Oscars And Tank Mates

[ReMz]

I'm very interested in starting an Oscar tank and am considering getting another variety of a new world cichlid. Right now, this is a lot of speculation, but I'm pretty set on the idea. I've done the basic research and gone over the basic info provided on these forums.

Given that, I brought up the idea of starting a cichlid tank with my lfs owner. He's been into the hobby for over 30 years and is pretty much my go-to-guy on reliable fish information. When I mentioned incorporating angel fish, catfish, silver dollars, etc (all the fish i have seen listed in these cichlid tanks) he pretty much told me it was a VERRRRRY circumstancial basis and sometimes these tanks can last for years before one Oscar kills everything in his territory. His advice was set up an Oscar tank with ONLY Oscars and still precede with caution.

If i were to dive into a cichlid tank, I would be very happy with having a couple Oscars and having fun with it. However, I would much rather set up more of an "aquarium" with different fish and acclimate them to eachother at a young age.

My concerns revolve around whether or not this is possible and a good idea?

I'm looking for reliable and informational responses at this point. No "I have tons of fish with my Oscars, they are fine" responses.

Thanks for the help to whoever responds! I'm certainly not knowledgeable in this area and need the best advice I can get!

 

[Davo86]

Hey

With something like an Oscar the most important factor is tank size, (75G being the minimum recommended size for an oscar)

In a tank of at least 75G (100G upwards being more ideal) you could look at keeping a single Oscar with other cichlids such as Jack Dempseys, Firemouths, Convicts etc. Other options could be Birchirs, Plecs, medium sized Catfish such as pimelodellas or pictus, Or Dithers like a shoal of silver dollars.

Once you've decided on a tanksize, and your centerpiece fish (which in this case I'm presuming is an Oscar) then both your lfs owner and us here on TFF can give you options of stockings

 

[england]

as above but have to say at least the local fish shop owner is helpful and giving a good opinon which actually wont benifift his pocket<thats rare

 

[ox5477]

It does all depend on tank size. SD's are seen as a perfect dither fish for oscars as it's a very odd shaped fish (like a plate placed on edge vertically) and usually will be a pain for the oscar to fit into it's mouth and eat it. I would say that if you get a 125 or 150, a pair of o's with a school of sd's and maybe a sev or two would be a nice tank. This is assuming you start them all from young and let them grow together. The sd's will grow amazingly fast... I've had mine for just over two months and some have more than tripled in size!!! (all started at about 1" round and some are now upwards of 3 to 3.5" round). The sevs will be voracious little eaters as well and help contain any excess food that isn't eaten (mine hoover my bogwood after the cloud of mysis I feed has settled).

Plus, if you wanted to go with a single oscar, you could set-up a cichlid community with a jd, gt, couple fm's, a sev or two, and maybe even jag or rd too. All of this is dependent on the tank size, and the individual personality of any fish you get.

 

[ReMz]

Thanks for the info guys. Much appreciated.

Once I start putting this all together I'll be here to ask opinions on stocking. I'm thinking about something like a 150 gallon tank with an Oscar or two. Just wanted to get a few opinions on what can be kept with them safely.

as above but have to say at least the local fish shop owner is helpful and giving a good opinon which actually wont benifift his pocket<thats rare

No kidding... he's never led me awry with faulty advice just to make a sale.

 

[OscarWilde]

55G is considered the minimum size for an Oscar over at O Fish.com. 150G will make a superb Oscar setup.

As for tankmates think about a shoal of Silver Dollars, Other large NW Ciclids and larger catfish. I kept a Sailfin Plec with mine and they got on well enough.

Bear in mind also that Oscars are some of the messiest fish around. You need to be thinking about at least 15X turnover with some regular gravel vacs.

 

[ox5477]

55G is too small for a o. The tank is far too thin... only 12 inches deep which gives the oscar only maybe one or two inches to turn around when full grown.... 75 is much more appropriate as it is 18" deep. But a 90G is better for water volume.

O's are very messy but You won't need 15x turnover. 7 or 8x should be plenty depending on other tankmates. If you have it with cats and other messy cichlids, then more turnover would be good. But if the tank is understocked and the other fish are not as messy, then 15x is not needed... though it won't hurt if you want to do it, just that you have to buy more expensive and more filters to get to 15x on a 150G.

