# Oscars and elongatus, against my better advice.



## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

Well my freind told me his plans to keep and raise two Oscars with his elongatus. I told him no! This would be a waiste of two good Chichlids right? I told him he could not expect the oscars to last a week. Well one week past, then two then three now five months. Yes, my freind has cohabitated an elongatus and two oscars, not to mention two plecos and a fresh water lobster. Perhapse it is just an elong with just the right temperment for this... other then that I dont know, dose not make anywhere near sence to me. I guess I should not assume, because when you assume, you make and ass out of you and me. I know It cant last for ever, I have told him. His days are numbered. But they still are growing like crazy! There has been fin nips of course. Nothing to seriouse. The oscars where not even half the size of the elong and now are about 6 inch with the elong. Here are some picts, now the elong was picked on by a Rhom, and thats why his tail is not what it should be, it's not from the oscars. This was a while ago and I tryed to tell him the black and elong could not cohabit. He didnt belive me and so there is no more black, and no more full looking back tail of and elong. Not my fault. I would have stoped it if I could. 
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## ronnie (Jul 21, 2005)

i wouldnt last long


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## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Oscars are going to die slowly and mess with your water conditions and then all those fish are going to get wiped out, just take the oscars out and let the elong live nice and happy.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

What size tank is that? It looks really small...like a 55 or something.


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

ronnie said:


> Oscars are going to die slowly and mess with your water conditions and then all those fish are going to get wiped out, just take the oscars out and let the elong live nice and happy.


its been five months and they are fine. Like I said, minor fin nips. If they are dieing slowly this is the slowest death I have ever seen. They have dubbled in size, and still no problem. I think they are slowly going to die of old age.


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## Z♠NGT♥KER (Dec 27, 2005)




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## kirch24 (Apr 14, 2006)

wow, maybe the elong things he is an oscar and its retarted! lol

props to your friend but those oscars look pretty good i would hate for him to lose them, he should just get a different tank for the oscars


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

kirch24 said:


> wow, maybe the elong things he is an oscar and its retarted! lol
> 
> props to your friend but those oscars look pretty good i would hate for him to lose them, he should just get a different tank for the oscars


Thats what I said! he said he would devide the tank till he gets a new one if they start getting beat up. But so far there has only been one body bite. You can see the small white mark on the oscar. Sometimes the elong swims the whole tank in pissed off mode, but the oscars put there fins down in the sand and swim back to back. Elong does not go for them usually. just checks them and leaves them.

And yes maby the elong is retarded.


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

Well, I just got back from his house. Its still going just fine. One new fin nip, but the rest have healed very well.


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## NickNick (Apr 18, 2006)

yeah i agree elong will kill the oscar slowly and tear you water conditions to peices accident waiting to happen


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

he's jus "tolerating" them for now and the inevitable will happen....


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## black_piranha (Jan 12, 2006)

i think all u p-fury members should juss give him credit and see how it goes, every thread ic says it wont happen but i think this might work. u guys always seem to be negative here. but id get a bigger tank to make that happen so tell ur friend to get a bigger thank soon. good luck


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

Well this whole thing is making an butt out of me... I told him it would not work for a day! Those oscars are about an inch longer and alot thicker now too. One more month and no problems.

I'll get more pictures tonight. O and this is one of those "dont try this at home" things. Espacially if your new to P's! This has been the exeption to the rule, and 99 out of 100 times it would have failed.


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## NickNick (Apr 18, 2006)

looks good for now but you know that elong will snap on him its just there mentality


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

O I know that, I was just waiting for somone to tell the elong.







He does not seem to know that he should kill them.


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## kirch24 (Apr 14, 2006)

sprfunk said:


> O I know that, I was just waiting for somone to tell the elong.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


hahaha


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## Hater (Apr 21, 2006)

Aggresion depends on the individual fish. Your friend is very fortunate that his elong is not that aggresive and is cohabing with his Oscars. Will it last long? who knows man.

