Can Anything Be Kept With Oscars?

[Spishkey]

ive 'aquired' two darling oscars who i know i shouldnt keep together but they've appaantly been together since the previous owner got them so dont wish to split them up. but i am wondering is there anything other than catfish/plecos that i could keep with them or would it be mayhem?

 

[ox5477]

Tank size?

How big are they? <-- can approximate age and maturity from this

Were they with any other fish with previous owner?

Ox

 

[Spishkey]

tank size is 2 meter x 80cm x 60 cm

there are 4 smaller fish with them all catfish i believe?

one oscar is approximatly 22cm long, the other about 19/20cm

 

[ox5477]

well with a tank that size.. they should have plenty of room. I estimate they are prob about a year old (maybe a little less) and prob mature enough to see how they will live the rest of their life. You may still see some aggression even with such a large tank... its just in their nature.

What species of catfish are with them?

Any pics would be great

Ox

 

[Spishkey]

theres pics here on my thread in the tropical discussion section, it is roughly how i came to have the fish!

 

[ox5477]

Ok, didnt see the post there. Now realizing the situation, these fish might be older than a yr. If the owner didnt take care of the tank, who knows if they actually fed the fish... and if they weren't fed, then they could be stunted in growth....

Wiggle is right that in most cases, the two will prob be very aggressive with eachother, but if you see them more hanging around with eachother, then it might not be good to remove one at this point. It may just stress them more... Just keep a good watch on them and if you see them going after eachother, then you will have to rehome one of them.

Make sure your feeding them a wide diet as well. They are omnivours like many cichlids and will do good from meaty foods as well as veggies. No Feeders From the LFS. These feeders offer little to no nutrition as they are often not fed enough at the store, plus there is a high probability that they carry some contagious illness such as ich or fungus. Feeding them a diet that consists mostly of cichlid pellets (an engineered food that contains most all of the nutrients that they need) with treats of krill and veggies such as peas will help keep them very healthy and happy.

If the oscars will not readily accept a food you give them either... then dont fret and think you have give them only what they will eat. After about a week, they will start getting really hungry and then they begin to take the food you offer, even if they think they don't want it. And incase your wondering, a week without food will not harm them, they can go long stretches in nature without food.

Ox

 

[Spishkey]

thank you so much for the advice! it is very welcomed as i know nothing about these fish! am googling my little heart out here!

 

[ox5477]

Also too, oscars are prone to a disease called Hole in the Head (often refered to as HITH). This is due to poor water conditions and a bad diet. If you see any small pits on the top of the o's head, then is the beginning of it and can progress until you can actually see inside of the o's mouth.... through the top of its head... not pretty. But through regular water changes and making sure of a healthy diet, this disease is 100% preventable.

Ox

EDIT: From a second look at the pics of the o's, doesn't look like I see any pics... but the pics arn't too detailed so with the pits small enough, could be missed in pic.

 

[Spishkey]

no i have had a good look and cant see any luckily! what im worried about is the colours on them though, the bottom half is lovely and bright but the top half is dull and faded, is this normal?? its on both fish

 

[ox5477]

cichlids show a ton of emotion through their colorations and patterning. Many have things called stress bars and some of the more vibrantly colored species can make themselves go completely black or completely pale in certain situations. With them being so stressed as of late, its not suprising that their color is a little washed out as this is typical of being very stressed. Their color will come back in time.

Ox

 

[Spishkey]

ah thanks for that.



so is it possible to keep anything with the oscars or are they likely to fight? i was hoping to put my two angelfish and large plec in the large tank (reason i bought it) but im guessing thats out of the question now!

 

[ox5477]

well the pleco should be fine, depending on what the other species of cat you have are. If they all grow to large sizes, then you may be crowding the lower level of the tank in the future. Most other species of cichlid can live with them too seeing as how they are going into a good sized tank. I would go with some medium to semi-super aggressives like JD's, GT's, Sevs, inidividual cons (do not want a breeding pair... will take over tank), and maybe a few fm inidividuals also. There are prob some more species that people can recommmend but these are some pretty common ones found in lfs's and should work for your application.

FYI... make sure the individual fish you buy are as big as the o's if possible as well. with some of these species, i means buying adult fish which may be a challenge to find but if you tell your lfs your looking for adult specimens of one or more of these species, then they may notify you if they get a trade in or a fellow store gets one in.

Ox

 

[mario chainsaw]

you can keep clown loaches with them because they have a sharp knife like thing on the top of them which sticks up and cuts predators so an oscar might try to eat them initially but it will soon learn to leave them alone .

 

[ox5477]

you can keep clown loaches with them because they have a sharp knife like thing on the top of them which sticks up and cuts predators so an oscar might try to eat them initially but it will soon learn to leave them alone .

Or the oscar tries to eat one of them and it gets lodged in its throught and then you need to intervene to save atleast one of the fish.... so I just wouldn't take the chance unless the loach is big enough to not fit in the o's mouth... which can be tough since the o's mouth is so big and the loaches stay relativily streamline before they start bulking out at an older age.

Have seen pics and video of clown loaches being eatin, even when 5 or 6 inches long... so make sure they are big enough

Ox

 

[NoUseForaName]

i have an Silver Arowana and an oscar, they get along good. its just i have to feed the oscar sinking pellets at the bottom and feed the arowana at the surface or they will both compete for food.