I’m so excited. I got two Tiger Oscar Fish today. I’m going to start them off in my 46 Gallon Tank as they are just babies right now so there’s plenty of room for them at the moment. These fish grow really fast and really big so eventually I’ll have to either move one to the 55 Gallon I have or upgrade to bigger tanks entirely. Most people with experience with Oscars recommend a 75 Gallon tank for one Oscar or a 125 Gallon for a pair, and they say that there really isn’t any way to tell the gender of the Oscars until later so I have no idea whether I have two males, two females, or a female and a male. If I ended up with two males, chances are I will need to separate them into two different tanks (ie. 2 x 75 Gallon for example) but if I have two females or a male and a female, I may be able to keep them together in one larger tank. Here are some pics I snapped of the two Oscars:

Two nights ago I had the weirdest thing happen in my 55 Gallon Tank. Before I describe what happened, first I need to explain what fish were in the tank. Here’s a list of fish that I’ve had in the tank for the last few weeks: 2x Female Betta 1x Cardinal Tetra 2x Bala Shark 3x Pictus Catfish 2x Giant Danio 2x Oto Catfish Besides the fact that the two Giant Danio’s would swim round super fast and sometimes freak out the other fish and the two Pictus Catfish were skittish when I would turn on/off the lights, all the fish seemed to be getting along quite nicely with no fin nipping or aggression. Then, a few days ago I got a Free 46 Gallon Tank so I decided to get rid of my 20 Gallon tank and put the 46 Gallon in that spot in my room. To do this I had to transfer the fish that were in my 20 Gallon into the 55 Gallon. I didn’t think there would be any problem with this, considering all the fish in the 20 Gallon are peaceful fish. Here is what I had in the 20 Gallon tank: 8x Cardinal Tetra (Small) 1x Oto Catfish 5x Guppies (Small) 1x Pleco Ok, so I moved those fish into the 55 Gallon. My main concern was that the 55 Gallon isn’t completely cycled yet so I knew I would have to really watch my Ammonia levels carefully. However, I’ve been doing daily partial water changes due to the Ich problem I had and it’s not that bad so I figured even if the extra fish put more strain on the biological filter I could temporarily compensate by doing more frequent water changes. A small price to pay to get a nice 46 Gallon tank setup in place of my small 20 Gallon. Anyways, I put the fish in there and I kind of figured a couple of the small Tetras might go missing or die but I never expected what happened next. The following day I check the tank and I noticed that one of my Bala Sharks had the top part of his tail nipped off. I thought that was pretty odd since I didn’t add in any aggressive fish and the existing fish that have been in the tank were getting along fine. Then I started looking around and I noticed that a whole bunch of fish were missing! When I say a whole bunch, I mean EIGHT FISH! Here’s the casualty list from one night: 2x Female Bettas… GONE! 1x Bala Shark… GONE! 1x Bala Shark… Missing top part of tail. 5x Cardinal Tetras… GONE! What the heck happened!? I am pretty sure my 3 Pictus Catfish may be to blame. They must have gone into a major hunting expedition that night and ate 8 of my fish! I was devestated to see my Female Bettas gone especially. They were so fun to watch. I checked and no the fish didn’t jump out of the tank

Yesterday, my younger brother called me to let me know he had a free aquarium tank at work if I wanted it. It’s used, but it’s in pretty good shape and came with an aquarium stand and a hood. I decided to pick it up even though I don’t really have room for it yet. I filled it up with water today and I’ll leave it outside for a few hours to make sure it doesn’t leak or anything and then I’ll see if I can find a spot for it. If it doesn’t leak, and I can find a good spot for it, I might have another tank to setup and cycle. I might get rid of my 20 Gallon tank and replace it with this. Here’s a picture of it, sitting outside filled with water. My New 46 Gallon Tank

A few weeks back I bought a really cool looking black Adonis Pleco with white polka dots. It’s a really cool looking Pleco and I was really hoping that it would survive and grow in my tank as it’s white dots were really pronounced. Unfortunately, today I found it dead in the tank. It hasn’t been behaving the same in the last few days for some reason, perhaps as a result of the water changes and the medication I’ve been putting in to get rid of the Ich I have in the tank? Normally it would hide inside the large bell decoration I have and I would hardly see it, but in the last few days it was out and about hanging around the top part of the aquarium which I thought was really strange. I kept an eye on it to see if perhaps it had Ich on it, but it didn’t. I wasn’t really sure what was stressing it out so much, but it wasn’t behaving right in the last few days and today it died. I’m very sad to see this little guy go, because he seemed like such a cool fish and I would have loved to see him grow to a full size in the tank. I’m not sure if the store still had any of these left, but if they do I’ll pick up another one once my Ich is gone and my cycling is complete.

