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Last post 19 years ago by usahog. 18 replies replies.
Let's talk about Fish Tanks and Fish??
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usahog Offline
#1 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 6:07 AM EST
Joined: 12-06-1999
Posts: 22,691
Anyone else have an Oscar? I bought "Wally" a month after I bought my house 2001... he was almost 3" long at that time.. he's got a 30 gal tank (I Think) maybe 50 gal... anyway he is now outgrown this tank.. he is about 14" long and a good 1 1/2" thick anyways it's time to locate him a larger tank so he can even grow larger... just before I left on deployment in 2002 I had the Wife take care of him and my Cigars while gone.. she didn't know much of anything about either one ;0) she learned fast.. I had put 6 feeder gold fish in his tank as a treat he ate 4 and left 2 as his buddy's the wife says... they are still swimming in there with him and he keeps them in line..when I returned home she had him spoiled she would put her hand in the tank and he would swim up and roll on his side to get his belly rubbed... he also watches TV and will let you know if there is something on that he doesn't like... he'll actually go nuts in the water if it really is a crappy show LOL.. anyone else here have fish? I'll post a picture soon...

Hog
eleltea Offline
#2 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 6:13 AM EST
Joined: 03-03-2002
Posts: 4,562
Long time ago I raised Discus until the heater blew up in the water and electrocuted them all. Bad day. Good luck with your Oscar. Watching them slowly move around the tank has a very calming effect.
penzt8 Offline
#3 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 6:23 AM EST
Joined: 06-05-2000
Posts: 1,771
No oscars but I have a pair of jack dempseys in a 30 gallon tank. Right now the tank is over run with algae. It's time to get out the scraper.
usahog Offline
#4 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 6:24 AM EST
Joined: 12-06-1999
Posts: 22,691
yea before the step daughter and wife came along.. Wally and I would listen to music and just hang out and smoke cigars in the living room... can't do that anymore without catching the wrath of a 15 yr old about the smell LMAO!!!! the wife and I are going to get him a bigger tank and see how much larger he can get.. he really has his own additude it's cool to watch him...

Hog
bloody spaniard Offline
#5 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 6:37 AM EST
Joined: 03-14-2003
Posts: 43,802
Don't listen to Eletea. He was just in a mood for a fish samitch that day. The tartar sauce next to the aquarium was a dead giveaway.LOL

Betcha didn't know that I used to breed fancy show guppies and cichlids(like oscar) when I was a teen. I had 4 aquariums + a quarantine/convalescing/baby tank.

Also had angel fish, discus, rope fish, several red-bellied piranhas and an amazonian frog or two, plus misc.. I would sell/barter with local fish shops.

Sounds like you got a great pet, Hog!

blood
lofty1 Offline
#6 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 6:51 AM EST
Joined: 06-07-2004
Posts: 4,670
hey, blood, where did you live that would allow you to have a piranha? in TX we can't have those. they stand too good a chance of surviving the winters down here in the rivers and lakes. are they really as mean as folks say? i've been told by folks claiming to have owned one that they had to cover the tank w/ a blanket or towel on a regular basis because of their temper.

i was quite the fish hobbiest for a while myself. i preferred the south/central american cichlids. i never cared much for oscars because the darn things will outgrow any tank you put 'em in. i had some dempseys, convicts, severums, and quite a few others. i only had one african in the tank. it was a frontosa i got while working at a pet supply store that sold fish. it was getting its fins nipped in a customers tank so i took him home. the fins grew back, and he got big and healthy. he was worth about $100 or so when i had to give up the tank for the military. man, i miss my fish. they really are very relaxing.
Homebrew Offline
#7 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 6:57 AM EST
Joined: 02-11-2003
Posts: 11,885
Oscars are great fish.
I have one, REX. Rex is in a 150 gal. tank, and just about needs all of it. I had a Jack Dempsey, but Rex killed him. Recently a friend was standing near the tank, with his hand hanging over the water. Just as he was asking if Rex would bite, the fish jumped up and bit his finger drawing blood. I guess Rex felt the need to answer his question for him.
LOL
Later
Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)
rastusmcnair Offline
#8 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 7:25 AM EST
Joined: 03-01-2003
Posts: 1,845
You'de be surprised where Piranha will turn up. A local fisherman caught one over two pounds out of The Lehigh River here in Pa. It seems someone released it near a source of warm water, power or water treatment plant, and it liked Pa. just fine.
EI Offline
#9 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 7:47 AM EST
Joined: 06-29-2002
Posts: 5,069
I have a blue Beta named Max
He puffs up every time I pass his bowl
He loves the wife but hates me

He is huge for a beta and I tell the wife we ought to change his name to sushi
johnfs Offline
#10 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 7:53 AM EST
Joined: 01-01-2003
Posts: 2,993
Its been a while, I used to have Convicts(2 mated pairs), a Dempsey, some Jewels. Had Blast with them as the mated pairs would do tag team on any that came close the nest. The convicts lived about 7yrs and the Dempsey lived 11yrs. Yup I miss the Dempsey, Smokin' Joe is what we called 'im.

Hog That's a Oscar you got there. I've heard of some people feeding them mice.