If I was you, I would stop telling him that it won't work and see what exactly is he doing that it has been working so long, maybe you will learn something. I mean I was told that a pleco would not last long in my mixed pygo tank but my pleco has been in there for a little over 4 months now and is doing just fine. I'm not saying that he will live forever but I'm glad he is still there and that my pygos won't bother him

Hater


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

Hater said:


> Aggresion depends on the individual fish. Your friend is very fortunate that his elong is not that aggresive and is cohabing with his Oscars. Will it last long? who knows man.
> 
> If I was you, I would stop telling him that it won't work and see what exactly is he doing that it has been working so long, maybe you will learn something. I mean I was told that a pleco would not last long in my mixed pygo tank but my pleco has been in there for a little over 4 months now and is doing just fine. I'm not saying that he will live forever but I'm glad he is still there and that my pygos won't bother him
> 
> Hater


Hmm, the only thing he could teach me is how the hell he does not need to recycle the tank after not using tap water conditioner. He did that for 2 weeks and his bacteria did not die? No this guy is lucky. here are the peramiters.
6.8ph
amonia .25
nitrite .05
kh? dont know.
55 gall tank.
strong power head.
82 temp
lights are dimmed using window tint.
sillica sand from home depot.
live feeders for food.(I know)
chichlid gold for the oscars.
If you can learn from this, I must have a thick skull, to not get it. I think that this P is just docile. He is not like most other elongs. Hater feel free to inlighten me.....


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Hell, he has had a sussesful co-hab for five months between the two, with only minor fin nips. Congrats. I say keep it up. I believe that we all have seen Oscars and RBs co-hab, but not an elong and Oscar. That gets props in my book.


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## delevan (Mar 18, 2005)

i have to agree on the positive side of this, but recomend or try i never would ,still though its prety unusual to see this happen,cool in a way. good luck to him although it probably wont last.


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

5 month is a long time and to be honest i think your friend has pushed his luck for too long, 5 months too long................Elongs are so aggresive and eventually he will decide that he wants the tank too himself..


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## NickNick (Apr 18, 2006)

good luck homie


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## mori0174 (Mar 31, 2004)

sprfunk said:


> Aggresion depends on the individual fish. Your friend is very fortunate that his elong is not that aggresive and is cohabing with his Oscars. Will it last long? who knows man.
> 
> If I was you, I would stop telling him that it won't work and see what exactly is he doing that it has been working so long, maybe you will learn something. I mean I was told that a pleco would not last long in my mixed pygo tank but my pleco has been in there for a little over 4 months now and is doing just fine. I'm not saying that he will live forever but I'm glad he is still there and that my pygos won't bother him
> 
> Hater


Hmm, the only thing he could teach me is how the hell he does not need to recycle the tank after not using tap water conditioner. He did that for 2 weeks and his bacteria did not die? No this guy is lucky. here are the peramiters.
6.8ph
amonia .25
nitrite .05
kh? dont know.
55 gall tank.
strong power head.
82 temp
lights are dimmed using window tint.
sillica sand from home depot.
live feeders for food.(I know)
chichlid gold for the oscars.
If you can learn from this, I must have a thick skull, to not get it. I think that this P is just docile. He is not like most other elongs. Hater feel free to inlighten me.....
[/quote]

Doesnt look like he even takes care of the water conditions very well. This is one case out of who knows how many like it, and this one happened to work. It doesnt prove anything along the lines of what can work for someone else.When doing things like this, no one can say for sure what will work or what wont. However, people give the advice that makes sense, which is dont do it. The fact that this site as a whole seems to have a negative attitude about mixing fish that are likely to kill one another shows a passion for these animals that in my mind is incredible.


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## eestcoastp (Jun 8, 2006)

Very well put....


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## furious piranha (Mar 22, 2005)

dude this isnt even his tank....hes just sharing something his friend is doing. all u guys need to chill out bc anything you say to some guy who isnt even a memebr isnt going to affect his decisions. cant u all just say that its cool and let it go?
i thinnk its pretty cool, i obviously wouldnt try it, but it is cool that its worked for 5 months


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

Doesnt look like he even takes care of the water conditions very well. This is one case out of who knows how many like it, and this one happened to work. It doesnt prove anything along the lines of what can work for someone else.When doing things like this, no one can say for sure what will work or what wont. However, people give the advice that makes sense, which is dont do it. The fact that this site as a whole seems to have a negative attitude about mixing fish that are likely to kill one another shows a passion for these animals that in my mind is incredible.
[/quote]

Yeah he does not take extra precations with his water. he changes it when it looks dirty, he test it almost never. I guess that says alot for the magna 350(?) he is running. And no I would not recomend this eather. I though it was good as dead as soon as you put the oscars in the water...so did my freind. Then it starts to get sad.
this is not me!I would not do this. I offerd to take the oscars. He wanted to prove a point to me and stoped feeding his elong. After 3 weeks there was only 2 bites on the fins or one and 1 fin nip on the other.They are minor, and nothing to worrie about. I finally convinced him to feed the elong last night. I think my freind is thinking about getting a new fish because he wants somthing totally aggressive. I dont know why be he does not like the mix specie tank, especialy since I dont know of anyone elts that can make it work.