Yesterday I noticed the Cardinal Tetra in my 55 Gallon Aquarium had these little white spots on his body. There weren’t many of them, just a few, but I had to take a closer look to see if it could be Ich (White Spot Disease). Ich ( Ichthyophthirius multifiliis ) , also called White Spot Disease , is a very common parasite amongst aquarium fish and it’s not unusual for you to run into this if you have an aquarium. Cardinal Tetra With Ich - Not Very Visible in This Picture Cardinal Tetra With Ich - More Visible on His Fins The good news is that I caught it really early so I should be able to treat it, hopefully without any fatalities. Ich goes through three stages in its life cycle. The white dots you can see on my Cardinal Tetra is Ich in its “ trophont ” stage of the life cycle. In this stage it is visible to the naked eye and its actually attached and burrowed under the mucus coating of my fish where it feeds on the body fluid of the poor Cardinal Tetra. In a few days it will finish feeding and detach itself from the fish, going into the next part of the life cycle called the “ tomont ” stage. In this part of it’s life cycle it will swim around the aquarium, looking for a place like my plants or other surfaces to attach itself to so that it can begin to reproduce. In this stage it basically starts to reproduce like crazy and then within a few days it will turn into hundreds of new little parasites called “ thermonts ” in the third part of the cycle. These “ thermonts ” are then going to swim around my aquarium looking to attach themselves to more of my fish to hide under their mucous coating and start the whole cycle again, each time multiplying and spreading all over my aquarium. While in the “trophont” stage, the Ich parasite is protected from any type of medication that I can put in the tank, but once it detaches itself from my fish and goes looking for a surface to begin it’s reproductive cycle, it will be succeptible to treatment by medication because it will no longer be hiding in the mucous coating of my fish. So basically, while its attached to my fish (the trophont stage) it is safe. As soon as it detaches and tries to reproduce (the tomont and thermont stages) and find other fish to attach to, that’s when this parasite can be treated with medication which is exactly what I’m going to do. I’ve done a bit of research on the problem and I’m going to treat the Ich (White Spot Disease) problem as follows: I’ve done a 20% water change on the tank , because it’s not recommended to do any water changes during the medication process so I figured it would be best to do one right before I start. I’m going to increase the water temperature of my tank to about 80-82ºF , which speeds up the life cycle of the parasite, which will get it off my fish faster trying to go into its reproductive cycle. I’ve removed the carbon charcoal insert on my canister filter as charcoal will just filter out the meds I’m putting in and we don’t want that. I’m adding in a product called Ich X from Aquarium Solutions to kill the parasite.

Saltwater aquarium set up takes time but it is exciting adventure. It usually takes 4 to 8 weeks before you can add any saltwater fish safely to your saltwater aquarium.I know it is disappointing to wait too long before you can start putting fish into your saltwater aquarium, but you wouldn’t want to risk losing them. Saltwater fish are quite pricey. So I would say that  patience  is the key! Before setting up a saltwater aquarium, think about these things first: STEP 1: Choosing your Location, Aquarium Size and Aquarium Stand The first step in saltwater aquarium set up is choosing a location that is nowhere close to natural lighting sources. Close to windows, entrance that has a clear door where sun rays can come in and patios are a BIG NO! Intense sunlight can produce excessive algae which are a beginner aquarist's usual problem. A cooler room temperature that is well-ventilated would be the best. Choose a large enough location for your aquarium. Set up a level and well supported area for your aquarium and stand and is highly preferred. Make sure to leave enough space for electrical connections and other equipments as well as around the aquarium for maintenance and cleaning. Properly selected aquarium will help in a successful saltwater aquarium and set up will be a breeze. It’s not as hard as it may seem. The first requirement is a proper glass tank! It’s a mistake to buy a small aquarium "just to get started." My suggestion is to get the largest aquarium you can afford. It’s actually better generally for first timers. But make sure it will fit your space and of course your budget. Larger aquariums are more forgiving of beginners’ mistakes and provide a much more stable environment. If you buy a small aquarium, I’m pretty sure that you will just upgrade to a bigger one later on. Surface area of the aquarium should also be taken into account in aquarium set up. Oxygen enters the water and, more importantly, noxious gases such as carbon dioxide escape into the air at the water surface