 

[OscarWilde]

55G is too small for a o. The tank is far too thin... only 12 inches deep which gives the oscar only maybe one or two inches to turn around when full grown....

Matter of opinion. I happen to agree with you 75/90G is preferable but as I said 55 is considered the minimum over at O'fish and many people do keep healthy Oscars in 55's.

Yes, I can see 15X on a 150 would be very expensive. This would apply more to a smaller volume of water (55 - 75) but like you say, you never can have too much!

 

[Sheilaf]

I agree, 55g is the minimum for one oscar alone. I have had my oscar for 2 years and he started out on a 55g and I thought it looked a little tight. He is now in a 75g with a salvini (male) and a jack dempsey (female). He pretty much fills the 75g. I have had a lot of problems with him and tankmates. I've tried convicts, an hrp (which worked out the best but the hrp died), a synspilum, and a texas, silver dollars (worked ok but he tried to eat them), giant danios (ate them),I would like to try a senegal bichir but I don't know how that would work (I'm sure there are others I've forgotten).

Mine is extremely choosey about tankmates. So far the JD is working the best, my oscar is constantly harassing the salvini so I think it will have to go. It really all comes down to personality. I've heard of oscars that will live with fish that were intended become feeders for years. The two cichlids that I've heard that usually work well with oscars are JD's and severums. I think mine would be to aggressive for a severum but some oscars are pretty laid back. They are awesome wet pets though, tons of personality!

 

[ox5477]

very true sheilef. They are basically "water dogs" with their personality and many people actually being able to reach in the tank and pet their oscars...

It's not suprising that the o ate the giant danios, perfect little snacks for them with their big mouths and curiosity. Little suprised that it tried with the sd's.... their body shape should make for an unappetising looking meal, though if they are small enough when compared to the o, I guess it would try to grab a snack.

Kind of suprising to me that the o bullies the jd.... I've heard many accounts from members that the jd will harrass the o to no end seeing as how many are little puppies. Just show the diversity in fish personalities though.

I wasn't trying to point out that you were wrong either oscarwilde. Just trying to say that really, a 55 is too small for the fishes health and happiness. On something that size, tons of filtration is needed and if any decor is put in the tank, the chance for the clumbsy o rises astronomically as it has less space to dart if startled or at night when it is harder to see.

I still wouldn't have an oscar in a tank under 125 just because I wouldn't want to have it alone. Even in ur 75, I wuldn't have tankmates with the o. But thats my opinion. I would of got one for my 125 when I upgraded, but I was a little worried about the aggression of my JD. I got two small green sevs to grow out in the tank and hopefully when they get older and pose more of a threat to the JD, they can band together to hold their own against my JD.

 

[Sheilaf]

My oscar is more like a pitbull than a puppy. I can't pet him, when I clean the tank he tries to bite me. He's crazy but I love him, he's a pet. It would be nice to have a docile oscar but I still wouldn't trade him. I don't think the JD would dare try to go after him. She'll lip lock with the salvini but won't test the oscar.

This is my crazy scarface:

 

[ox5477]

wow, he looks like a bada$$... I wouldn't try petting him either. shows that what most people can do is not true for all.

As a special request as well... could we see pic of your JD (maybe make new post... I don't wanna seem like I'm hitch-hiking this post). I'm a JD lover and can always appreciate a beautiful specimen

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i think the real reason why you've received such a mixed response as to what can and can't be done is because Oscars a typical cichlids in that they are all individuals. Some of them will very happily coexist with other fish, some will be right little brute's that terrorise everything in sight and can't be left with any tankmates at all.

Unfortunatley there's no real way of saying what you're Oscar will be like, it's generally around 1yr/18months old that they mature and as this happens the most docile fish can suddenly turn aggresive and hunt down everything in the tank.

I think really what you need to do is give some very careful thought to fish selection and be prepared with a back up plan should all go wrong.

generally though plecs are a good move, oscar may try to eat them but cos of the armour they won't go back and try it again!! It's also a good idea to go for a shoal of dither fish instead of just a couple of companions. This spreads out the aggression so no 1 fish ends up picked on.

 

[Sheilaf]

I don't want to hijack the post either but I'll see if I can get a somewhat good pic of my JD for you.

 

[ReMz]

Hey no worries about hijacking the thread. I want to see ur JD too.

Thanks for all the replies from everyone. This has been very helpful.

Is turnover how many times the tank gets filtered in a certain amount of time? noob here