NEW question Acquiring Oscars soon, transportation question

[Fred]

**new question**

the oscars are large 25cm+ will the oxygen supply for them be enough for 8hours just in the box/bag? does anyone know? perhaps how many litres of water wud be suitable for a trip of that length? also are there options of oxygenating the containers?

or should i look at a battery operated airpump as an option or something similar

Maybe i should not put the oscars through that kind of stress?

Thanks

**old question**

Only 7 more sleeps till i get my new tank woohooo!!!

Fortunate enough to also acquire new fish in the purchase, two large oscars, a large upside down catfish, and a large chocolate/talking/raphael catfish

i am sure i will have many questions concenring the new set up but the first is this:

I am picking it all up from taranaki on sunday 13th, in regards to transporting them down what is the best way of doing this?

A cooler? also should i try keep them all seperate? or let the oscars travel together to keep eachother company in the stresfull trip.

It will be approx a five hour trip, i have managed to bring angels before from auckland to welly and just stoped every few hours and stired the water in an attempt to oxygenate the water, they survuved the trip, do i do the same?

[suphew]

Double bag them all seperately, only put 1/3 water 2/3 air in bag. Pick up a chilly bin or poly box to keep them warmif they are going to be in the boot rather then the car where its a bit warmer you might want to think about buying a couple of heat pads, or a coke bottle wrapped in newspaper. Dont open the box to move the water about for oxygen, this will just stress the fish, and let the heat out. The movement of the car will be enough.

[sharn]

dont bother about bags for fish if over 20cm. just get some large poly boxs and put one oscar per box (cuts down on waste during transport). you could probably put the USD catfish in a bag if hes small enough, or a poly box will do for him also (i wouldnt reccomend putting him in with either oscar as the O's can get pretty snotty and jump around with transport and might hurt the USD catfish). if the raphael is able to be put into a bag thats ok, but make sure its a thick bag as their spines often pierce them, im not sure if he would be able to go in the same box as the USD cat?

i prefer to transport large fish in poly boxs, no bags as it is very hard and stressful to fit 25cm+ fish into bags unless theyre very large (dont normally find bags that size) and its even worse to try and get them out :lol: just make sure the inside of the poly box gets a good rinse first. you wont need to open them as there will be enough air in the box to last a fair while.

[Fred]

Sounds good, will have to get my hands on some poly boxes then, i would not have thought of just letting them be in the poly box

true about the raphael spines piercing bag, didnt think of that either :lol:

[sharn]

a few people in wellington should be able to help you out if you cant find any. perhaps go to your local woolies/supermarket and ask for their meat ones, they are just the right size for an oscar with some room to spare :lol:

[Fred]

brilliant!!! have a friend who works at the local woolworths will ask him =)

wow lifes so easy when u can rely on other peoples brains :lol:

[Caryl]

If you own a large chilly bin then use that. Be prepared for your fishes to lose all colour though! Don't panic, they will get it back once back in a tank.

[Fred]

have one large chilly bin will get dad to grab some poly boxes from the hospital.

with regards to putting them in the tank, i dont think i will have it set up the same day i get it as i wont be getting home till late, also would have to cycle the tank?

i currenty have 150L a 100L and a 60L tanks with varoius fish, am i best off to leave the newly acqured fish in these tanks, (ie one oscar in each of the bigger ones, and moving the original fish into the 60L or my sisters tank as the oscars would beat them up) for a week or two while the tank gets cycled

or would it be possible to transfer the 150L from the bigger tank into the newer tank then fill another 150L of fresh water? meaning the tank will be less than half full, then add 20% fresh water per week till the tanks reached the 750L capacity?

[ryanjury]

I would just setup the new tank with water from each of your other tanks (maybe 50% of the water in each tank) and also half the filter media from these tanks in the new filter that should be enough bacteria to handle the bio-load (assuming its not really over stocked).. IMO it would be easier on the new fish than moving them all around the place.

