# albino oscar bullied to death??



## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

so we have a tank with various american and milawi cichlids as well as a couple gourami's, a bala shark and plecs.....any who, we got one figure 8 puffer and 2 tiger oscars (one albino) from the shop, the puffer made it two days then died for unknow reasons....and the albino started acting funny: he/she was, for about 4 days, swimming with the other one and playing around then suddenly didnt really move from one part of the tank and was upright a lot of the time...then we woke to find him/her dead with all bitten fins.....was it that he/she was terrorised in the night as it is white? the other oscar is fine and has now made friend with out bala shark and they swim around togeather all the time...im rather new to fish keeping, my boyfriend is more experienced but with piranahs.


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

well, it seems you added a bunch of aggressive fish together. I would say it was bound to happen. but what are your water perameters?


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

what is water perameters?
every time i tell people what i have they look at me in shock, but strangely none have nipped fins and its only the two yellow gourami's that chase each other! And like i said the Oscar and shark never leave each other’s sides! weve done our research on each fish before purchasing and set out with a size in mind to stop aggression and its seemed to of worked!


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

as the fish mature you will see this 'bond' fall away. I know Oscars well and you will see a lot of aggression with this fish. Perameters are Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrates.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

oh thats really sad to hear, i knew they grew big but ive read on various oscar websites there not as agressive as people make out.

its water change time tomorrow afternoon, we test the water before hand...ill post the parameters then.

thank you


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

What size tank? How long has it been set up? How many fish in the tank?
Ammonia?
Nitrites?
Nitrates?
Ph?
Water change schedule? 
What are actual fish besides oscar, gourami, and bala?


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

tank is 5 foot by 2 foot by 3 foot.
it has been set up for ages before we brought it off a friend, weve personally had it set up for around 3 months.
water change: once a week, take a third of the water out. new water is treated and warm.
the parameters will be posted tomorrow.
fish: 
2x yellow gourami 6cm
1 x pearl gourami 6cm
1 x albino pleco 3cm
1x sailfin pleco 16cm
1 x bala shark 10cm
3x jack dempsey 3cm, 6cm, 9cm
2x Livingstoni 7cm
1x Malawi Golden 5cm
1x White lab 5cm
1x Fire mouth 6cm
1x orange blossom fuelleborni 4cm
1x Jewel 2cm 
1x tiger oscar 4cm


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Quite the mixture, tropicals and cichlids are a disaster in the making. Plus not taking into consideration of what that tank will be like once the fish are full grown.
It will definately be overstocked once they start growing then the aggression is going to rise to levels that there will be maybe 1 or 2 fish left in the tank.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I'm a pessimist. A serious pessimist.
Sadly, here is my take on the tank, which is overcrowded.
2x yellow gourami 6cm - Oscar food
1 x pearl gourami 6cm - oscar food
1 x albino pleco 3cm
1x sailfin pleco 16cm
1 x bala shark 10cm - still a baby
3x jack dempsey 3cm, 6cm, 9cm - in a growth race with the oscar - the winners kill the losers.
2x Livingstoni 7cm - East African cichlids are better fighters and more aggressive than South American cichlids - the calm will last as long as they are little like they are now.
1x Malawi Golden 5cm - could be many things, all aggressive.
1x White lab 5cm - a gentle sort, not lucky in there.
1x Fire mouth 6cm - Oscar, dempsey, or livingstoni chew toy.
1x orange blossom fuelleborni 4cm - another East African - tough guy
1x Jewel 2cm - A West African for the cage fight...
1x tiger oscar 4cm - potentially the largest, if it survives. It is a predatory fish, but it isn't especially aggressive. At 4 cm, it is just a few months old.

From the fish sizes, it seems a new set-up. There are a lot of tiny preteen versions of prison yard thugs. I hate to say it, but as they grow up, remove the bodies quickly or you will have pollution problems.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

navigator black said:


> I'm a pessimist. A serious pessimist.
> Sadly, here is my take on the tank, which is overcrowded.
> 2x yellow gourami 6cm - Oscar food
> 1 x pearl gourami 6cm - oscar food
> ...


thank you so much for your advice...i knew nothing of fish when the tank was set up and i guess my bf thought they'd all live happily like the pirahana!!! after getting the fish and starting to do reasurch i did say we'd need upgrade to a 8foot tank when they get bigger but if there all going to kill each other......whats the best thing to do?????

the golden milawi is black and white stripe's going down the fish from nose to tail, the underside is bright yellow and the tail is black and white spots.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

The white lab has just died.....all the fish (apart from the plecos and shark) are going to be given/sold back to the fish shops as its not fair on the fish if there going to kill each other. I'm really upset  . Anyway, what combo of fish would you recommend? We'd like bright fish like the milawis.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

You are not alone in getting off to a bad start but it shows you care about your fish that you are willing to make changes. You have a large tank so you have a lot of options. Most of the fish you have, if not all of them, are suitable for your tank, just not all at the same time, you have too much going on. I would decide which your favorite fish is and work out which of the fish you have might work with it, then rehome the rest. If you like Malawi cichlids you could have a nice malawi tank. Or perhaps you'd rather just start over with a peaceful community tank.

Malawi tank: Fish Tank of February '09 at The Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

thanks for the advice  my boyfriend loves the jack dempseys so its looking like its going to be an american tank. i love the milawis so i might take 3 of them and put them in the smaller tank for now.....will the shark get bullied if hes kept in the tank? he seems to be growing faster than the rest.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

zero said:


> will the shark get bullied if hes kept in the tank? he seems to be growing faster than the rest.


To be honest I don't have any experience with those fish so I don't know, I'd guess there is a chance of that working but you'll only really know by trying it. Try doing a bit of research, look for people who have had long term success as fish can change personalities as they get older.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

i only ask as ive not found too much about them and tank mates....the bloke i brought it off didnt tell me they were shouling fish so let me buy just one so i wont be asking him! so far he seems to be left well alone by the other fish as hes a bit of a nutter. when i can ill ask at other fish shops.


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## luananeko (Aug 27, 2010)

I'm not familiar enough with chiclids to comment on those, but I have heard that the Bala Sharks need a LOT of room for a proper school (5+). Keeping them single tends to make them prone to disease. I suggest rehoming the bala shark.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I agree that ideally the shark should be in a group of 5 or 6. If you didn't have it I wouldn't have recommended that you went out and bought one bala shark but the chances of it actually finding the ideal home are very slim, at least you have a large tank.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

what happened was we got a new fish, the next day it died so i took it back to the shop and they bloke said i couldnt have another of the same as its fins had been nipped, i asked what i could have and he suggested fish i already have, i asked what about one of these (the bala shark) he said yeah thats fine....guess it was just a sale to him. he didnt warm me about the size they get either! if needs be when i get a 450/500 litre tank he'll have to go in there and ill work around him.


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