This thread needs a big update.
5 years on, I still have Motumbo and his 5 henchmen. They are still in the 55 over 42 gal sump, so about 85 gals of actual water.
They are all much larger, Motumbo being now 10” tall. One of the 6 is rather small at only 7”. He gets nipped at too.
I have learned a lot about this in 5 years.
First, I do a huge (tap) water change every 10 days max. Minimum 50%. Any Less, and the little one starts to get eye-cloud.
I mix salt in the tank slowly, after adding fresh water to the top. They don’t suffer from these changes. Sometimes I do multiple changes to get all the salt out.
Then, and only then, they will start to lay eggs. Hundreds and hundreds, much smaller than oscar eggs, maybe 1mm dia, but the same pearly white color.
I have not attempted to hatch any. The eggs get eaten or spoil in the filter.
Guppies and mollies both will breed in salt water. Mollies are more prolific. The guppy fry were mostly being eaten by mollies, but they guppies somehow do persist 5 years on, and I have not added new livestock to the system.
Instant Ocean has doubled in cost. This is making water changes very expensive. I may need to remove a couple of these fish just to keep the system going.
But my Petco 55 has cracked the plastic bridge. I added a metal bridge, but this tank is getting old.
I could get a bigger one and bigger stand, but that means even more money for salt. Over $100 a month now. About $35 for food and maybe $20 for the water.
I have a 95g and 240g system going as well, but they are not salty & cheaper to keep.
Plus I recycle the tankwater to water my trees, but that saltwater goes in the sewer.
I think the writing is on the wall at this point. If that 55 starts seeping (and it will) I will probably turn these monos into frozen Oscar food. Either that or tree fertilizer, as you can’t sell these fish.
5 years on, I still have Motumbo and his 5 henchmen. They are still in the 55 over 42 gal sump, so about 85 gals of actual water.
They are all much larger, Motumbo being now 10” tall. One of the 6 is rather small at only 7”. He gets nipped at too.
I have learned a lot about this in 5 years.
First, I do a huge (tap) water change every 10 days max. Minimum 50%. Any Less, and the little one starts to get eye-cloud.
I mix salt in the tank slowly, after adding fresh water to the top. They don’t suffer from these changes. Sometimes I do multiple changes to get all the salt out.
Then, and only then, they will start to lay eggs. Hundreds and hundreds, much smaller than oscar eggs, maybe 1mm dia, but the same pearly white color.
I have not attempted to hatch any. The eggs get eaten or spoil in the filter.
Guppies and mollies both will breed in salt water. Mollies are more prolific. The guppy fry were mostly being eaten by mollies, but they guppies somehow do persist 5 years on, and I have not added new livestock to the system.
Instant Ocean has doubled in cost. This is making water changes very expensive. I may need to remove a couple of these fish just to keep the system going.
But my Petco 55 has cracked the plastic bridge. I added a metal bridge, but this tank is getting old.
I could get a bigger one and bigger stand, but that means even more money for salt. Over $100 a month now. About $35 for food and maybe $20 for the water.
I have a 95g and 240g system going as well, but they are not salty & cheaper to keep.
Plus I recycle the tankwater to water my trees, but that saltwater goes in the sewer.
I think the writing is on the wall at this point. If that 55 starts seeping (and it will) I will probably turn these monos into frozen Oscar food. Either that or tree fertilizer, as you can’t sell these fish.
