# water current for oscars..



## statenfish (Sep 1, 2009)

does ant one know what type of current an oscar prefers..i have been primarily useing spray bars but recently swithched one of my return to a reg nozzle. does this sound ok?


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## teddyzaper (Aug 30, 2009)

sounds fine to me, they live in lakes so not to much movement is better then a lot.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

In my opinion, It's not current ,but filtration that is most important for large cichlids such as Oscars. Ideally you will have a large tank of no less than 75 gallons assuming you wish to keep the Oscar into adulthood (possible eighteen inches). The filters should be capable of filtering 6to 8 times the volume of water that the tank holds each hour.75x6=450 gph.
If one is not prepared to do this,, then Oscars are not the fish for them. Too many of these fish are bought on a whim cause they are cute and they seldom reach adulthood due to improper care and feeding.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

Just saw and have been following, your other thread regarding cloudy water. As mentioned,,filter or filters should filter six to eight times the volume of the tank each hour. And these filters will need to be cleaned often for such a large messy fish as the Oscar. Gravel vaccuming once each week all areas of the substrate will benefit the fish as well. This may mean decorations will need to be removed from the tank or moved to one side or the other. I would not use spray bars on filter or filters for this tank but rather I would want regular return flow to be from hose with no obstruction to the flow. I would want the filters on each end of the tank to draw water from as close to the botom as possible.
Were it me,(and it ain't) I would set up the 280 gallon that you have in storage? and use filter media and or filters from one of the other tanks and move the fish to the largest tank possible.
The reason for cloudiness in the smaller tanks could be due to too much flow,not enough filtration,filter material not being cleaned often enough,not being cleaned good enough,being cleaned with water other than tank water thus destroying bacteria and causing bloom of same,, or material not being replaced when cleaning alone is no longer effective. I am doubtful that too much flow is the cause and without photo of this condition,, am equally doubtful as to seriousness of the problem. Filter or filters for 90 gal tank should be filtering approx, 550 gal per hour. This in my view would be minimum.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

One other note with regards to the cloudiness. I believe in your other thread, I 'm not sure ,threads are moving about,or new ones created regarding same issue. There was mention of your gravel. It is possible, has happened to me as well as others, that coating that may have been applied to gravel is beginning to come off and thus some clouding will occur in this instance. This usually happens within first three or four weeks. Not much you can do except run fresh activated carbon and wait,or tear down the tank and replace the gravel with something that has not been coated with paint or epoxy.
With whatever substrate,, Rinsing several times will often keep cloudiness to a minimum.


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

I was about to ask the same question. 

After some research, they like slow current and typically occur in white water (as apposed to black water..not high current rapids).


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

The purpose of the heavy filtration is to help keep the water free of pollutants. Oscars are large messy fish. In the wild, there are currents,tides,and rain that help carry pollutants away. In a glass box of water, there is only filtration and water changes to combat pollutants. You seldom see full grown oscars, for most people ,,cannot or do not, provide adequately for these fish and they ultimately die from disease which in most cases can be directly related to water quality or a lack thereof. Placing these large cichlids in small tanks with inadequate filtration is the quickest way to ensure that they never reach the twelve to eighteen inches that they are capable of.


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

1077 said:


> The purpose of the heavy filtration is to help keep the water free of pollutants. Oscars are large messy fish. In the wild, there are currents,tides,and rain that help carry pollutants away. In a glass box of water, there is only filtration and water changes to combat pollutants. You seldom see full grown oscars, for most people ,,cannot or do not, provide adequately for these fish and they ultimately die from disease which in most cases can be directly related to water quality or a lack thereof. Placing these large cichlids in small tanks with inadequate filtration is the quickest way to ensure that they never reach the twelve to eighteen inches that they are capable of.


Spot on.

Eighteen inches! :shock:

I thought 12-13 was the absolute maximum. Crumbs.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Agree with previous advice on filtration. I think the temperature is too high, assuming this is the tank labelled "oscar" in your profile. A temp or 74-78F would be better than 82F. Higher water temp means the fish is respirating faster, which takes more energy and wears it out.

Byron.


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## statenfish (Sep 1, 2009)

thanks for all the input...the water problem seemed to solve itself..the water is crystal clear now..i run 2 eheim 2217 classica and a rena xp4....the temp is at 74 (sorry for the typo..you guys dont miss a thing do you lol) i do weekly water changes via gvavel vaccuuming and do abot 35 to 40 percent each time..the oscars look great so far.. i rerally think the filtration i have currently is adequate...unless im mistaken.their color is amazing and they eat like monsters.. hopefully i am doing what i need for these beautiful fish..keep the info coming..you guys are amazing


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

statenfish said:


> thanks for all the input...the water problem seemed to solve itself..the water is crystal clear now..i run 2 eheim 2217 classica and a rena xp4....the temp is at 74 (sorry for the typo..you guys dont miss a thing do you lol) i do weekly water changes via gvavel vaccuuming and do abot 35 to 40 percent each time..the oscars look great so far.. i rerally think the filtration i have currently is adequate...unless im mistaken.their color is amazing and they eat like monsters.. hopefully i am doing what i need for these beautiful fish..keep the info coming..you guys are amazing


I don't see anywhere in this thread how large the tank is or how many oscars are in it, so just a reminder of 1077's comments on this aspect.

Depending upon the answers, I would increase the volume of the partial water changes to minimum 50% once a week, or more if the tank size is not adequate for the fish. Can't say much more without knowing the information.

Byron.


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## southamericancichlidguy23 (Oct 22, 2009)

oscars are awesome fish funny guys with cool personality but they take more waste then anything in the world i have two them they jump out the water for food attack the glass move rocks around the tank and spit them at the glass by far the funnist best fish out there


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