Scaping ideas for my Oscar setup

So I need some good ideas/suggestions/thoughts on doing something with my Oscar tank. Since I cant really provide him with a companion or tank mates I think providing him with a interesting environment would be the next big thing. Below is what it currently looks like rather bland.

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But there is some things I require from said scape:

1. It should be practical enough that I can get into the tank so I can clean up after my Oscar, since he can get pretty messy.

2. It must be danger free (IE no sharp rocks or anything) Oscars have a habit of hurting themselves on it.

3. Not cost an arm and a leg, I am trying to keep the hobby as inexpensive as possible.

4. It should not take over the entire tank, he is still growing so he still needs some swimming space.

I have an idea for a scape but just to tired to draw it up will do it tomorrow. So shoot away with some ideas.

 

Try giving him a water change or 2 for a start......(those Malaysian Snail biomass by now could most prob support 2 more Oscars.....lol)

Post something on why you failed to grow you Amozen swords & I will give you some answers on that(PS: Absolutly NOTHING to do with your Oscar/set-up)......
@larch,sorry Dude,but there are long standing rules that NO AQUARIST can ignore.....

Post some specs on your tank(size/dimentions - it's late,cant be bothered 2 looking it up now,sorry....)...not all of us want to go use the 250l/Oscar rule..... Acceptable as "proper" conduct,but....meet me for a beer (or 7ish,you seem to be a STUBOURN bastard....lol{PS:ILOVE THAT BTW} - So,meet me for a beer or two(or 7....) and I will give you a set-up 4 your tank that would be a "DIK" load more than what irt is now.....

Up 4 the meet? Will pay for half the Beer bill...lol - Never tried to "DIS" You,just,dude.....you have a sharp mind,but,....................................................................Lets not DO THIS on TASA,but over a coupla cold ones......Chicken? Will PM my Cell to you...he,he.....

 

@azurekoi if I didn't know you well enough... I most certainly would have sent you on a holiday for that post above. But considering you offering Larch 50% off of beer (and the freedom to have 7) then I'll let you hang around. And considering the post was at some ridiculous hour... your sinister look on life shone through!

@larch If I recall, you took the plants out because they were dying, and not because they were being destroyed by the little bugger (Oscar). [By the way, I don't recall if you've ever given us his/her name?]
I know you like to stick to the more natural route, something that many of us strive for... so I can only assume you were not feeding any type of fertilization. This is easily possible to do on a low-tech type system... HOWEVER the plants still need nutrients. Plants can't survive ONLY on water and light... and if you not doing any water changes, your plants are not getting the needed nutrients. Yes they are getting the nitrates from the fish waste... BUT there is other elements (Mg, K, Fe, Ca) that is necessary... and we are lucky that we have this in our water. So I can only echo Shawns (possibly sarcastic) comment, you need to get the waterchanges going, and your plants would be more than healthy!

Oh... the only tip I would give for the scaping question... me personally, I would put a plain dark blue background on the back.

Regards

 

Actually he also sent me some arb pm:

Obviously drunk or high.

 

How about a DIY background with a muddy layered look? Some more peices of wood, small gray rocks around them surrounded by Barclaya longifolia around the back and some Blyxa japonica around the front? Will do a quick sketch for you if you want?

 

I keep thinking a background of vallis swaying in the filter outlets, and that log covered in a massive Java Fern and surrounded by a few small dark pebbles to make it look a bit like an island. Something like Shihr's 4ft tank. The Java Fern should be pretty bitter, meaning Oscar won't like to chow it that much, and the vallis should grow really quickly if you put some iron nails in their roots. The ferns are also low light requirement plants, so that alone could also work

 

Yeah I have a rough idea what I want to do will post a drawing now just got back from work, but keep the ideas coming.

 

no offense, but why havent this mess been deleted ??

 

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You might struggle with the Valis there because it'll grow to your water height. It's better as a background or tank divider plant.

 

Good point, I also had the idea to but two more pieces of drift wood placing them opposite side of the piece I already have and filling out the back ground and then placing some rocks in-front of them and then some valis in-between.

 

@azurekoi LMFAO...............................

@larch Must be, I say high : ) If he drank to this level he would have been out...

Agreed, funny as hell though.

<<<<<<WATER CHANGE>>>>>>>>> Boils down to the basics of fish keeping.... I'm guessing you are testing your water and everything is reading fine? Why wait until something goes wrong? You seem to want the best for your oscar? Give him fresh water bud, it's not such a big job.... Oscars are a messy fish and appreciate regular water changes; 0

 

Back to the point of the thread.... Sorry @azurekoi threw me off a bit. If I were you I'd put a pile of rocks on both sides of the tank and leave the middle bare. Id also remove about 60% of that gravel. I prefer a thin layer of gravel, easy on the eye and easier to detect and remove detritus, but maybe it's just me.

 

Back to the point of the thread.... Sorry @azurekoi threw me off a bit. If I were you I'd put a pile of rocks on both sides of the tank and leave the middle bare. Id also remove about 60% of that gravel. I prefer a thin layer of gravel, easy on the eye and easier to detect and remove detritus, but maybe it's just me.

 

Double post..... Connection lagging.

 

I have a distaste for drunk people around me the last guy that was buzzing around me and girlfriend like a fly found himself in a fountain scraping off the algae with his bottom lip.

I will do water changes again till I have introduced plants again, that was my plan when I removed the plants. But with plants my tank ran fine for over 4 months without a single water change my parameters were all perfectly normal and stable for that period of time. No algae issues nada nothing. Despite all the doom and gloom and impending disaster people were preaching to me nothing happened. And the fact that I have a growing healthy Oscar is testament to that.

I am planning on getting better lighting for my tank and putting in some effort into my plants this time around and then doing exactly the same again because my Oscar seems to thrive in the conditions I provide him with.

 

The only issue you might have with introducing more hardscape into the tank is that the Oscar might not approve, and start moving stuff around. In which case the thick layer of substrate could possibly help if he's shifting your rocks around. Does he dig in the soil at all? And does his behaviour change in any way once you do a water change?

 

He doesn't dig much every now and then he would shift some gravel around a bit but nothing big, as for the rocks and wood he generally leaves them alone after he inspected them. Well did my first water change last night and he pretty much acted exactly the same if I was working in the tank bite my hands and attack the net.

 

He doesn't dig much every now and then he would shift some gravel around a bit but nothing big, as for the rocks and wood he generally leaves them alone after he inspected them. Well did my first water change last night and he pretty much acted exactly the same if I was working in the tank bite my hands and attack the net.

 

So you might actually be able to build some nice hardscape into the tank without him playing soccer with it