Fish Size

Hi,
I've heard in order to grow large fish, you have to have large tanks. Unfortunately, my house is not that large. I have an oscar & some fantail goldfish. Is there any other way to maximize their size besides getting a larger tank?
Thanks,
Salty.

[mattgeezer]

feed them

[geekdafied]

Oscars will quickly outgrow their tanks.

[coral reefer]

An Oscar will outgrow your tank no matter what size, unless it is very large.
A small tank has no bearing on certain fish and will outgrow a tank, whereas other will as you say need to have a big tank to grow bigger to its surroundings!

Thanks heeps !

[djnzlab1]

HI,
Many years ago I tried a nice red oscar, as with many fish that eat alot of protein they are very hard on the filter system and the biological. you will need a siphon tube and a bucket for Poop. they leave in tthe tank very messy too.just replace the water with fresh clean cause that will help with diluting all the urine too. meat eaters POO and pee alot more the veggies Did I mention they love to dig caves and will have problems with rock falling or cave ins. and they love to pull plants out of the sand.. hehe little buggars they are. my frend who was breeding them used a bare bottom tank to prevent disease for the babies.
My suggestion is try one of the other cichlids that can thrive on a KOI type of food for me thats green sevrons I ve had some for over several years,and the have considerable personality and can really grow on you. Se the large white ones with the hybrid parrots in my picture to the right they are about 6 years old in that pic. Many are as pretty as discus when they are mature. they will beg to be fed by poping the lid of the tank when they are hungry a bit of a racket when you first get home. they watch me and my wife if we stand up they all start the feeding act..
They seem to grow much slower than OSCARs and don't mess up the filtration as bad.
I have had several in a OP 95 with a marineland canister and they seem to be very efficant at tank water quality, With the larger Sevrons I usally have several of the giant danios in my tank they tend to school and help with any off the food that many fish pass thru their gills bye eating all the finer particles in the water a couple cats are great too.
Finally I have recently tried using a fine sand as subrate in my fresh water systems not sure if its providing any of the benafits seen in DSB's but many cats will get sick or mouth infections fro trying to eat food in gravel.
Another neat trick is to put your filtration on a power strip so you can shut it down for feeding this keeps alot of the food out of the filters and prevents frequent need for deep cleaning for food particles that can foul you water as fast as MUM. you will also use this for siphoning out nasties . water waste is a problem for oscar owners. Most have 100+ tanks with only one fish, my freind had a arriona big fish that eats alot pretty neat though best in a 100+gal tank
GOOD luck with the oscar, ps another problem with oscars is their food is expensive many fish are parasite ridden that are food, and many fish have toxic scales things like gold fish and other common foods.
ICK is a common problem with oscars as is hole in the head and those ugly scale worms they catch from their food.
Doug

psps mix up your live food types fresh thawed shrimp adds color even the frozen ones are reliished I buy mine at wally world in the frozen foods not cooked or breaded and feed them to my large freshy fish and the LTA's in the saltwater . Another great treat for osacrs are those crawdads they love them my adult could inhale5 -6 with the claws hanging out for acouple mins till it hit the gill teeth.

[Sndwave80]

Feed them and keep the tank clean and they will grow well

[djnzlab1]

HI,
I have kept freshwater fish for some years, and one thing that will kill many fish is PH swing , free carbonate in fresh water is used up fast with high bio loads, I usally put an amount of marine salt too depending on tank size, My 95gal get a cup or more of salt , and a cup of that crushed coral in the gravel. Most south american fish tolerate salt well.Most plants hate salt so if you have a planted tank don't try this.
Now the way this help is if the Ph is falling the crushed coral will slowly dissolve and is less traumatic that using na-bicarb (baking soda)to buffer if the ph is above 7 it don't dissolve its very safe and stable do wash your coral well or you'll have cloud for about a week.. There's alot of carbonate in crushed coral it will last for years, in a freshwater tank and it keeps the ph around 7.2 even the acid loving fish tolerate that higher ph without any spikes that frequently occur with feeding, peeing and the bio-load that occurs. ive never had it swing high with this small amount your LPS knows this but I think they want you to kill your fish .. hehe promotes sales.

My africa tank has about 30% crushed coral, my sevrons only about a cup per tank.
It works well and many fish will live a very long time with a stable ph. even if its alittle high for the species and live bearing fish love the higher ph.
Doug

[OGW]

Originally Posted by geekdafied

Oscars will quickly outgrow their tanks.

They do grow fast...when the water is kept clean and they are fed regularly with a well balanced diet.
Assuming the Fantails are in the same tank as the Oscar:
Theres a couple problems with those Fantails, besides the preferred temp for the Oscar is too high for the Fantails, if they are in the same tank as the Oscar...they wont be there for too long.
THE OSCAR WILL EAT ANYTHING THAT FITS IN THEIR MOUTH.

Heres some Data on your Oscar so you know what your headed into if you keep it:
Astronotus Ocellatus
Recommended Temperature: 77-80 degrees F
Recommended pH: 6.6-7.4
Recommended Tank size: 55 gallons minimum.
Adult size: 12-16”

My Oscar was just a tiny bit longer(maybe 3/4" at the most) than my Jack Dempsey when I got him just a little over a month ago...


...and now:



The Sig Pic Below was a couple weeks ago....Just so your aware of how fast they can grow.