# Planted Paludarium Fish Questions



## ohcrapitsanewt (Dec 10, 2007)

Please, Admins feel free to move this thread because I wasn't sure where to put it.

Okay, lets get down to business.

I am starting a paludarium in a 55 gallon tank. I am designing it with about 35-45 gallons of water. This paludarium is going to be designed with a shelf so the swimming space will be the full length of the aquarium just not the full height. This will have a DIY canister filter and will be lightly planted with some medium wattage easy to grow (like so easy that you would have to put it in a blender to kill it ) plants.

My question is (after all of that rambling) if I could keep a Tiger Oscar in that tank. I know that they get relatively large, but this would be the only fish in the tank. (With the exception of the occasional vacationer to his intestinal tract )

I was first started on the tiger oscars when I saw them on drfosterandsmith.com but was deterred when I saw the price. Arriving at my local Petsmart for come cat nail trimmers for my guinea pigs (oddly enough they don't actually make them for guinea pigs) I saw them. They were about 3 inches long and they were 6 bucks each!!!!! My local petsmart takes very good care of their fish and use a very slight amougnt of salt to prevent anything *ICH*y (ha ha  get it?). There were about 8 of them in a tank that looked like the size of a 40 breeder (I know, larger than normal. Most shops would have 50 of them in there).

Also, do oscars really have personality like everyone says they do?

Thanks for the help,
John


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## ohcrapitsanewt (Dec 10, 2007)

This is a diagram showing one of my DIY canister filter Ideas










Still in the works but it's getting there.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

An oscar would be a definite no for what you will have available for housing. Not only do they get very large (needing at least 75 gallons total tank space for one - and that's small IMO) but they tend to be very rowdy and will rearrange a tank to their liking. I'd worry about them jeopardizing the shelf you build by knocking things around even if the tank was large enough to accommodate them. Keep in mind, just because a store will keep numerous juveniles in one small tank to sell them (I have my own issues with PetsMart's fish husbandry but that's another topic), doesn't mean it is reflective of their optimal permanent housing. 

Yes, oscars have great personalities and many people will compare them to big slimy dogs  Unfortunately, one would just not work in your setup. If you're looking for fish that will have rambunctious personalities but are appropriate for your size tank, there's a lot of options out there.

Gold gouramis tend to have the tiger-ish striping and max out around 3.5-4". They're also personable.
If you'd like cichlids, you could try a pair of convict cichlids, or even a firemouth cichlid. With those fish, however, you'll be extremely limited to any other possible tankmates.

Keeping researching and asking questions, you'll get there! Sounds like a neat setup you have planned there.


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

Oscars are awesome fish, they are also akin to letting a blind bull in a china shop. Oscars will do what they want, when they want and wont care if they wreck the tank in the process.

What are you looking to do with the tank?

As Jessie said there are many other options it is just a question of what you are trying to accomplish.

Convicts breed like guppies, and will terrorize anything else in the tank that they can catch or corner.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

If you want cichlids with personality for your tank get a pair of Blockheads (Steatocranus spp.) I have a S.tinanti that is great.

There are loads more small-medium cichlids that have great personalities but don't get bigger than 4" or so. Most would be ok with small to medium tetras/barbs/rainbows too.

If you want characterful fish though, and as you have a paludarium planned, why not get some Archer fish? They are custom made for a tank like this and you may even get them shooting their lunch! I think you will just have room for one in a 3ft tank. They are usually kept in brackish water (some say that some species are fine in freshwater though), but as you don't seem to be planning much planting below the water you can put plenty of branchy wood in and some brackish tolerant plants like Java fern ('Phillipine' was originally collected in brackish water if I remember rightly), Crinum thianum, mangroves (maybe) and I'm sure others can suggest a few more. It could be an amazing mangrove effect tank. Seeing them spit their crickets down from the branches would be amazing!


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

Also you might want to look at Keyhole Cichlids I have a trio and they have no issues with any fish in the tank (other then the pair seems to want to breed so they have taken over an area in the tank as their own).

They are a smaller cichlid and while not uncommon, are not as common as Convicts.


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## ohcrapitsanewt (Dec 10, 2007)

I have decided on stopping the paludarium process and changing to a complete aquatic tank. I think I am putting a tiger o in here. I know that yall' are gonna say a 55 is too small, but I have a friend who (believe it or not) won the scratchoff lottery (10k bucks!) and is constructing a 1450 gallon concrete tank in his basement. That being said, he will take the oscar once it gets 10 inches or so.

And about petsmart, I was just saying that they were being taken care of better that I would have thought. 8 of them in a 40 gallon. Normally there would be 60 of them in a 10.


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## ohcrapitsanewt (Dec 10, 2007)

Here is the new diagram.










And this is a diagram showing the waterflow.










More suited for an oscar?


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## ohcrapitsanewt (Dec 10, 2007)

Oh, and maybe instead of an oscar, another largish fish that I could maybe keep 3 of in that tank. But it has to be personable like an oscar.


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## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

How about a Garr ! Or peacock bass.


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## Mike_E_P (Jan 15, 2008)

a garr would be a fun vicious fish, i think they get pretty big though depending on the species.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

A gar would struggle to turn around in a narrow 55g.

55g's seem big, but they're really not appropriate for most of the popular "tank busters" IMO. Peacocks get BIGGGG.
Buying a potentially huge fish with the intentions of pawning them off to a friend with a larger tank in the future is risky business. I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but it's really important that people own what they can accommodate for the duration of a fish's life/maturity - not what they can accommodate _for now_. You're asking a lot of good questions though; keep learning and researching!

A pair of Severums...Maybe some middle-sized Geophagus. Bichirs, etc.

Try www.monsterfishkeepers.com.

A few wet-pets that were recommended to me a long time ago are:
Vieja argentea, Amphilophus citrinellus, maybe even a pair of Aequidens sp. Goldsaum or Hypselecara temporalis. The first two are characters, but definitely singletons for a 55g.


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