Clean water gone in 60 seconds, oscar

[Billythefish]

Im freaking pisst as some of you guys may no i got my 1st oscar yesterday and got loads of tips from the a.c and things have been real good, now i had the tank up and runing for 8 years with other fish so i had pukka water so i was more than happy with the new oscar going in it and he was fine until now i just terned around and the water is thick with dirt and has gone all green the oscar is going nuts kicking up all the gravel and dirt shes even going for me with her mouth wide open. What the hell??

[Lady Hobbs]

How dirty is your gravel? Is he stirring stuff up from the bottom? Did you clean the gravel and do a big water change before adding him?

[crackatinny]

Sounds like one wild oscar you got there, how big is he?

[Billythefish]

I did do a gravel vac and a 40ish% water change the water was all good levels but now its even hard to see from one side to the other!

[xoolooxunny]

maybe its yelling at you for how filthy her gravel is?

[Billythefish]

Hes about 10'' and i got him off a old guy in my lfs who wanted rid of the oscar in a swap for little fish bcoz hes tank was to small

[crackatinny]

Hopefully he will calm down for you, perhaps after being in the small tank so long, he is enjoying the room.

[Billythefish]

Thats what i was thinking crackatiny bcoz hes up and down up and down, hes made a big hole in the middle of the gravel all the way down to the ugf i think thats why the waters gone so green!

[jbeining75]

Do some big water changes and stir the entire gravel and vac it out. If you don't he will... They are extremely messy eaters also.

[Nick89]

If you have a greenish color water, then its more than likely and Algae bloom. If you have a real cloudy tank, then get Accu-clear. it cleared my tank up within hours, the green was gone and it was clearing the tank within a few days to crystal clear color.

[Billythefish]

Ok im on it j, also ive added a 2nd fluval 5plus to help clean up. Do you think i need to stop my kids from going up to the tank for a few days he gets nutty wen my boy gets up close?

[Nick89]

Hes not a small oscar, so hes going to be highly territorial in his new tank. Id just turn the lights off for 2-3 days straight. Let him adjust.

[Billythefish]

Thanks guys hes stoped his ranting and is now much better im going to leave the water change for now so not to add to the stress the filters are doing the job with the mess. Ive terned the light off to. Thanks for all the help and i'll update this thread soon!

[sailor]

Thats what i was thinking crackatiny bcoz hes up and down up and down, hes made a big hole in the middle of the gravel all the way down to the ugf i think thats why the waters gone so green!

That ugf is most of your problem. They trap too much debris under the gravel as so when it gets stirred up it creates a huge mess. You should really consider getting rid of your ugf as it is ancient technology. There are much better filter systems out there, especially for a tank with an oscar as they can create a huge bio load in your tank.

[Dsoto87]

Its no wonder it got all dirty. You should really replace that ugf. Even if you do gravel vacs, stuff still gets trapped under. How big is your tank? If you want to properly house that monster you should look into getting an external filter whether that be a canister or a couple HOBs.

[Billythefish]

The tank is about 75g and im with you on the filter ive got a ugf and 2 fuvel 5plus on the go for now . I got this oscar just by luck it was'nt planed so i did'nt have much time im going to get a good bio wheel or somthing soon.

[jbeining75]

Throw two AC 110's on that thing instead of a biowheel.. You will love the options of the Aquaclears...... I vac my gravel twice a week and do a full gravel stir once a month in my Oscar tank. I run two AC 110's on it. The water is clean and no gravel problems. You will get it down. The key to a good Oscar tank is water movement. They create alot of waste and are very messy eaters. You are really goona to have to vac the tank with the ugf in there. It will pull all the mess down into the gravel.

[Nick89]

What i want to do is either get 2 AC 110's or get the Fluval FX5. 400g!, 925gph. Its definitely one of the best canisters out today. And Hagen i believe puts out the Fluval filters. A great place to look for stuff cheaper than in a pet store is drsfostersmith.com. Great service, and i think if you buy something online they send you catalogs of new stuff every month. I know i get catalogs every month.

[Lady Hobbs]

Thats what i was thinking crackatiny bcoz hes up and down up and down, hes made a big hole in the middle of the gravel all the way down to the ugf i think thats why the waters gone so green!

UGF will never work with him. They trash the bottom of a tank pretty well. You really need a good canister filter.......especially with an Oscar. The stuff that is hid under those plates is totally disgusting.

[jbeining75]

I would definetely pull out the UGF...... It will pull the debris down and the Oscar is just going to move it around. natural behavior for them is to pickup rocks and mound them up. When they do this they are going to stir the bottom and bring everything up. That is why I personally would not use the ugf.

[Billythefish]

That sounds like the tiket im going to look up the ac110 and see if i can get em in a lfs near my home thanks. I no its going to be a lot of work but i must say this big oscar has got me and the wife and kids hooked! Befor he went on a mad one today my 5year old boy was handing him his food it was real cool and like me and my dad would do 2o odd years ago!

[jbeining75]

Just watch the kid when he is feeding if he holds the food above the water to long and the Oscar gets cheeky he will jump up and try to grab it. I have had my Oscar hit my hand twice while hand feeding him. No teeth but the initial hit hurts like heck lol.... The second time he actually drew blood....

[Lady Hobbs]

Two AC 110's maybe or one canister and one AC 110. You're talking a big fish here that is a poop machine.

[cocoa_pleco]

its normal, when i got mine he was skittish for 2 weeks

[Billythefish]

2ac110 got ya!, and dont worry my boy keeps his hands up high lol. thank you all very much!

[fraggle]

Good luck with him Billy! They really are heaps of fun, you do get hooked, they're like a dog in a tank I suppose! LOL. My guy is for ever digging the gravel up to make big piles so that the bottom of the tank is just glass, and he get really narky when the tandanus or gibby knock the gravel back onto his clean patches, lol, he chases them then goes and picks up the gravel they knocked and spits it back onto one of the piles he's made.

[Billythefish]

Hay guys, ive been busy checking out the ac110 and it dont look good take a look at this and let me know what you think- ons.com/content-407510879876?linkin-id=8003929

[Lady Hobbs]

Link not working.

About every 3 months BigAls run a sale on AC for 5 days. They are about due to run another anytime. They are $20 off for a short time so I would be watching for that.

I do post a big announcement when this sale is going on because normally the AC110 is $63.99 so getting it for $43 is a big deal, huh?

[Billythefish]

Sorry i made a mess of the link hear ya go. [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Halelorf]

Aquaclears are some of the best HOB power filters available. They last forever, are pretty inexpensive, super quiet, and come with all sorts of media. I've never been disappointed with any of the ones i've had.