hole in the head (x-posted to alt aquaria oscars)

Hi all,

I just purchased a used aquarium today. It is a 40 gallon and it has an
oscar, a green terror, a convict cichlid, and a good sized pleco in it. The
people that I bought it from told me that they only change the water every 3
to 4 months in it. I have never had cichlids before, but that does not seem
right to me. They also said that the oscar is developing what looks to be
hole in the head disease. From the pictures I've seen, I would also say
that is what it is. They had the fish for 3 years, and they were fine.
They also only feed one teaspoon of cichlid pellets every other day for the
whole tank. These are big fish, and that doesn't seem like enough to me. I
want to know how do I treat the hole in the head, should I feed them more,
and also how often and how much water should I change. They have had quite
a traumatic day today with the move and getting set up again (they still
have the same water they have had for 3 months, we just moved their water
also). Should I change it immediately or let them settle for a while?
Sorry for all the questions, but these fish are gorgeous and I want them to
be healthy and happy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sarah

"Sarah Navarro" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi all,

I just purchased a used aquarium today. It is a 40 gallon and it has an
oscar, a green terror, a convict cichlid, and a good sized pleco in it.
The
people that I bought it from told me that they only change the water every
3
to 4 months in it. I have never had cichlids before, but that does not
seem
right to me. They also said that the oscar is developing what looks to be
hole in the head disease. From the pictures I've seen, I would also say
that is what it is. They had the fish for 3 years, and they were fine.
They also only feed one teaspoon of cichlid pellets every other day for
the
whole tank. These are big fish, and that doesn't seem like enough to me.
I
want to know how do I treat the hole in the head, should I feed them more,
and also how often and how much water should I change. They have had
quite
a traumatic day today with the move and getting set up again (they still
have the same water they have had for 3 months, we just moved their water
also). Should I change it immediately or let them settle for a while?
Sorry for all the questions, but these fish are gorgeous and I want them
to
be healthy and happy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sarah



The more you feed big fish, the bigger they grow and the more waste they
create. It's up to you how much work you want to put into it. Big fish are
insatiable eaters, and very messy. I use a diatom once a month to try to
keep the tank clean. Some will tell you that they change water constantly,
and swear by it. I've kept fish for 40 years and rarely change water at all
with no problems.

--
JK Sinrod
Sinrod Stained Glass Studios
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

Be happy you don't have a 4' South American Redtail Catfish...

.... They lay out a human sized Cleveland Steamer every time they swallow
an adult cat.

"Sarah Navarro" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi all,

I just purchased a used aquarium today. It is a 40 gallon and it has an
oscar, a green terror, a convict cichlid, and a good sized pleco in it.
The
people that I bought it from told me that they only change the water every
3
to 4 months in it. I have never had cichlids before, but that does not
seem
right to me. They also said that the oscar is developing what looks to be
hole in the head disease. From the pictures I've seen, I would also say
that is what it is. They had the fish for 3 years, and they were fine.
They also only feed one teaspoon of cichlid pellets every other day for
the
whole tank. These are big fish, and that doesn't seem like enough to me.
I
want to know how do I treat the hole in the head, should I feed them more,
and also how often and how much water should I change. They have had
quite
a traumatic day today with the move and getting set up again (they still
have the same water they have had for 3 months, we just moved their water
also). Should I change it immediately or let them settle for a while?
Sorry for all the questions, but these fish are gorgeous and I want them
to
be healthy and happy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sarah


I don't mean to sound negative here, but the convict is the only one that is
even close to being suitably sized for that tank, and even that is really
pushing it unless you want to do maintenance on the tank everyday. There is
no way you can keep those fish happy and healthy in that size tank. I would
recommend taking all of the fish and trading them in on some that are more
reasonable for that tank. Your fish has hole in the head because of the
extremely poor water conditions in the tank do to the extreme overload.
With that fish load you really need to do 30-50% water changes every day or
two to keep the water halfway clean. Plus I find it very hard to believe
that the fish are as old as the previous owner said and still be of a size
that that can fit in that small of a tank, or even still be alive with water
changes as infrequent as the previous owner said. In three years, even
stunted oscars and green terrors will be 18" long. Those fish all put an
extreme bio load on tanks and are not for rookies, they aren't like most
fish. If you want to keep those fish, run out and buy a 150Gallon tank
minimum.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/200302152...qs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq