New Member With Some Experience

[jennaw]

Hey everyone. We moved here from canary 3 years ago and JUST found out about the group from Petwise. Anyways we had 2 38 gallon tanks in our kids rooms and upgraded them to 55 gallon tanks. My kids are 3 and 8. The 3 year old has a Cichlid tank with 6 cichlids and one Oscar. My husband bought the Oscar thinking it was the same type of cichlid as our others. I was at work. I came home and the fish was already in the tank getting along with the other cichlids. So he has continued to stay in our tank for a couple months now and seems to get along well with others. We also missed our cichlids having a fry and while cleaning the tank we found one of the babies. Its in a breeder tank within the tank and he or she is a feisty one!! Doing really well and is about an inch long and growing well. We also have a monster 7" Pleco in with the cichlids that helps keep the tank clean. My oldest sons tank has 3 Bala sharks, aa rose line shark, a clown knife fish, a Senegal, a Cory catfish, a pangasius catfish and a variety of barbs with a pleco. We realize his tank will need to be upgraded as the fish grow. We have a finished attic so the Idea is to put a larger tank there. I grew up with a 55 gallon tank in my room and when we had our first child we started with a small goldfish tank. We still have a small 5 gallon tank with a $0.25 feeder gold fish my Oldest insisted on rescuing from being eaten in my office. We enjoy freshwater fish and we are always learning more and more as we go.

[jred]

Awesome your kids are into the hobby and you guys do it as a family thing - if you’re boys ever want som different kinds of Cichlid or livebearers I have a plethora. Welcome to the group and keep the continued curiosity going!

[gabor129]

Hello Jenna!
Welcome to the forum!

That is a wide variety of fish you are keeping in your tanks. I never thought an oscar can be kept with other cichlids.

There are a few people on here whom are cichlid enthusiasts with a lot of combined experience. If you ever have a question about this crazy hobby, don’t hesitate to ask!

[Crazygar]

Hello and welcome to the Forum!

Gary

[lesfromlakeshore]

Welcome to the forum . Great that you’ve made this hobby a family affair . Looking forward to hearing more about your experiences . Feel free to share them .

[freshwater]

Welcome to the forum, hope to see you and the family at one of our monthly meetings

[Andre]

Welcome from another fellow Cichlid enthusiast...
As you might already be aware by some of the fish you have, hopefully a bigger tank will be in your future and i mean big like 220g or bigger. Your Clown Knife, Irridescent (Pangasius) will be monsters requiring tanks of at least 1000g

[phish]

Welcome Jen. It's always nice to see parents introducing this hobby to the children. You will find this forum has a lot of information and members are always ready to share their knowledge.

[jennaw]

Jan 28, 2020 8:18:01 GMT -5 Andre said:

Welcome from another fellow Cichlid enthusiast...
As you might already be aware by some of the fish you have, hopefully a bigger tank will be in your future and i mean big like 220g or bigger. Your Clown Knife, Irridescent (Pangasius) will be monsters requiring tanks of at least 1000g

Yes we will be upgrading the tanks as they grow!!We finished our attic so the plan is to have one massive aquarium up there eventually!! Or who knows maybe my husband will turn the basement into a fish room! I will say I am more of the cichlid lover and my husband like the others! Its a good hobby to learn and do with the while family

[jennaw]

Jan 25, 2020 22:34:29 GMT -5 gabor129 said:

Hello Jenna!
Welcome to the forum!

That is a wide variety of fish you are keeping in your tanks. I never thought an oscar can be kept with other cichlids.

There are a few people on here whom are cichlid enthusiasts with a lot of combined experience. If you ever have a question about this crazy hobby, don’t hesitate to ask!

You are correct that are not supposed to be kept in the same tank!! My poor husband is very new and went to the store and came home with a new "cichlid" he had no idea there was a difference... I got home from work and looked in the tank and said well honey thats not the right kind of cichlid. I said I would give it a few days and they actually all get along. I asked in another group and they said its ok if they are not picking on each other but as the Oscar grows we may need to get him a tank or re home him to an Oscar enthusiast. My husband has learned a lesson!! LOL

[gabor129]

Feb 1, 2020 13:10:09 GMT -5 jennaw said:

Jan 28, 2020 8:18:01 GMT -5 Andre said:

Welcome from another fellow Cichlid enthusiast...
As you might already be aware by some of the fish you have, hopefully a bigger tank will be in your future and i mean big like 220g or bigger. Your Clown Knife, Irridescent (Pangasius) will be monsters requiring tanks of at least 1000g

Yes we will be upgrading the tanks as they grow!!We finished our attic so the plan is to have one massive aquarium up there eventually!! Or who knows maybe my husband will turn the basement into a fish room! I will say I am more of the cichlid lover and my husband like the others! Its a good hobby to learn and do with the while family

Honestly Jenna, I would be concerned about the weight of the tanks in the attic. Highly recommend to move them in the basement. Especially if the basement is not finished yet. You could build an auto water change and build everything in to the walls.

[jennaw]

Totally get it. because we went right to studs and reinforced the floors. Or contractor knew what our plans to have a big tank!  however the basement is still and option for sure!!and then my son tank will just have fish that don't go so crazy big!!

[Andre]

Feb 1, 2020 20:30:48 GMT -5 jennaw said:

Totally get it. because we went right to studs and reinforced the floors. Or contractor knew what our plans to have a big tank!  however the basement is still and option for sure!!and then my son tank will just have fish that don't go so crazy big!!

Weight is easy to take care of with reinforcements.
One thing you can't control is water when or if a disaster happens. I would really think twice about putting aquariums above where you sleep cause if there is ever a leak in a tank or a tank explodes and you might wish to have put the tanks in the basement.

[Andre]

Jan 25, 2020 22:34:29 GMT -5 gabor129 said:

Hello Jenna!
Welcome to the forum!

That is a wide variety of fish you are keeping in your tanks. I never thought an oscar can be kept with other cichlids.

There are a few people on here whom are cichlid enthusiasts with a lot of combined experience. If you ever have a question about this crazy hobby, don’t hesitate to ask!

Great thing about cichlids is there are no written rules as to what goes with what.
You will get your purest in the hobby and say you can't mix (Malawi's with Victorian's or Tanganikans with Malawi's or even Africans with South Americans) but you can as long as you are present and watching your fish daily.
Taking into account size, aggression etc. and matching fishes accordingly you can mix many cichlids together.
It's when matching improperly that you will get disasters to happen..

[jennaw]

Feb 3, 2020 10:26:14 GMT -5 Andre said:

Feb 1, 2020 20:30:48 GMT -5 jennaw said:

Totally get it. because we went right to studs and reinforced the floors. Or contractor knew what our plans to have a big tank!  however the basement is still and option for sure!!and then my son tank will just have fish that don't go so crazy big!!

Weight is easy to take care of with reinforcements.
One thing you can't control is water when or if a disaster happens. I would really think twice about putting aquariums above where you sleep cause if there is ever a leak in a tank or a tank explodes and you might wish to have put the tanks in the basement.

I had the chance to see Gabes set up when getting our membership and my husband loved the idea of doing something like that. My kids still gave the 55s in their rooms... so we shall see what we end up doing..