oscar and jack dempsey cichlid help

Regarding the blood parrot -- even if you had a very large aquarium (100 gal or more), you do not want to put a blood parrot with a JD or an Oscar. Blood parrots can be very territorial and aggressive themselves, but are really limited as to how they can defend themselves. So mixing them with other aggressive fish will probably lead to a dead -- or severely beaten up -- blood parrot.
 
RachelRae said:
so could the JD and oscar both go in a 50? or is that still too small? i LOVE my oscar hes a character and my JD is beautiful. but i guess if i have to give him away, i have to give him away. :( to be honest woth you we have been really bad with the water changing, we were having algae problems but we got help from the store and we have the light on less often, and today i am going to change some of the water because it is clouding slighlty again.
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To make fully grown Oscar happy, you need at least 75G. There are other cichlids which is not going to grow huge & have nice color.

You can report your water KH /GH /PH. Then the cichlid experts here will provide more suitable one for you. ( Don't ask me!!! I don't know much about cichlid. :) )
 
hmm, yeah, just try to see how much room you'll have.. and how much you can afford.. then go from there..

i picked up an 8" JD, 11" oscar, and an 8" pleco.. all were in a 55 gallon tank, and are now all in my buddies 150 till i get my 170..
anyways, they were all doing fine.. no diseases, everything tested fine.. very very vivid color in them!! well.. the pleco is a pleco, lol
 
FYI: Cichlids + Plants = DISASTER!!! lol. They will 9 times out of 10 either eat them or dig them up. Cichlids like to re-arrange their substrate (or gravel).

You have good cichlid people watching this thread, so weed out the banter and realize the common ground everyone is taking.

55 gallon = 1 fish (not ideal but can be done. I know a few people that have Oscars in 55 gallon tanks by themselves.)
75 gallon+ = both

I am in an apartment and on a budget- I have 2 55's in my little place, and it still looks nice and organized. It took about a month before my b/f became and addict like me. :evil_lol:

You can purchase tanks off craigslist really cheap if you hold out for one. Wait until you find one with a stand/fitler/ & heater at minimum! If you find one you like, ask us if it will work! :D (bought my 55 with gravel, canister filter, heater, buckets, aerator, and nice stand off craigslist for $150!)

Cichlid prefer warmer temps, so a heater is needed. Keep the water between 76 and 84 degrees.

Also, no one has said this but GOOD FOR YOU for realizing the setup was poor and the fish were not in ideal conditions. Also, awesome job at getting online and finding a place where you can get answers. :thm: There is a lot of mis-information out there in the hobby, and it's wonderful that you are attempting to figure it out! If you let yourself dive in, you will forever be a hobbiest. So just go get that larger tank, and do it! It's not as complicated as it all sounds, plus you've got a great resourse here at AC.

Check out the article section and read threads in the Cichlid forums!

PS: I'd like to re-state that weekly waterchanges and parameter testing are needed. Go get an API master test kit. It's about $25-30 bucks (i know a bit steap) but it will save you tons of cash on repairing the damage of poor water quality and time!!! TRUST ME! lol.

You'll make a good fish mommy, just need to read up! :D
 
Weekly water changes are a must. There is no getting around it and a smaller tank means 2 changes a week. That is the reason that most people that have Oscars say no smaller than a 75. This does not take into account that normal 1 year old Oscars exceed 8 inches and eventually can grow greater than a 55 is wide. A 55 is 12.75 inches wide and Oscars will exceed that. For that reason as well as the need for the extra water, a 75 is the smallest recommended tank. When you compound all the above by adding a JD or equally large fish you really have no choice
 
idk if anyone is still following this, and im sorry i never answered.

for the time being i have my boys in a 55 gal, just moved yesterday. will they grow more? if they do not, what would good tank mates be, what breeds can live with these guys but not get too big for a 55 gal?

and how should i change the water> take out 25% and refill with treated tap water? how do i keep the algae down? the other tank was constantly green, better though when we realized to turn the light off
 
Did you cycle the tank before putting them in? Also, do you have a water test kit? What water did you use for the 55? What kind of conditioner do you use?
 
If you've got room for a 55 g tank (4' long) then you've got room for a 90 g tank (4' long plus taller). That's the bare minimum for those 2 fish, it's really not even enough room. They'll grow if you give them lots of fresh water and enough room. That's cruel to keep them in too small of a tank 'hoping' they won't grow. Yes, that's how you do water changes but do more than 25%. More like 75% per week.
 
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