chris_todd
Members
If you were at the Babes in the Cichlid Hobby auction at the 2011 ACA Convention, you probably know something about this fish. It was first presented as a "Mystery fish" - basically, you were bidding on a white box you were not allowed to look into before bidding. As the Babes described it, the winner could charge other people a dollar to look in the box to see what you'd won, and the proceeds would go to the Babes' conservation efforts.
If you've never been to a Babes auction (this was my first), you should know that the Babes can be, well, persuasive. After all, they were auctioning off a white box, and if I remember correctly, it eventually went for something like a hundred and fifty dollars (I think the winner was Dave Schumacher).
That was just the beginning of the story, however... Apparently, Dave decided he didn't want the fish he had won, and put the box back into the auction (though he had charged several people a dollar to look inside first, LOL - turns out it was a ~12" Oscar). Several more people (including Chris/Reel Addiction, I think) won this fish, and then put it back into the auction. The third or fourth time it came up, I decided I wanted to bid on it (yes, I was drunk, too), but I only had two dollars in my pocket, so I asked Tony if I could borrow some money to bid on this fish. He said (in true Tony fashion) "Sure, man", and then started bidding against me. :lol: I eventually won the fish for $12, though I think it earned the Babes more than $200.
Like I said, the Babes auction can be fun! :wacko:
So why, even in my drunken stupor, would I do such a crazy thing as bid on a huge Oscar? Well, I guess i can blame it on Rachel, because ever since my wife Amy met Captain Cranky Pants (Rachel's Oscar), she has wanted an Oscar.
When we got it home, and got it into a 50 breeder QT tank with a Matten filter, my wife almost immediately named it "George" (any Loony Toons fans of my generation will get the reference to "I will name him George, and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him, and ..."). At the time, he didn't look all that attractive, but we assumed this was because he was stressed, and figured once he settled in to his new surroundings, he would color up. As it turns out, we were wrong, and he's just butt ugly, so he is now named "Gorgeous George".
So here he is, in all his glorious butt-ugliness:
Oh, and yeah, he will probably live in our home forever, because for some reason, when women give fish a name, they become pets, not just fish. I have some gorgeous Protomelas, but do they have names? Noooo. Do our Discus have names? NooOOOOoo. But the 14" common plecostomus that I unfortunately inherited from a friend who was getting rid of his tanks is named "Plucky", and if I even hint that I might suggest that we get rid of him, my wife and daughters threaten my well being. And now, I have an Oscar named Gorgeous George.
So the question I pose to CCA members is this: What the phrell do I do with this fish!?!?!?!?
As you can see from the pic, he's in a bare bottomed 50 breeder, but that can't be his permanent home (aside from not being big enough, it's just ugly, and life is too short to have ugly fish tanks). I have a 90 gallon planted SA tank with Discus, Rams, apistos, and cardinals, etc., but I am wary. I've read a lot online from many different websites, and Ted Judy just had a nice little article on Oscars in the latest TFH, but I always like cross-checking with my local cichlid peeps, because while the Interwebs are a great information source, there's nothing like going face to face with someone who has been there and done that.
So who in CCA keeps Oscars? (Other than Rachel, who has Captain Cranky Pants) Tell me about how *you* keep your Oscar - what size tank, what decorations, what tank mates, etc., etc.
Oh, yeah, and is Gorgeous George really as ugly as I think he is?
If you've never been to a Babes auction (this was my first), you should know that the Babes can be, well, persuasive. After all, they were auctioning off a white box, and if I remember correctly, it eventually went for something like a hundred and fifty dollars (I think the winner was Dave Schumacher).
That was just the beginning of the story, however... Apparently, Dave decided he didn't want the fish he had won, and put the box back into the auction (though he had charged several people a dollar to look inside first, LOL - turns out it was a ~12" Oscar). Several more people (including Chris/Reel Addiction, I think) won this fish, and then put it back into the auction. The third or fourth time it came up, I decided I wanted to bid on it (yes, I was drunk, too), but I only had two dollars in my pocket, so I asked Tony if I could borrow some money to bid on this fish. He said (in true Tony fashion) "Sure, man", and then started bidding against me. :lol: I eventually won the fish for $12, though I think it earned the Babes more than $200.
Like I said, the Babes auction can be fun! :wacko:
So why, even in my drunken stupor, would I do such a crazy thing as bid on a huge Oscar? Well, I guess i can blame it on Rachel, because ever since my wife Amy met Captain Cranky Pants (Rachel's Oscar), she has wanted an Oscar.
When we got it home, and got it into a 50 breeder QT tank with a Matten filter, my wife almost immediately named it "George" (any Loony Toons fans of my generation will get the reference to "I will name him George, and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him, and ..."). At the time, he didn't look all that attractive, but we assumed this was because he was stressed, and figured once he settled in to his new surroundings, he would color up. As it turns out, we were wrong, and he's just butt ugly, so he is now named "Gorgeous George".
So here he is, in all his glorious butt-ugliness:
Oh, and yeah, he will probably live in our home forever, because for some reason, when women give fish a name, they become pets, not just fish. I have some gorgeous Protomelas, but do they have names? Noooo. Do our Discus have names? NooOOOOoo. But the 14" common plecostomus that I unfortunately inherited from a friend who was getting rid of his tanks is named "Plucky", and if I even hint that I might suggest that we get rid of him, my wife and daughters threaten my well being. And now, I have an Oscar named Gorgeous George.
So the question I pose to CCA members is this: What the phrell do I do with this fish!?!?!?!?
As you can see from the pic, he's in a bare bottomed 50 breeder, but that can't be his permanent home (aside from not being big enough, it's just ugly, and life is too short to have ugly fish tanks). I have a 90 gallon planted SA tank with Discus, Rams, apistos, and cardinals, etc., but I am wary. I've read a lot online from many different websites, and Ted Judy just had a nice little article on Oscars in the latest TFH, but I always like cross-checking with my local cichlid peeps, because while the Interwebs are a great information source, there's nothing like going face to face with someone who has been there and done that.So who in CCA keeps Oscars? (Other than Rachel, who has Captain Cranky Pants) Tell me about how *you* keep your Oscar - what size tank, what decorations, what tank mates, etc., etc.
Oh, yeah, and is Gorgeous George really as ugly as I think he is?