A cichlid is a specific type of fish. There are many different species of cichlids. Many people have cichlids as pets. In order to take the best care of their cichlid they need to investigate and find out just exactly what species of cichlid they have. Many times this information is not given by the store where the fish were purchased or it was provided and soon forgotten by the owner. I have just recently started studying these fish and have came up with four different groups of these cichlids. As my study continues I will be able to add any new information I find. So far the cichlids are in one of the following groups: 1. Neotropical 2. African 3. Madagascar 4. Asian This is where the studying begins. After you figure out what group your cichlid is in then you can find out alot about your fish. Neotropical cichlids are also known as New World Cichlids. They are popular and beautiful to look at in fish tanks. They are happy fish and they are very colorful.

The Firemouth Cichlid is one of the many species of South American, or New World Cichlids. These fish got their name from the fiery coloration on the breast and throat. The base color of the firemouth is blue gray with black blotches and brown fins lined with blue. The females are not as brightly colored as the males. All of these cichlids have coloration differences; it depends on the place of origin. These fish can be found in Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. They are found in the middle to bottom of slow moving bodies of water. They tend to stay close to shore to feed on some meaty foods and algae. These cichlids are able to be kept in a minimum 20 gallon tank. It is recommended to keep them in a 30 gallon or more with no more than 2 kept in the same tank. The ideal temperature for your tank is 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit, the ideal Ph in your tank should be 6.5-8.0, and the ideal hardness should be 8-15 degrees. Just like when they are in their place of origin in the tank they swim in the middle or lower part of the tank. Having fine sand in the bottom of the tank is ideal for them to burrow. There needs to be some open room for swimming in the tank, but there should also be rocks for hiding. Plants that are recommended for this cichlid are the Sagittaria plants. All in all, the firemouth is a peaceful fish, but when it comes time for spawning they may get aggressive

The Severum cichlid has become popular in pet trade as of late. These cichlids are very peaceful, although they may be too aggressive for a common community tank. They need to be kept with fish the same size as themselves. These cichlids are also known as Banded Cichlids, and Hero Cichlids. There are two main colors of the Severum. The Gold Severum and the Green Severum. The Gold actually developed from the green Severum. The Green Severum is distinctive and has darker colored horizontal bands on the body where the Gold does not. Although rare, there are also blue variations of the Severum. The Severum is a very beautiful fish, and it’s some what shy nature, makes it an ideal cichlid for your aquarium. This cichlid comes from the North Amazon region. Aquarium Care: A tank of 55 gallons is ideal for a Severum. The average length of this cichlid is 8” but it is not un-common for the Severum to reach 12”. Severum aren’t as easily cared for as some other species of cichlids. The Severum is very sensitive to the water quality in their tank which means you must change your water frequently. Another must, is too check your water regularly for toxins. The nitrate level must be watched and kept to a minimum. The filter must work effectively. Your tank should have open areas for swimming but also should have an adequate amount of hiding spots

The Red Devil Cichlid is one of the larger cichlids; it can reach up to 15” in length. The color of the Red Devil Cichlid varies greatly. Some are bright yellow; some are white and others red. Along with the color of this fish, the structure varies some too. The Red Devil is very conscious of their owner. When you move your hand across the front of the tank he will follow it, same if you are cleaning your tank or feeding. Some other names this cichlid may be known by are the Lemon Cichlid and the Midas cichlid. The Red Devil Cichlid is originally from Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Now they can be found in Florida and Hawaii. The Red Devil Cichlid is very aggressive and has very violent tendencies. Aquarium Care: A single Red Devil Cichlid should be kept in no less than a 55 gallon tank if adding more than one cichlid a 125 gallon tank is recommended. If you are wanting to keep more than 3 or 4 Red Devil Cichlids, then a 200 gallon tank would be ideal. When setting up your aquarium the bottom would ideally consist of fine sand. It is important to leave room for your cichlid to swim around, with additional spaces for him to hide. Some rocks and plants are helpful. Make sure the plants and rocks are placed directly on the bottom glass, then the sand and rocks to keep them from floating to the top. These cichlids swim near the bottom and can be a digger.