Oscar question...

[Justin Boucher]

Hello all,
I have a 240gal tank that I am currently running freshwater with bala's and
Angel and miscellaneous tetras. I was thinking that an oscar would be great
for a tank this size as well as perhaps a Jack Dempsey or other large
cichlid.
I know the oscar would eventually grow to a point of eating the tetras
however I hope to find new homes for them before then.
My question (mostly a concern) is that I heard that oscars like to dig. I'm
not excited about having a fish rearrange the furniture in my tank.
How many people have experienced Oscars digging and rearranging furniture?

Thanks,
Justin

[Big John]

They will most likely dig.
"Justin Boucher" > wrote in message
...
> Hello all,
> I have a 240gal tank that I am currently running freshwater with bala's
> and
> Angel and miscellaneous tetras. I was thinking that an oscar would be
> great
> for a tank this size as well as perhaps a Jack Dempsey or other large
> cichlid.
> I know the oscar would eventually grow to a point of eating the tetras
> however I hope to find new homes for them before then.
> My question (mostly a concern) is that I heard that oscars like to dig.
> I'm
> not excited about having a fish rearrange the furniture in my tank.
> How many people have experienced Oscars digging and rearranging furniture?
>
> Thanks,
> Justin
>
>

[Justin Boucher]

Okay... Are there any tricks to the trade that Oscar owners use to keep all
the gravel from being moved around too much then? Or is it one of those
things that falls in the realm of "the love of the beast"?

thanks,
Justin

"Big John" > wrote in message
news:iS68e.4569$qO6.706@okepread03...
> They will most likely dig.
> "Justin Boucher" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hello all,
> > I have a 240gal tank that I am currently running freshwater with bala's
> > and
> > Angel and miscellaneous tetras. I was thinking that an oscar would be
> > great
> > for a tank this size as well as perhaps a Jack Dempsey or other large
> > cichlid.
> > I know the oscar would eventually grow to a point of eating the tetras
> > however I hope to find new homes for them before then.
> > My question (mostly a concern) is that I heard that oscars like to dig.
> > I'm
> > not excited about having a fish rearrange the furniture in my tank.
> > How many people have experienced Oscars digging and rearranging
furniture?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Justin
> >
> >
>
>

[Sandy Birrell]

Justin Boucher wrote:
> Okay... Are there any tricks to the trade that Oscar owners use to keep
> all the gravel from being moved around too much then? Or is it one of
> those things that falls in the realm of "the love of the beast"?
>
> thanks,
> Justin


Try nylon mesh under an inch of gravel on top of your original substrate.
Planting into this top layer the roots will go down through the mesh and
they will be harder to pull out. When the oscar moves the gravel about you
will see the mesh in patches but it shouldn't be too notoceable. Haven't
tried this myself so whether it works or not is anybodies guess :)



--

Don`t Worry, Be Happy
Sandy
--
E-Mail:-
Website:- http://www.ftscotland.co.uk
Looking for a webhost? Try http://www.1and1.co.uk/?k_id=2966019

[bassett]

Why would you want to put a Oscar, in with a tank of Angles and tetra's
The end result will be one fat [by-by tetras] Oscar and a load of dead
Angles.
He will also dig up all your plants, rearrange everything to suit himself.
and be blissfully happy with what he has accomplished.
And you want to add a Jack Dempsey into the equation. That in itself will
half the life expectance of everything except the Oscar.