Going on vacations was always hard on the and many would lose appetite nothing worked better than worms and grasshoppers on getting the back into shape.

I must admit I'm down to one weenie goldfish in a bowl that's not quite 2yrs yet, which is a record for me and goldfish.

J
EI Offline
#11 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 8:03 AM EST
Joined: 06-29-2002
Posts: 5,069
I have a blue Beta named Max
He puffs up every time I pass his bowl
He loves the wife but hates me

He is huge for a beta and I tell the wife we ought to change his name to sushi
EI Offline
#12 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 8:04 AM EST
Joined: 06-29-2002
Posts: 5,069
please excuse the double post
Seth Gekko Offline
#13 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 8:58 AM EST
Joined: 01-30-2004
Posts: 2,311
Had a 55 salt water set up, with angels & clownfish (Nemo). . . . Lotsa work, but beatiful to look at. . .

. . .now, I have an eyeless albino goldfish in a bowl. . . a girl I dated gave it to me 5 years ago. . . no heater, no filter, just a bowl. . . . I don't think it'll ever die. . . I have a coffee mug in there for shelter, and the cats get into it - they tip the mug up out of the water and drink out of the mug - sometimes the fish will be in the mug when they do that, and I'll find him sitting in a small puddle in the bottom of the mug. . . .
Mrs. Usahog Offline
#14 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 9:08 AM EST
Joined: 02-06-2003
Posts: 405
Got a day off today. Tried to talk Hog in to buying me a new dishwasher with the O My God on how much the price was. He took me to the fish place and paid almost twice the amount for a fish tank! Now go figure? Now I'm thinking he is going to have really nice dish pan hands!!

90 gals/HUGE tank in my little bitty front room. Wally will be very happy once Russ gets busy and gets the custom base done for this tank.

Mrs. Hog
BeatDragon Offline
#15 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 10:13 AM EST
Joined: 02-28-2003
Posts: 4,754
At one time I had a 125, a 50, a 55, a 30 tall and 2 15's to store feeders.

The 125 had 2 convicts (bad ass little fish) A Green Terror, Managuense, Red Devil, Shovel Nosed Catfish, Plecostamus, a Red Tail Shark, and a 2' Arowana. I had the Telapia Butterkoferi (A bad ass African Cichlid) in there but she beat the livin snot out of the Green Terror and started picking on the Arowana so I put her in the 30 tall by herself. She bit me twicw, the litte wench. The cichlids were all abot 8" long and the conivcts were pretty large 4" maybe. The Shovel nose was about a foot as was the Plecto. I had to put 25 feeders in that tank about 3 times a week so they wouldnt eat each other. The Red Devil and the Managuense mated twice. But the Plecto ate the row both times. Those would have been some funky fish.

Oh yeah...in the wild most of these fish would rule the Pirahna. They are kinda wimpy when they aren't feeding.

The 50 and 55 had an assortment of stuff, Red tail sharks, African cichlids, Bala sharks, Angels, all kinds of swimmin critters. After a while it just got to wacko so I sold all my stuff except for on 55 that now is the home of Sydney the Bearded Dragon.
bloody spaniard Offline
#16 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 10:17 AM EST
Joined: 03-14-2003
Posts: 43,802
LOL Sounds like Mr. Hog just built himself an Jacuzzi with a fish for company. Just wait till he has to clean it... I expect he'll be digging out a pond in the backyard soon.

Lofty, the piranha is an aggresive/mean fish & dangerous if you're not careful when cleaning the tank (I made sure they were fed or isolated in a net, etc.), but they were beautiful and a great garbage disposal. They were also legal in Maryland when I bought them in the early 70's. They probably wouldn't survive winters up here. Although I've seen large carp (goldfish) and jewel fish swimming in the potomac.

lefty


PS:IMHO, the secret to keeping your fish alive is to siphon the bottom 1/4 to 1/3 (no more) of the tank once a month in order to remove waste products & offshoots (nitrates/nitrites). Keep the temperature constant & maintain a ph that is favorable to your species.
bloody spaniard Offline
#17 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 10:21 AM EST
Joined: 03-14-2003
Posts: 43,802
Very impressive, beatdragon.
pabloescabar Offline
#18 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 11:09 AM EST
Joined: 02-25-2005
Posts: 30,183
my dad had a oscar, them's get real big, our's got over a foot long than we ate'em sure was a good thankx givin,mmm...
usahog Offline
#19 Posted: Tue, Sep 28 2004, 11:21 AM EST
Joined: 12-06-1999
Posts: 22,691
LMAO!!!! glad to see this thread having so much color...

and I just suprised the hell outa the Mrs... we didn't go ahead with the 90 gal... we stopped by another store and they had their 125 gals on sale.. So, well... now I've got to build an entertainment center to house the aquarium and the Television along with all the other items... I spent the whole time driving home putting this thing together in my head LMAO!!!!

the Mrs. is going to get her Catfish she wanted and for awhile we'll have to zone off the tank the rock she is going to put inside is red,white and blue... it will have a bottom undergravel filtration system

Blood.. I bought a "Python" some years ago... it cleans the tank with no mess plus repentishes the water without hassel....

Hog
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