The point of this thread again is not to say people should try this. I am against this. I wrote this thread because I was shocked it worked and am still shocked.







But it is still working so I guess all I can say is


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## richiecarw (Apr 6, 2005)

I think your friend is very lucky to have these fish co-habiting but it doesnt sound like he has the right attitude to be keeping fish. Starving his elong, not taking proper care of his water conditions and thiking of getting rid of them for something "aggressive". what ever happened to keeping fish for thier beauty? i think he should seperate the fish and look after them properly, either that or give them to someone who will!
Reg


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## kirch24 (Apr 14, 2006)

i still give props to your friend, i also wouldnt try it, i like oscars too much, but good job, and dont let him let those oscars die


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

Just saw them again. they are fine. I will try to get some pics tommorow. Yeah, he is kinda into aggressive things. He cant have a pet less its mean. Dont know why. Yeah I dont think he should have fish eather, espacially these kind... But so far he has not killed any yet, and they are healthy.


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## barbianj (Aug 3, 2003)

What happened to the black?


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## hitler (Jun 4, 2006)

Oscars are one of the dirtiest fish you can buy. Even if that elong doesnt kill the oscars. The oscars will destroy the water quality. especialy two oscars in a 55 gallon.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

I kept a 10" Oscar with a Cariba shoal (12 Ps) for around 2 years. Once the Caribas got over 9" they killed the Oscar... so it may work for a while (even a looong while) but it won't last forever...







!


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

barbianj said:


> I kept a 10" Oscar with a Cariba shoal (12 Ps) for around 2 years. Once the Caribas got over 9" they killed the Oscar... so it may work for a while (even a looong while) but it won't last forever...:nod: !


yeah, thats what I said. But 7 months still going strong.


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

Well his luck ran out. Not the way you and I thought it would... Belive it or not he found somone who was willing to give him 3 Rbps for free. They ranged in size from about 3 inch to about 6. Then put them in the tank with the rest of the fish. Well I went over there about 3 days later and noticed that the RBPS were very sick with fungas (even a hole through the skin, original owner thought it was a bite







). I got him to get some medications (pima-fix I belive), and did the salt treatment as well. Although a fight never took place or no fin nips one rbp (the smallest) died from the fungas. I didnt go over to my freinds house for a while and a few days later he said his elong was dead. I went over and tested his water. It was off the charts bad! I guess he did not take the dead fish out for 2 days.







I took all steps I could to save the remaining fish but it was too late. They all died. Even the hearty Oscars. Well I cant say I am too suprized I just hope he learned his lession. Sucks though. I just wonder if he had not messed up with getting the sick Rbps how long it would have lasted. And the other sad part is that you will prob. never find another elong with the temperment again. O well he had a good run at it.







Thanks for your comments guys.


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Hmm...so not quarantining fishes started to finish them all and poor water quality probably put the final nail in the coffin. Here's hoping that you can talk him out of getting more fishes!

P.S. I'm glad that you did what you could for them and shared this experience with us...hopefully some of the noobs will learn the value of quarantining and well-maintained tanks!


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Shame he screwed up a rare and succesfull cohab by irresponsibly dumping more fish into a tank that was already to small for what he had. 
personally I'd have thrown the oscars in the tank just to rid the world of a couple. but whatever. Thanks for sharing this story with us.


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## MONGO  (Feb 7, 2006)

BlackSunshine420 said:


> personally I'd have thrown the oscars in the tank just to rid the world of a couple.


cmon dont sht talk oscars they are good fish









..but yea your friend had it coming what a shame


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

I told him to hold on puting them in there untill I took a look at them. I would have been able to tell they were sick for shure. I also tryed to talk him out of getting more fish. He can be thick skulled somtimes, but he is a great freind. It was not even the fungas. The fungas had not even transferd to the other fish yet. It was the water conditions from that wroting fish. Unfortunate. I really think he will listen a little better to people trying to give him helpfull advice. He is one of those guys that you can tell him somthing and he will not listen till it happens then he will tell you the same thing you already told him like he found out on his own. I guess some people just learn diffrently then I do.


