Oscar And Acara Sitting In A Tree...

[TheCaptain]

Evening all,

Hope you're well - and yes, this is my first post on the forum. So HI!

Just a quick query really, given sufficient space, are a Oscar and Blue Acara suitable tank mates?

I had a Blue Acara in my community tank, when I was young and misinformed. So had to get rid of him to my LFS about a month back... they still have him. I got a small/medium Oscar with the intention of transfering him to a bigger tank as he grew, and became more aggressive. ... which he already has, inside the month.

I've got the other tank sorted, and will be transfering my Oscar in the next week or two. I was just wondering, how much of a dangerous idea would it be to put the Acara in with him?... Charles (the Acara) just looks miserable in the LFS. He wants to come home now.

 

[england]

how big is the tank? how aggressive is the oscar, i have my large 11+inch oscar in with 3inch polleni and 3inch chocolate without a problem, and the one's i just sold were 8inches each and never had a problem

 

[TheCaptain]

Ozzie (Oscar) is about 6 inches now, which is about the same size as Charles (Acara). The tank Ozzie is sharing right now is about 33 gallons (3ft ling/ 1.5ft wide/ 2ft tall) But he needs to move because he's starting to get too big.

So the new tank is a similar size - the one I'd like to put him and Charles (assumig I can still get him back).

BUT... once I've moved house, I'll be planning on getting a 75 - 100 gallon tank (either 5 or 6 ft) - probably in about 4 months. I'm working on the assumption that Ozzie wont grow another 6 inches in 4 months. If he does, so long as I've moved house, I'll just have to get a bigger tank sooner, and pay it off with my bonus when I get it.

oh, and Ozzie doesn't attack any of the other fish yet. He chases the parrot about a little bit, but that's it.

Charles actively attacked other fish, and killed a good number before I realised it was him. (I was initially led to believe he was a peaceful community fish before I started not trusting fish shops, and doing more personal research.)

 

[england]

Ozzie (Oscar) is about 6 inches now, which is about the same size as Charles (Acara). The tank Ozzie is sharing right now is about 33 gallons (3ft ling/ 1.5ft wide/ 2ft tall) But he needs to move because he's starting to get too big.

So the new tank is a similar size - the one I'd like to put him and Charles (assumig I can still get him back).

BUT... once I've moved house, I'll be planning on getting a 75 - 100 gallon tank (either 5 or 6 ft) - probably in about 4 months. I'm working on the assumption that Ozzie wont grow another 6 inches in 4 months. If he does, so long as I've moved house, I'll just have to get a bigger tank sooner, and pay it off with my bonus when I get it.

oh, and Ozzie doesn't attack any of the other fish yet. He chases the parrot about a little bit, but that's it.

Charles actively attacked other fish, and killed a good number before I realised it was him. (I was initially led to believe he was a peaceful community fish before I started not trusting fish shops, and doing more personal research.)

wow a major aggressive blue acara, sure it wasnt a green terror?
hmm oscar's grow quick,i got my oscar at 2inches and in 10months he reached 9-10inches

 

[TheCaptain]

no he was definately a Blue Acara.

I think it was partly the fact the other fish were so much smaller than him at the time. I didn't want to overload the tank, so got what I understood to be a peaceful big fish (6 inches), and a number of smaller fish (about 2 inches)... to go with him that "definately wouldn't be a problem with an Acara".

But he was a lot like Ozzie in that he'd come to the front of the tank for some attention when I got home from work. Real character.

Do we think that it would be safe to put them together? I'd love to have Charles back - but not at the expense of Ozzie's well being.

 

[oscars r ace]

shouldnt be a problem, i have a pair of blue acaras in with my pair of oscars, get on fine, just have lots of hiding places

 

[minxfishy]

Whilst you can get away with both in a 75g upwards tank, you shouldnt even try it in a 33g tank, so hold off until you upgrade. And you really need to upgrade quickly IMO, a 6" Oscar in a 33g (roughly) size tank is not ideal as I know you know and he wont stay 6" for long, in four months, he could well be nearer 10".

 

[TheCaptain]

Not that it's a massive difference, but it's 40 UK gallons - not 33 UK gallons.

Sorry - I was doing my maths manually last night, and taking guesstimate sizes.

It's a 180 Litre tank - and I just used a proper convertor.

I'll see if the shop can look after him longer for me if I start paying rent. The original agreement had been that they'd look after him for a month, but then he went on sale. Alternatively, Ozzie stays where he is now a while longer, and Charles gets his own tank.

I'll have to have a think.