Oscar and Bichir Stocking

[Bub]

One day I hope to have a 150g tank, 72 x 18 x 28 I believe. How would any of the following fish do with an oscar (one or two better?) and a senegal bichir. Not all at once obviously, just trying to gauge what fish would be compatible. I'm not looking to have the tank packed with too many fish.

• Synodontis granulosus (really hope this fish would work)
• Pimelodus blochii
• Firemouth cichlid
• Golden nugget pleco
• Blue/green phantom
• Severum
• Blue acara
• Electric blue jack demspey
• Salvini

Just curious which of these could work with the two I really want, and which could do well together. As I said, the syno is the one I'm liking most. I likely forgot some of the fish I have been looking at, so I may come back with some new fish to ask about. And suggestions are always welcome too. This tank won't be happening for quite some time yet. But I like to plan ahead.

 

[Metalhead88]

All fish you have listed are normally good tankmates except for the Salvini. Salvini are just a tad too agressive for oscars.

I have not kept Electric Blue Jack Dempseys, but rumor has it that they are less aggressive than their counterpart..... I would not keep a normal Jack Dempsey with an Oscar. They are just too mean generally.

Other good tankmates inculde electric blue acara, chocolate cichlid, blood parrot, geos, and silver dollars. The list of course goes on.

For the most part Oscars arn't very aggressive, but they will absolutely eat anything that they can fit in their mouths. You'd want to avoid most Central American cichlids as they have much more jaw strength and can easily overtake even the largest Oscar.

In my experence, Severums are most similar and make great tank mates.

 

[Bub]

All fish you have listed are normally good tankmates except for the Salvini. Salvini are just a tad too agressive for oscars.

I have not kept Electric Blue Jack Dempseys, but rumor has it that they are less aggressive than their counterpart..... I would not keep a normal Jack Dempsey with an Oscar. They are just too mean generally.

Other good tankmates inculde electric blue acara, chocolate cichlid, blood parrot, geos, and silver dollars. The list of course goes on.

For the most part Oscars arn't very aggressive, but they will absolutely eat anything that they can fit in their mouths. You'd want to avoid most Central American cichlids as they have much more jaw strength and can easily overtake even the largest Oscar.

In my experence, Severums are most similar and make great tank mates.

Thank you!

Great to hear that most are good. I had a bad feeling the Synodontis would be incompatible, the more I look at it the more I love it.

The silver dollars are one of the fish I forgot to mention. Always see them recommended for fish like oscars.

I'll choose cichlids with care. I'm mainly into catfish anyway. I'm not looking for too many other cichlids. I would like the tank to be moderately stocked at best. Severums are definitely the cichlids I have been liking the look of the most.

So far the fish I like the most besides the oscar and bichir are the syno, the pimelodus, golden nugget and severum. Still plenty of time to choose as I won't even have the tank for a good while yet.

 

[Metalhead88]

Just make sure the syndontis is much larger than the Oscar. The Oscar will grow much faster.

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[Bub]

You'd want to avoid most Central American cichlids as they have much more jaw strength and can easily overtake even the largest Oscar.

I assume this wouldn't apply to firemouth cichlids given that they are so much smaller? Or are their jaws still more powerful than an oscars? Would two do alright with an oscar?

I'm really liking electric blue acaras and electric blue jack demspeys. I may just leave out other cichlids and do two oscars if two would do okay in a tank of this size?

Are electric blue jack demspeys actually smaller than the standard variety? I've heard they only get around 8 inches. I would prefer to have a slightly smaller cichlid than the oscar if I were to get another cichlid for the tank. Edit** wait. Just realized they are central American. Bummer.

Just make sure the syndontis is much larger than the Oscar. The Oscar will grow much faster.

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I definitely will. I plan on doing the oscar(s) last. I'd like the other fish to be at least 6 inches before I think about adding an oscar.

 

[Metalhead88]

Firemouths are one of the exceptions for central american cichlids. They are smaller, less aggressive and powerful than other central american cichlids like jack Dempsey, jaguar, and salvini to name a few. Firemouths make great Oscar tank mates.

Electric blue acara are also good ones.

Electric blue JD is a though one to recommend. I have not kept any, it's one fish that Ive always wanted, but never made it around to getting one. . From what I hear, they are still geneticlly weak and rarely live past a year. That's why you only see juviniles at the lfs. And then if the do make it, if they are anything like their regular counterpart are extremely aggressive when fully grown. Electric blue JD are said to be much less aggressive and in that case would make good oscar tankmates.

Generally if you follow 2 rules you can add any fish that isn't too aggressive and that the Oscar can't fit in its mouth. Oscars really aren't very aggressive, but they are big and have large mouths and will try to eat everything they see as food.

Cichlids are tough sometimes since all fish have their own personality and aggression can differ from fish to fish. One thing you have going for you is the tank size. A 150 makes a wonderful cichlid tank.

I think I may have recommended this in a previous post but a red severum would be a great fit. I have one in my cichlid tank.

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[Bub]

Firemouths are one of the exceptions for central american cichlids. They are smaller, less aggressive and powerful than other central american cichlids like jack Dempsey, jaguar, and salvini to name a few. Firemouths make great Oscar tank mates.

Electric blue acara are also good ones.

Electric blue JD is a though one to recommend. I have not kept any, it's one fish that Ive always wanted, but never made it around to getting one. . From what I hear, they are still geneticlly weak and rarely live past a year. That's why you only see juviniles at the lfs. And then if the do make it, if they are anything like their regular counterpart are extremely aggressive when fully grown. Electric blue JD are said to be much less aggressive and in that case would make good oscar tankmates.

Generally if you follow 2 rules you can add any fish that isn't too aggressive and that the Oscar can't fit in its mouth. Oscars really aren't very aggressive, but they are big and have large mouths and will try to eat everything they see as food.

Cichlids are tough sometimes since all fish have their own personality and aggression can differ from fish to fish. One thing you have going for you is the tank size. A 150 makes a wonderful cichlid tank.

I think I may have recommended this in a previous post but a red severum would be a great fit. I have one in my cichlid tank.

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Thanks you very much for all this.

I think I'll pass on the jack then. The severum is still the cichlid I'm edging towards, I saw a red last week and fell for it immediately. If there is room and it would work I may do two colours of severum with the oscar. The acara and firemouth are good contenders though. I'll see which way I'm edging when I'm ready to actually get into buying fish.

I see some places saying that severums get 7-8 inches, others say 12. Is it 12 in the wild, 8 in the aquarium, or is one of them right over the other?

 

[Metalhead88]

I'd say 8 is more accurate. They grow tall as well.... if a severum was 12 inches long he would be absolutely massive. It may push over 8 inches, but I'd say expect 8 and not 12.

I had one that grew to be about 8 inches. The one I currently have is 5 inches. He was about 2 inches when I got him in August, so hes shown some very nice growth.

You can absolutely do a few colors of severum. They are all nice.

Another fish to look into is Uaru. I've only seen them once at the LFS and they were priced great, but I just didn't have the room since they should be kept in groups. I haven't kept them but I've done some research and they seem awesome.They aren't the most colorful but they are very active.

 

[Bub]

I'd say 8 is more accurate. They grow tall as well.... if a severum was 12 inches long he would be absolutely massive. It may push over 8 inches, but I'd say expect 8 and not 12.

I had one that grew to be about 8 inches. The one I currently have is 5 inches. He was about 2 inches when I got him in August, so hes shown some very nice growth.

You can absolutely do a few colors of severum. They are all nice.

Another fish to look into is Uaru. I've only seen them once at the LFS and they were priced great, but I just didn't have the room since they should be kept in groups. I haven't kept them but I've done some research and they seem awesome.They aren't the most colorful but they are very active.

Great! Two 12 inch sevs would be quite the load on a tank, especially as they get quite large as you said. I like the smaller size better. I've been looking at the different colours of severum. So nice. Loving the reds and red shoulders. I may do the two of those then.

I hadn't considered uaru, but I've always liked the King of DIYs tank of them. Definitely something to consider. I see you mentioned geophagus earlier too.... so many options. And I'm not good at making up my mind. Definitely edging for those two sevs though.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Metalhead88]

Yeah I'd say the red and red shoulder serverums are the nicest.

Yeah... there are many types of geos. They are mostly similar aside from coloration and max size. Some get much larger than others.

Glad I can help.