Maybe just give them light feeds for the first week or so to reduce the waste and you should be fine.

[Fred]

thanks for that, sounds alot easier to than having to move all the poor fish everywhere

speaking of feeding, i read somewhere that cat pellets can be used for oscars? as its cheaper for their big appetites

is this true? also what brand would be best if it is true? assuming it is jsut as good or better than normal cichlid pellets

maybe i should rename the topic to general questions on oscars =)

[sharn]

the thing even cheaper and better for oscars is the beefheart recipe i use it on my O, you are able to mix enough stuff in there for it to be able to be used as a staple diet. my last recipie was a little less than half heart with shrimp making up the rest of the main bulk with a good handful of shelled peas (oscars are prone to constipation), some boiled spinach and a fair amount of fresh crushed garlic. garlic is an appetiser for fish but also helps clean their insides and keeps parasites out im told. agar agar is a good binder as this recipie can take a few goes to get perfect- oscars are very messy eaters, half the time it seems they only eat half of what goes into their mouths and the rest comes out their gills :lol: a good quality pellet is also reccomended, i use the JBL sticks and even though they look like a 11" O wouldnt look twice at them he loves them. they also LOVE bugs like praying mantis, locusts, worms etc so if you have any of them from a chemical free source those are often a great treat.

http://www.theoscarspot.com/smf/index.p ... 062.0.html

dont worry about feed your O's for around 3-4 days once theyre in the new tank, they make ALOT of waste and you want to give the tank time to catch up bioload wise. dont be fooled by their 'im hungry' dances either- oscars think theyre starving 24/7 :lol: adult O's only need feeding every 2-3 days too and can last over a month without a meal so a few days wont hurt em (though they will think its the end of the world :lol: )

be prepared for a bit of fighting as they are in a new tank and might fight for dominance again, as long as its only a few bumps and no missing eyes, torn lips etc dont worry about it- im not saying it will happen but it might also they might sulk for a few days to a few weeks, this generally consists of sitting on/near the bottom looking pouty and not being all the interested in food. dont worry about this, they are very good sulkers and will often do it any time their tank/lives are altered :lol:

i hope you enjoy your new fishies when you get them, oscars have to be one of my favourite fish and really are like cats or dogs in a tank with their personalities :bounce:

[Fred]

wow sounds like fun, im too lazy to cook for myself but now il be doing it for a couple of fish :lol:

everything ive heard about oscars is great, i am really looking forward to getting them next weekend

[Fred]

**new question**

the oscars are large 25cm+ will the oxygen supply for them be enough for 8hours just in the box/bag? does anyone know? perhaps how many litres of water wud be suitable for a trip of that length? also are there options of oxygenating the containers?

or should i look at a battery operated airpump as an option or something similar

Maybe i should not put the oscars through that kind of stress?

Thanks

[sharn]

dont worry about the stress, oscars are very hardy fish. just go as quick as possible, dont hit big pot holes and once they get to their destination move them into something larger. purchase two of those 100L plastic storage bins, transfer old water into new container, top up, chuck a heater and air stone/small filter in each and use that for over night or until the tank gets set up. you could probably put one of the cats in each too. change some of the water daily as 100L wont take long to foul up. dont feed em while theyre in there either to minimise waste output.

in my 70L poly bin i had two oscars that were 30cm each and it was half full, perhaps 25-30cm of water, it was very heavy though and they had been in that box for approx 6-7 hours before i got them. bags probably wont be able to supply enough water or oxygen unless theyre rubbish bags or something :lol: you want enough water in the boxs that the O's can sit up the right way (they turn on their sides during transit for some reason) and so they can move around a bit.

if you can get a battery operated airpump for the trip thats wicked, i think that 8 hours should be fine assuming the boxs are large with a good amount of oxygen. if you are concerned put your sweater or something over the lid so as not to let any light in when you open the lid to let some fresh air in.

good luck