As I see it, you have two choices, Forget the idea of Oscar's and Dempsey's.
or start another tank.
bassett

"Sandy Birrell" > wrote in message
. uk...
> Justin Boucher wrote:
>> Okay... Are there any tricks to the trade that Oscar owners use to keep
>> all the gravel from being moved around too much then? Or is it one of
>> those things that falls in the realm of "the love of the beast"?
>>
>> thanks,
>> Justin
>
>
> Try nylon mesh under an inch of gravel on top of your original substrate.
> Planting into this top layer the roots will go down through the mesh and
> they will be harder to pull out. When the oscar moves the gravel about you
> will see the mesh in patches but it shouldn't be too notoceable. Haven't
> tried this myself so whether it works or not is anybodies guess :)
>
>
>
> --
>
> Don`t Worry, Be Happy
> Sandy
> --
> E-Mail:-
> Website:- http://www.ftscotland.co.uk
> Looking for a webhost? Try http://www.1and1.co.uk/?k_id=2966019
>
>

[Texas Yankee]

An Oscar moving gravel is the least of your problems - keeping up with their
waste output is near-impossible.


"Sandy Birrell" > wrote in message
. uk...
> Justin Boucher wrote:
> > Okay... Are there any tricks to the trade that Oscar owners use to keep
> > all the gravel from being moved around too much then? Or is it one of
> > those things that falls in the realm of "the love of the beast"?
> >
> > thanks,
> > Justin
>
>
> Try nylon mesh under an inch of gravel on top of your original substrate.
> Planting into this top layer the roots will go down through the mesh and
> they will be harder to pull out. When the oscar moves the gravel about you
> will see the mesh in patches but it shouldn't be too notoceable. Haven't
> tried this myself so whether it works or not is anybodies guess :)
>
>
>
> --
>
> Don`t Worry, Be Happy
> Sandy
> --
> E-Mail:-
> Website:- http://www.ftscotland.co.uk
> Looking for a webhost? Try http://www.1and1.co.uk/?k_id=2966019
>
>

[Justin Boucher]

Sorry, but I liked the way the fish looked and thought they would be nice.
Obviously, I do not have a good setup for the Oscar at this time and now
having learned more about them, they may look nice, but they also carry a
lot of baggage that I don't want.

I knew that this newgroup would provide me some valuable insight into
cichlids since I have never had any myself. I may be ignorant of the
cichlid world, but I also know where to go to find experts.

Justin


"Texas Yankee" > wrote in message
...
> An Oscar moving gravel is the least of your problems - keeping up with
their
> waste output is near-impossible.
>
>
> "Sandy Birrell" > wrote in message
> . uk...
> > Justin Boucher wrote:
> > > Okay... Are there any tricks to the trade that Oscar owners use to
keep
> > > all the gravel from being moved around too much then? Or is it one of
> > > those things that falls in the realm of "the love of the beast"?
> > >
> > > thanks,
> > > Justin
> >
> >
> > Try nylon mesh under an inch of gravel on top of your original
substrate.
> > Planting into this top layer the roots will go down through the mesh and
> > they will be harder to pull out. When the oscar moves the gravel about
you
> > will see the mesh in patches but it shouldn't be too notoceable. Haven't
> > tried this myself so whether it works or not is anybodies guess :)
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > Don`t Worry, Be Happy
> > Sandy
> > --
> > E-Mail:-
> > Website:- http://www.ftscotland.co.uk
> > Looking for a webhost? Try http://www.1and1.co.uk/?k_id=2966019
> >
> >
>
>

[Fuzzy]

:D In general most cichlids are gravel diggers. NOw there might be the
rare ones who are not. I have a pair (Oscars), that actually do very
little digging, except to lay eggs. I have a piece of slate in the tank,
which they ignore, maybe the size is too small, who knows. They do move
around some items, like driftwood or the bigger decorative stones in the
tank. They are not like some stories I have heard, where they move
gravel and make hugh piles etc. Now as for eatting the other tank mates.
Oscars, have shown a strange behaviour in many case's where, if they are
small, ie 1.5 inchs and are put in a tank where the other fish are to
big to be considered food, they will ignore those fish as they grow,
yet, will eat newer smaller fish added to the tank. One problem I see is
with your angel fish, Oscars require good filtration, and a lot of water
movement, which depending upon the type of angelfish you have can be
very stressfull for the angels. Anyhow with such a large tank, you do
have a lot of options.



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