Hungry Or Territorial?

[Dave Ehl]

I picked up 10 giant danios (about 3") earlier this week for my 180 oscar tank. My oscar spent a few hours chasing them around and then gave up because he couldn't catch them. today after i did my weekly water change, my oscar went on a rampage and killed every single one! some of you might remember me putting some bichirs in his tank with nasty results a few weeks ago. so i am wondering, is my oscar being territorial, or does he just see food?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I picked up 10 giant danios (about 3") earlier this week for my 180 oscar tank. My oscar spent a few hours chasing them around and then gave up because he couldn't catch them. today after i did my weekly water change, my oscar went on a rampage and killed every single one! some of you might remember me putting some bichirs in his tank with nasty results a few weeks ago. so i am wondering, is my oscar being territorial, or does he just see food?

You were asking for it adding such little fish. A big Oscar would have no problem eating those. He definitely sees them as feeders.

 

[ALEXF]

i would definately say food.

 

[Dave Ehl]

should i expect to see the same problem when adding larger fish such as silver dollars and clown loaches?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

should i expect to see the same problem when adding larger fish such as silver dollars and clown loaches?

Well, there might be a problem, but it would have to do more with aggression. And it would most likely be the towards large(ish) silver dollars. The clown loaches should be fine as long as they aren't too small. Always take precaution when adding new fish. Re-arrange the tank when you add them so it will break up the Oscars territory and give all the fish time to settle in.

 

[Dave Ehl]

In the worst case scenerio that my oscar can't coexist with any other species, do you think my oscar would pair up with another that is smaller? anything else i could do to fill 180gallons?

 

[ox5477]

well to get a pair of oscars when they are grown, it is very hard. The best case is to buy a shoal of 6 or so o's while still juves and let them pair off on their own. A big tank like you have is usually neccessary for this as it takes the o's a little longer to reach sexual maturity so while waiting for the o's to pair off, they will grow and grow and grow. So, if you were to try and add another o, besides having no chance to know whether your adding the correct opposite sex (as oscars cannot be sexed by outter appearance), the chance is that you will just get the new fish severly hurt or killed. So, try adding other large aggressive cichlids or maybe a larger species of catfish.

Ox

 

[Dave Ehl]

i think you might be spot on, ox. my oscar didn't just eat the danios one by one, it killed them all first. would a managuense work? i know they can be very agressive. maybe a pair of convicts? i've also got two senegal bichirs i am growing out for the tank.

 

[ox5477]

any large medium to high aggressive cichlid would work. But dont go too overboard. Nelly has shown us proof that though o's can be tough, they can get beat pretty good. His o's got beat up by his Jag and a vieja he had in with them. With the breeding pair of cons you may be asking for trouble as well as when I first came on TFF about 2 yrs ago, there was a meber with almost a 400G tank that had a single pair of cons take over the whole tank and force many larger cichlids into a single corner out of fear.... I would say if you adding anything, look into 9 month to year old individual specimens. Allows them to hold their own (hopefully) and removes the aggression that comes with breeding.

Ox

EDIT: here is nelly's post that shows the beating his o's recieved - Nelly's O's