ok Decision time =)

[Voorhee]

Hiya all!!

My 65gal tank is almost ready to set up..

Tank
65gal long (48"x16"x20")
T8 single strip lighting
Rena filstar Xp2
402 powerhead with quickfilter
200w ebo heater
1 huge piece of driftwood
bunch of river rocks
3 inch of gravel/sand

now im thinking of getting a (tiger)Oscar. and 2 catfish..

or just 2 oscars and a pleco..

or 3 pairs of other south americans.. like
2x firemouths
2x blue acara
2x Green Texas Cichlid
1 pleco

any suggestions?

please and thank you!

 

[juanveldez]

well to start only the plecos, oscars, and blue acaras would be south americans. the others are all central american. the texas are out of the question as to the numbers that you want. all of the others are also out of the question as to the numbers wanted either. here is the reason why, if you get a pair going there is going to be some wicked territory issues going on. and would be posting about what to do next...

 

[Voorhee]

So do i get the oscars?

or do i get 1 oscar and a couple of catfish?

 

[digital_run]

What catfish are you thinking about....a 65 would be ok for just a single oscar and any catfish you get would have to be a decent size to stay out of the oscar's menu. personally i'd get a pair of Severums and maybe 3-4 Pimelodus Pictus.

 

[rvm]

What catfish are you thinking about....a 65 would be ok for just a single oscar and any catfish you get would have to be a decent size to stay out of the oscar's menu. personally i'd get a pair of Severums and maybe 3-4 Pimelodus Pictus.

agreed, IMO the minimum tank size for 2 Oscars is 100g, otherwise you'll have aggression and territory problems as the get older and bigger!!!
You could keep 1 oscar, but personally I agree with digital_run, go with a couple of Severums, Blue Acaras, or similar sized Cichlids (maybe green terrors or JD's but I don't know too much about these, VIP or Juan would be able to tell you if they'd be OK) would work well with pictus or similar sized cats or a Plec of some description!

 

[juanveldez]

JDs or GTs would be fine in there but I wouldn't go with cats if you were to try and get a pair, might think about getting some silver dollars as dithers.

 

[mwm]

My JD hates catfish. Hes always bitting the pleco so im not sure how well that would work.

 

[Vip]

1 Jack, 1 Green Terror, 3 silver dollars and a catfish of your choice, the reason why i say 3 silver dollars is because the cichlids will take out there anger on them and not each other.

 

[Voorhee]

I've decided to get 2 Jacks.. i love the color..

here my list..

2 jacks.. 1/m 1/f
3 spotted silver dollars.
1 catfish for clean up..


would this be ok im my 65gal! (48x16X20)

 

[mhoward1999]

Used to have two oscars in my 55 gallon tank. I really miss them a lot. They picked on my plec, and he ws a foot long, so I wouldn't put a plec with them. I did have a striped pimelodus that was just as aggressive as they were. They made a good combo. I can't say I regret getting rid of them ( I really love my goldies), but I miss them a lot. If money and space weren't an issue I'd get more in a heartbeat!!! The only frustration I had with them was the way they would move the gravel. They were constantly digging a pit. I think I had a male/female pair because they were constantly trying to spawn. Actually laid eggs once, but ate them all just as fast as they were laid. Good luck on your decision!

 

[rvm]

I've decided to get 2 Jacks.. i love the color..

here my list..

2 jacks.. 1/m 1/f
3 spotted silver dollars.
1 catfish for clean up..


would this be ok im my 65gal! (48x16X20)

Sounds like a good plan, is it a Plec you want as the catfish?

 

[Voorhee]

i like catfish.. but should i get a plec?

all i want the catfish for is to eat left overs.. and look cool swimming around..

but a plec cleans algae right?

so what do you recommend?

 

[OscarLover1]

my sister owns 2 oscars and there in a 4ftx2ftx2ft tank thats 120gallons with 1 catfish 2 silver dollars 1 shark don't know the name and 2 plecos and they are all happy and doing fine my sister did have a firemouth but it kept attacking the oscars and everything in sight so she got rid of it. i would go with one oscar 1 cat fish and a pleco. as long as the cat fish and pleco are the same size as the oscar you won't have a problem. my sister feeds her oscars live feeder fish,blood worm,and fish flakes. her cat fish,shark,silver dollars,and plecos gets pellets the oscars sometimes eat the pellets too. and plecos do eat algae they keep the tank clean.

i'm getting 2 oscars my sister is going to help me with them to make sure i do everything right.