Re-did my fish tank…

[Lintini]

Well…where to start.

 

My 50 gallon tank was getting kind of gloomy. I had a accident a few months back with too much nitrite which killed my 15” long pleco. So sad. It akso killed this catfish I got about 8 years ago. Then my heater broke. And my pump, but i had a backup, but it was loud and noisey. I really wasn’t paying it any attention. I had my tiger oscar left, he is about 12” long. Very large.

 

So my boyfriend kept asking me what I wanted for xmas, and I told him he could help me fix up my tank again. I needed a new pump, heater, food, filters, and a new plant…lol  So we go to the fish store, the same one my grandma sold her eels to 30 years ago too. They have a large albino oscar, also at adult size so I thought how perfect! So Mike also bought him for me, along with enough filters to last me for the next year, tons of frozen food, pellets, a lovely new plant and some other stuff. The owner advises me to clean the tank, mess up all the rocks and plants, then put the new oscar in first. I do this, and my new guy is in there for over an hour, then I place my tiger oscar in. Well…lots of fin shaking, gill flaring and missing scales later….no luck. My tiger has the albino pinned in the corner for 2 days now. So I decide I want to keep the new albino and give my Tiger oscar back to Moon since he sold me him as a baby anyways. I’ve traded him back about 4 oscars now. I’ve always wanted an albino oscar but my mom told me to stick with tigers and reds because they are hardier. I don’t know if that is true though. Anyways, I really wanted to get a catfish or pleco again, but they didn’t have any pleco large enough that I would feel safe putting in the tank with such a large oscar. So I settled on a …redtail catfish. All I know about this guy…is that they get big. I have a 50 gallon tank…its not so long…but tall. Moon says you know he won’t grow so large and should be ok. When he gets bigger I just take out rocks and give him more room. Ok.

 

So I’m doing some research on my new catfish named “Sharky.”  OK THEY GET 5 FOOT LONG??? Apparently it’s some game fish from south america!!! WHAT HAVE I DONE!!! Ughhhhhhhhhhhh. He’s about 7-8 inch long now, just a baby. He cost me only 25$ …which is nothing compared to the fish when I had saltwater. Anyways…really…why did I do this again without proper research. I saw a young one in moons shop, maybe 2 feet long…Moon said he wouldn’t get that big since my tank bottom isn’t huge. Now I feel terrible. As I’m reading, these people are against you buying them at all, because they get so huge, make a huge mess in your tank, and require so much time and lots and lots of food. I was reading and some people feed them dead mice…chicken breasts…fish filets…omg.  I had no idea redtail catfish were so much work. I’m kinda frustrated with myself. Sometimes you can’t tell who is your friend at the fishstore …like do they just want to sell you the fish or do they really believe that  my tank will my suitable for this fish? Moon knows I only have a 50 gallon….these fish ‘experts’ are saying a redtail needs a 200 gallon tank.  S***!!!!.

All I know is as of now, I don’t want to give him back to the store. He was only in a 10 gallon so what I can offer him now is much better. I have tons of frozen food, and feeder goldfish are cheap. Depending on how large he will get in my tank it could then be a problem. Obviously he won’t get to 5 feet…but I can’t help but feel bad now that I know he was taken from his home and now in my stupid tank. I have time to dedicate to water changes every 1-2 weeks…although I am scared of his whiskers…I swear to god he uses them like hands. He wrapped them around my Oscar to push him away. A lot of people say they are very gentle and will eat things out of your hand! I’ll be counting my fingers. Man I don’t know I should have done what the other guy at the store said to me…”just stick with the oscar.” Sigh.

 

So here is a timeline of my fishtank for the past few years.

 

When I first bought my 2 baby oscars.

Tiger oscar and pleco only. The oscar killed his brother/sister   *sigh*

Oscar the grouch being mean to Pooper. Yea his name was pooper…don’t ask. lol.

New tank today! Nice new plant in the center, Albino Oscar…I think I’ll name her Opal? Sharkie is hiding under the rock bridge.

Opal and Sharkie

Again.

 

Hopefully everything will work out okay. I don’t want anything bad to happen to either of them. I am also sorry if I offend anyone with feeding them live goldfish. 

 

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated to my predicament… just gonna see what happens for now I guess? Here is the site I was researching them on. It was also very interesting to see the difference in opinions on the redtail cat species. Sites that sell the fish advertise them as easy to care for and hardy ..while other people warn you and say don’t get them and they are difficult and very messy.

http://www.worldcichlids.com/fishpr…tfish.html

[LittlePuffyTail]

Just have to comment on the adorableness of Sharkie!

[Lintini]

Haha ..I guess he’s kinda cute…Idk tho…if you saw that big one ….*shivers* In a few months I might not want to stick my hand in the tank.

[Lintini]

This is stupid…one site says that they like to hide in bogwood all day and chill at the bottom of the tank, then another site says they are very active and need lots of swimming room. I give up!!!!

[MirBear]

well on the whole fish thing… my mom has a big tank full of ciclids… we also had a 4 inch long shark and a HUGE vinesteres (a type of cichlid) anyways we just did a water switch and accidentally put WAY to much chlorine in and the two biggest fish died. the shark and vinesteres… weve had the vinesteres for about 5 years… ever since he was the size of the nail on my thumb to now when he was bigger than my whole hand!! now we have the big pleco and the ruby and tangerine cichlids left the tank looks empty!!! its soo sad…. im trying to convince my mom to get a salt water aquarium!! that would be sooooo cool!!!

[Sonn]

I have a redtail catfish and they get HUGE mine is almost 5 feet long and lives in a 250 gallon tank and I am thinking of getting a 300 gallon for him or rehoming him to one of my friends with a 1600 gallon in the basement. He is mostly a lump during the day and eats at night very sensitive to ammonia spikes in the water. They are very messy they say goldfish are messy well they have never had a redtail. Gets fed a variety of food fish, crustaceans, worms, fish food, chicken, etc. His tank is bare-bottom since I had to take tweezer to get a rock out of his mouth they will eat them.

But he is extremely friendly and will eat from my hand.

I don’t understand why pet stores still sell them. Unfortunately keeping a fish in a smaller tank does stunt the growth but it also massively shortens their lifespan.

The ‘experts’ where I buy my fish told me oscars only get 4″ luckily I used to have one so I knew how huge they got my dad on the other hand believed them lol.

[Lintini]

They still sell them because idiots like me just want a catfish and don’t know anything about them.

[Sonn]

Posted By Lintini on 12/30/2009 06:34 PM
They still sell them because idiots like me just want a catfish and don’t know anything about them.

 

Don’t feel bad I did the same thing when I bought mine I listened to the pet store then got home and read about them online and was shocked

[SophieBun]

omg I understand your frustration so muchhh lol when I bought my first fish, it was a red zebra cichlid and a green spotted puffer, from Walmart. I didn’t know anything about fish and neither did the people from Walmart. They told me they could live together and that they ate the same food, bla blah….gosh when I started reading on the internet i almost fell off my chair. The puffer was carnivorous, i had to feed him snails, he ate other fish, the red zebra was extremely aggressive. long story short, I kept them (unfortunately they both died when we got from Missouri to Florida ) but I’m never buying fish again unless I research first O_O because it was such a headache. Oh and to make matters worse they had the puffer on fresh water, and later on I had to change him to saltwater (which I was not prepared at all to have saltwater fish!) but he made it all worth it. He was the cutest most special fish in the world.
All I can say is relax and take deeeeep breaths! If you’re sure you can take care of him in the future keep him, but if the hassle is not worth it maybe you can give it back and someone else will buy it?
Good luck and keep us posted!

[Lintini]

Thank you guys. The only bottom feeders I’ve ever had are plecos…and they are a lot different than catfish. We’ll see how it goes. I just called my parents and told them. My dad wants to strangle me. He hates all the animals in my room. My friends told me to give my brother a shovel and get the pond started for him in the backyard :p lol

[Lintini]

Just fed them some frozen beefheart …for some reason I didn’t think it was actual beef heart..gross. Anyways…the catfish just enhaled 2 cubes. You should see his tummy now!

[Lintini]

Also…my tank is perfect to make a reef tank, which I had before. I had the back stacked all the way up with lava rock. I had damsels, yellow tang, starfish, clams, anemone, a goby. omg the goby was so cute! It was bad news when I bought the yellow tang. He started eating my invertebrates. *raises fist in air* So it’s not a really ideal shape of tank for large fish.

[corpathina]

being in louisiana i really cannot fathom wanting a catfish in a tank. we’ve got them every where in ponds/lakes/rivers around here. they’re generally considered the garbage disposals of the water. they’re neat looking, though.

i wouldn’t be concerned about his whiskers.. i’d be very afraid of his fins, though. quite sharp.

nice tank! good luck with your fish!

[Lintini]

Haha corpathina! You are right about wanting a catfish…these catfish at my grandparents house in Clearlake. …I’d see them dead floating at the boatdocks….BARF! They were HUGE!!! But this guy is little a kinda cute right now…not for long…but thats how the aquarium stores are getting people to buy them. Thanks for the tank compliment, I need to scrub some algae off the side…although they say algae is good since it means ur water is healthy!

[Beka27]

SONN!!! I want to see pictures of your fish and your tank! And I can’t even begin to fathom a 1600 gallon aquarium… does your friend have to CLIMB INSIDE to clean it?!

Lintini: I think your fish are very cute! Is a bigger/longer tank in your near future? LMAO!

[Sonn]

I don’t have a picture of my tank since I can back up all the way against my wall and still only get like the middle of it

But here is an older picture of him

My friends tank was custom made so it is shorter and really really long I think it is roughly 12-14 feet long built into the wall he has to use a ladder to even remotely get close to the bottom it is fun to watch him try to clean it

[Lintini]

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Sonn…I’m scared

 

Near future for a larger tank? Unfortunetly no. We have hardwood floors throughout the house and my parents would kick me out before I set up a larger tank. If you recall, I was supposed to take this aquarium down so I could get hardwood in my room. Now my dad’s changed his mind and said “the rodents have to go too” ….so I was like screw that. I’m fixing it up then. They don’t like the fact that Indy runs freely in my room. He uses the liter box, don’t really see the problem. Not like it’s any different from letting the 2 dogs run around. My bedroom is wall to wall desk,bed,bunnycage, dressers. When things get to cramped he’ll just have to go back or I find him a new home.  Now when I get my own place after I graduate/land my first teaching job at a school, I know I will want a very large tank. But…money will probably be too tight then to spend on a couple hundred gallon tank. But that’s still even a year away.

[Lintini]

Oh Sonn…one more thing.

My juvenile does not have a red tail yet. It’s dull. What do you recommend I feed him to get that color, or do they color when more mature?

 

I wonder how slow he will grow to give me enough time to properly care (get a new tank) or if I will have to rehome by then. I don’t think he will like my tank for very long

 

Oh and…when you mess with your tank, does he bother you? Like…bite you? touch you with his whiskers? I think I might faint.

 

Maybe I should go back to Guppies…lol

[Sonn]

Mine had a semi dull red tail when he was smaller than 5 or so inches but to bring out the red feed things that are more red like the beef heart, bloodworms, red worms, raw hamburger meat and when larger you can feed red crabs things like that. The larger he gets the larger the food will have to be mine will completely ignore things like bloodworms now. So his main staple is beefheart, shellfish, crabs, shrimp.

Mine grew fairly quickly he went from 2 inches to 8 inches in around 8 months or so

When he was little he would hide from me when I messed around in the tank. Now he will swim around my hand but doesn’t touch me I haven’t ever been injured by him I actually hand feed him most of the time.

Lol guppies are my safe fish if I get overwhelmed I always go back to Guppies.

[Lintini]

Okay cool thank you, I fed him 2 squares of beefheart last night. I read that I only need to feed him every couple of days? I give the oscar pellets daily though so he was helping himself to those as well. How large is yours now? He looks HUGE!!! Do you have any other tips for me?

So far this is what I’ve picked up:

Clean tank often
Do not over-feed
They throwup? And mess up the tank water
Feed high protien food
They can eat rocks…might be safer to take out gravel
red foods = red tail color

[Sonn]

Sumo is 4 feet 7 inches long hmm the only other tip I can think of right now is if it can fit in his mouth he will eat it or attempt to eat it.

If you see him “shimmying” check your water parameters they are extremely sensitive to heavy metals in water. Yes if they overeat they will throwup anything their body doesn’t use I learned that one the hard way just take it from me you do not want his belly to look too puffed up or be prepared to clean up lots of nasty bits of fish or whatever you feed. A strong filter is highly recommended I run 2 Rena Filstar Xp4 on Sumo’s tank. When mine was a baby I fed every day twice a day now he eats 3-4 times a week if that most get worried when they reach their adult size because they show little interest in eating other than when they are hungry.

[Lintini]

Right now I just have the eclipse filter. If I get something stronger I’ll have to get rid of the hood completely. So you keep him in your bedroom? Are your friends scared to come in there? lol. I’d love to see a photo if you could ever take one. Should I look into getting a stronger filter system?

I did read something about the “shimmy” and gill curl? That 2 foot long one in the store had that. They say its from stress/overcrowding? I believe it. That tank had a lot of big fish in it.

I use “prime” water conditioner. It’s one capful per 50 gallon…lasts me a long time.

[Sonn]

Eclipse is the filters that are in the hood right??? Lol I have no idea I think for now your filter will probably work since he is still tiny. The filters I use are actually canister filters. Gill curl can be caused from a variety of things but mainly a poor diet and dirty water.

He is actually in the living room beside the tv so it is very hard to miss him LOL. When I bring new people over they are shocked and either disgusted or intrigued.

[Lintini]

Sonn I signed up on the monsterfish forums and told my story. This guy told me to sell him and that I was basically going to kill him. Then that he was going to eat and kill my oscar. Are fish life-span really shortened by not having a huge tank? God I’ve had fish since I was 10 with my first tank of my own and now I feel like a newbie again.

[Lintini]

OMG…

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/for/1531776920.html

I wish I could get this tank. No where to put it. CRY

 

And yes Sonn, it’s in the hood!

[Lintini]

UGH now that same guy posted on my filter question about upgrading it. He was like “don’t buy a new one you need to invest in a 300 gallon tank in 6 months your cat wont be able to turn around in your tank” He comes off as so rude. I’m sorry I bought this stupid fish without knowing its huge but I want to try my best to give it a home. Why give it back to the store to be placed back in a crowded 10 gallon tank???

I’ve already been mulling over how I can get rid of half my clothing and dresser to get a 200 gallon tank in here. I think i’ve gone mad.

 

Like do I need to post a photo of my room. HERE I HAVE 3 GUINEA PIGS AND 2 RABIITS IN HERE SORRY SIR I DONT HAVE ROOM FOR A 300 GALLON FISH TANK!!!!!   *EXPLODES*

Sorry I did something irrasponsable and now I feel terribly guilty and I’m already in love with the little guy. This is like me getting Indy when I really didn’t ned another rabbit.

[Sonn]

Some fish people go way way overboard and will not let up until they have you going into a ranting frenzy or you leave the forum. It is true that it shortens the lifespan if the fish is in a tank too small for them. BUT your fish is not too big for your current tank for now. If you tried to keep him in the current tank for his entire life then he probably wouldn’t live very long.

I have removed almost everything in my room to make room for my animals lol I have a bed and a wall of shelves for everything I own the rest is for my pets.

[Lintini]

Thanks Sonn. For now it will be okay until he is larger and I can freak out then. Thanks tons for your help. I really appreciate it!

[KytKattin]

Gah! Cat fish freak me out! lol. Except I love Cory Cats. So go figure. I had some bad luck with my tank in the last couple of months. Lost 4 fish, including 3 cats. I only have 5 fish in my 20 gallon now. I got a new filter for Chirstmas as well. I believe it is a Hagen 50. I know it pumps 300 gal/hr. My water is crystal now! I want a big tank some day like you have. My mom has a 50gal, and a koi pond, though her pond is WAY too small for the size and number of koi she has in it, but upgrading that is quite expensive. Anyways, you have some really cool fish!

[Lintini]

We would love to see photos of your tank KyKattin. What fish do you have in your tank? That sounds like a nice pump you got. I need to look into something stronger too. My boyfriend said he would let me have a huge tank when we got our house together. I agree Sonn I got kinda jumped on but I already admitted I was stupid for buying him and not knowing, but I am ready to do what I can for him proper until I have to re-home him. I think he will outgrow the tank before I move out. But, I will be responsible and make sure he gets a suitable home and not just throw him back to the fish store to be in a huge over-crowded tank. Like I said before, that 2 foot long guy they had, had curled gills. I think from stress/over crowded tank.

[MirBear]

if you keep him in the small tank it is possible that he might not get that big.. speaking from past expirence with a different type of fish.. we had the vinesterese in a 5 gallon tank for almost 4 months and he only grew enough so he could fit in the tank.. but when we put him in the 50 gallon tank he grew much bigger… he was the type of exotic fish you see in zoo’s or like at marine land that are the size of your head .. and when he was in the little tanks he didnt get nearly that big.. so if your cat is simaller to my old fish he might not get that big if he lives in a smaller tank.. but if you see him getting to big for the tank then it probably a good idea to get a bigger tank

[hooty22]

Look at it this way, someone else could have made a last minute decision to buy the cat, had it for a little while, it got too big for the tank, and then decide it was too much to handle and dump it in the nearest creek.
Although the tank you have right now may not be big enough in, let’s say, 1-2 years, it’s fine for now, and you are very concerned for your animals, so you’ll do everything you can to make sure he has a long healthy life.

[Lintini]

Well I just feel bad because everyone says that if I do keep him, and stunt his growth, his life span will be shortened. They also said he’s going to kill my oscar…but the one I saw was housed with oscars…granted he wasn’t an adult but he was MUCH larger than my little guy. I wish I had a huge tank…you should see these people on these forums…they have 600 gallon tanks that they swim in…I’d love to have a huge tank with a whole bunch of ugly catfish. I’m like a total newbie with my 50 gallon and I thought I was pretty ‘cool’ haha.

[MirBear]

yes you are cool!!! you have a cat fish!! thats awsome!! and a 600 gallon tank omg!! my uncle had a 250 gallon tank and i thought that was huge!

[Deleted User]

That catfish, Sonn, is breathtaking.

[Lintini]

Sonn I have another question for you. My new albino oscar seems really upset in my tank. He is constantly “fighting” with the front of the tank, (open mouth, gills out, and spiked dorsal fin) My tiger oscar didn’t do this, oscasionally he would pick a fight with a plant, but was never this uneasy in the tank. I just got this albino full grown already. Is it posible he is upset because maybe the tank he was in before was larger? Someone traded him @ the fish store so I don’t know what he was housed in before. He was hanging out in about a 15 gallon tank when he caught my eye. I try feeding often but he isn’t that into pellets, but he does like the beef heart. I also have the light off now. I don’t know what the problem is. He seemed to rub his mouth a little raw, it looks agitated from smashing it up against the glass. I added some salt to the tank. Blargh.

[Sonn]

Is your water parameters good specifically the nitrates and ammonia levels? I only ask because usually if those are high Oscars tend to go a little insane at times.

If not then it sounds like a very territorial Oscar. The raw mouth sounds like he is trying to “liplock” with the glass since that is the way oscars fight. It is very possible he is seeing his reflection in the tank and thinks another Oscar is in there and wants to fight it. If he doesn’t do it with the light off then it is more than likely the reflection.

I have a few fish that do this and there isn’t really anything you can do unless you don’t want to see your fish (cover the front of the tank) which would defeat the purpose of keeping fish.

[Lintini]

Well I just did a 50% water change the day I brought him home. I added prime and salt. I added a bit more prime today. He just seems really pissed at the world. Although he is completely leaving the catfish alone and seems only “annoyed” at the feeder fish. Someone has been eating them though but I heard different things about them, some say not to feed, feeders because they can be carrying disease/parasites. I just changed my filter. It was pretty nasty and it’s only been 1 week. Thanks Sonn <3

[Sonn]

Do you have a test kit for your water? I feed feeder fish to all of my larger fish but I also know who breeds the one’s I start with and what goes into them and what to watch for in their tank as far as parasites and things like that. I don’t feed pet store feeder fish.

Did you put the media from the old filter into the new one to setup a good bacteria colony?

I think he is being territorial to a possible reflection he sees as a threat. I have a blood parrot cichlid who gets along with all of my other fish from the smallest guppy to the bigger gouramis and giant danios but when he sees his reflection in the side of the tank he rams full speed into the glass.

[Lintini]

It’s a biological filter that holds the colony of good bacteria, it’s a spinning wheel; but I did change the actually charcoal filter itself.

[Author]

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