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## a-ronn (Jun 12, 2006)

I just dont understand why he keeps fish if he doesnt wanna put the time into takeing care of them.


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## altimaser (Jul 10, 2006)

I had a Jack Dempsey Live with 2 RBP for over a year. I eventually gave him away because it was too crowed for the three of them. So I think it depends on the fish more then anything else.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

sprfunk said:


> Well his luck ran out. Not the way you and I thought it would... Belive it or not he found somone who was willing to give him 3 Rbps for free. They ranged in size from about 3 inch to about 6. Then put them in the tank with the rest of the fish. Well I went over there about 3 days later and noticed that the RBPS were very sick with fungas (even a hole through the skin, original owner thought it was a bite
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well that's pretty sad... sorry to hear that...


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

Yeah it was sad to see. I wish he was just happy with the comunity tank. But I think he was not happy enough with the temperment of the Elong.


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## BLUEDIAMONDRHOM (Jul 19, 2006)

kirch24 said:


> Hmm...so not quarantining fishes started to finish them all and poor water quality probably put the final nail in the coffin. Here's hoping that you can talk him out of getting more fishes!
> 
> P.S. I'm glad that you did what you could for them and shared this experience with us...hopefully some of the noobs will learn the value of quarantining and well-maintained tanks!


.....DID YOU EVEN READ THE THREAD? THE FISH DIDNT DIE FROM UNQUARANTINED FISH... HE DIDNT EVEN SAY WHETHER OR NOT HE QUARENTINED THE FISH.... TRY READING B4 YOU POST


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## a-ronn (Jun 12, 2006)

Actually he said his friend dumped in fish that were sick. What would mean he did not QUARENTINE them before they were added to the tank.


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## ronnie (Jul 21, 2005)

told you it would not last long. hihiihh


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

ronnie said:


> told you it would not last long. hihiihh


Did you read the post?


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

a-ronn said:


> Actually he said his friend dumped in fish that were sick. What would mean he did not QUARENTINE them before they were added to the tank.


no offence bdr but ZINGGGGGG


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## ronnie (Jul 21, 2005)

sprfunk said:


> told you it would not last long. hihiihh


Did you read the post?
[/quote]

yup and im still right!! heheheheh


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

Just a couple comments on this thread, nothing related to his friends tank.

Oscars and a few other cichlid species use a defensive posturing position to protect themselves in the wild. The eye spot on the oscar tail is believed to be there for a purpose of confusing fin biting predators like the piranha. Keeping an Oscar with a piranha is nothing new, I've done it myself for periods as long as 2 years with little to no effect. But there was always stress in the tank and occationally the oscar would drive off the piranhas. Keep in mind, that "driving off" the piranhas is usually what eventually kills the oscar. The piranha simply bites its face off.

Good topic and please, lets keep the negatives down.


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

ronnie said:


> told you it would not last long. hihiihh


Did you read the post?
[/quote]

yup and im still right!! heheheheh
[/quote]

Not really.


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## MONGO  (Feb 7, 2006)

hastatus said:


> Just a couple comments on this thread, nothing related to his friends tank.
> 
> Oscars and a few other cichlid species use a defensive posturing position to protect themselves in the wild. The eye spot on the oscar tail is believed to be there for a purpose of confusing fin biting predators like the piranha. Keeping an Oscar with a piranha is nothing new, I've done it myself for periods as long as 2 years with little to no effect. But there was always stress in the tank and occationally the oscar would drive off the piranhas. Keep in mind, that "driving off" the piranhas is usually what eventually kills the oscar. The piranha simply bites its face off.
> 
> Good topic and please, lets keep the negatives down.


My wild oscar has the eye spot on its tail but my normal red oscar doesnt oh well


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## face2006 (Feb 17, 2006)

sprfunk said:


> Well his luck ran out. Not the way you and I thought it would... Belive it or not he found somone who was willing to give him 3 Rbps for free. They ranged in size from about 3 inch to about 6. Then put them in the tank with the rest of the fish. Well I went over there about 3 days later and noticed that the RBPS were very sick with fungas (even a hole through the skin, original owner thought it was a bite
> 
> 
> 
> ...


sux...thanx 4 sharing with us though...


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

Np anytime. I just though it was so cool that they did live together I had to share.


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