) are awake. This doesnt usually cause a problem with the fish, but it can lead to a outbreak of algae.

Hope this helps
 
Oh one more thing

Lighting conditions depend on the fish you keep. Just look up the preferences of the fish you have and do your best to meet their needs. Oscars in my experience dont mind Bright aquariums, btu do prefer a slightly dimmer lighting. Also try to stick with using dark coloured rocks and gravel with a nice piece driftwood. The dark colours really tend to make the colours of your fish stand out more, aswell as giving them a comforting almost secluded feel which Oscars tend to like being as territorial as they are.

But you may want to get other opinions too. There will be many people who differ with what they would recommend.
 
I would also keep close tabs on your water parameters(ammonia, nitrites) for the next few weeks. I'm sure that's the #1 cause of your problems right now. Test your water, if you haven't already, and post some numbers.
 
yeah you'll need a new tank VERY soon, rule of thumb for young oscars is that they grow about an inch per month for about a year or so.... This is true i've seen it!
 
well, bad news, my two Oscars are dead..... poor guys. I went away on a friday for the weekend, got my grandma to feed them twice a day. one died monday morning, the other monday night after I got home. they were really immobile and didn;t swim alot in teh last stages. Im pretty sure they had a disease or something. There eye's were messed, all the color was in the upper part of teh eye, instead of all around they eye. near the back fin, just before it the skin turned grey and looked like it was almost like rotting. In the end it just ended up floating around (upside down, stuck in plants etc.), barely alive till it died. Any Ideas? my Ph was a bit high, 7.5-8.0. Im down to a cichlid and a pleco in a 25 Gallon.

(BTW, just a little humor, all six rosy reds are still alive, and my 2 oscars died before them. could have been the rosy reds that gave it disease, I got my two oscars at the same time as the rosy reds (about 3 weeks ago), and they never ate the rosy reds, only the flakes and some scraps.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom