Oscar Tank Mates?

[OscarFanBoy]

I know my tank is somewhat small compared to some of you guys(55gal), and i think about all i can fit is one other oscar as a fish, so i might go that route.

But i was wondering could i put a blue crayfish in with my oscars, will they get along?, i figure they are small and stay on the bottom so they wont run into each other.

 

[Meds081603]

The crayfish will be an expensive meal for your oscar. As soon as the oscar is big enough he will eat the lobster.

 

[nurglespuss]

Indeed, and the oscar may get damaged in the process.

in a tank you size, any introduction would really be invading the Oscar's territory, so even another oscar might be a bit of a risk....

 

[rob newland]

and considering its only a 55g, you are probably best off with it on its own I reckon - but with some nice planting/decor it will still look good

 

[ox5477]

First: If you have any more questions about o's, ask in the nw cichlid section as this is what they are.


Second: He needs a bigger tank, a 55G is not big enough for life, even by himself... some people will say its just barely big enough but I say, compare it to you living in a room that is roughly 3' wide, 7' tall and 12' long. would you want to live in a room that size until you die? obv we cannot give these fish huge ponds or river systems that they would naturally have but you want to give them the most room they can have. a 90G is perfect for the single oscar while I could see a 75 working, as atleast the tank is a bit wider than the 55G.


Third: the cray will def be a meal one day, and before that, the cray could cause serious damage to the oscar while its young and smaller by tearing the o's fins and possibly causing deep lascerations in the o's body due to the crays claws. I don't think you should keep crays in with any fish for this reason... but i guess, just my opinion.

 

[Davidtq]

The volume of water would be ok for a semi temporary home for single oscar just about with very heavy filtration, im not familiar with standard US tank sizes, one of my tanks is a similiar volume and 48x15x18. Id happily keep an adult oscar in a tank this size for a few months with very good filtration, although personally I prefer understocking big tanks. Smaller tanks can be usefull for hand taming oscars, they can make very interesting interactive pets rather than just being fish.