a few questions

Question
QUESTION: hey ron,

i have 2 black tiger ocsars,2 albino tiger oscars,2 jack dempsies,and  plecos i've had all 8 fish for atleast 10 months now oscars are about 10 inches the two jack dempsies are about 3-4 inches and the plecos are about the same size as the jack dempsies, all of my fish are very healthy and strong or appear to be. i have them in a 55 gallon aquarium....is that too small or do i need a larger tank? and i haven't had any plastic plants in my tank for about 3 months now because my oscars run into them and the plants eventually float to the surface of the water... what kind of cover should i use that they wont be able to tip over or pull out? and i was reading about your opinion on feeder gold fish and i think I'm just going to switch to store boughten/packaged shrimp because its cheaper and most likely don't have diseases like ick,fin rot,fish fungus. would that be safe to feed them the shrimp?,or what else can i feed them? other than the oscar show pellets because those just cloud up my water.

thanks

ANSWER: Hi Chris,
  I think your tank is going to become too small in the near future as the dempseys still have a way to grow.  

  Going with the shrimp is a good idea.  You can also feed them earthworms and/or crickets.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I was reading on that disease "hole in the head" and 3 of the 4 oscars have it and i don't know if the jack dempsies can get it but i looked close at them and i see some pin like holes in thier heads too so i was wondering what you would recommend doing to clear that up on both the oscars and the jack dempsies and what about red meats i get at the grocery store would those be to fatty or not healthy? thanks again ron

Answer
Hi Chris,
  Hole in the head is a symptom, not a disease per se.  It is usually associated with imperfect water conditions and in particular with excess nitrogen in the water.  Basically, you need to do more water changes and be sure not to overfeed.  You need to be changing 25% of the water once a week, every week.  

 The trouble with oscars is that they are messy eaters (putting bits of food into the water) and they are very sensitive to excess nitrogen.  That is why oscars seem to get hole in the head.  

 There are medications that claim to treat hole in the head but what they are really do is treating the symptoms such as hexamita infections but these are likely secondary infections and not the actual root cause of hole in the head.  

 As for the red meat, you could use it, but I am not sure why you would want to.  I would stick with regular foods, and maybe some crickets and earthworms.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>