Hey Chaat,
I bet oscars are one of the cichlid with most amazing personality. It is the most friendly fish ever known in aqua hobby for its response to its masters and can be called as a true ‘wet pets’. It is also popular for recognizing its owner from a distance of 15 to 20 feets, and more than we observe this fish, the fish will observe us. Another cichlid which have similar personality and faster growth rate (1 to 2 inches per month) is none other than flowerhorn (though ignored or hated by many for being a hybrid)
Compatibility with oscars is a real issue. I’ve been keeping Oscars for past 8 years and in my experiences some cichlid that goes well with oscars are Severums, Jack Dempsey, Texas, Green Terrors, large male convicts, large Salvini. But, personally i have end up losing many cichlids in establishing a mixed community cichlid tanks. Removing one of the fish and reintroducing them after a treatment, or even rearranging the decorations (if any) in the tank, or breeding seasons, or even variation in ph level can stress any of the cichlid and can turn them aggressive for no reasons and disturb the compatibility with oscars though the tank mate formula has worked for ages. Mixed cichlid community tank is always a challenge, and we hobbyist naturally end up with that.
Again the best tank mate for oscar is another oscar (a true love pair or breeding mate). If you need to find such a pair, grow 6 number of juvenile (2 inches) together and in 6 to 8 months, u might be lucky to get 1 or 2 pairs naturally. You can keep the best pair to yourself and exchange or trade the remaining four.
As of now, there are 24 strains (Aquarium strains, all wild caught oscars are dull appealing) of oscars (Tiger Oscar, Albino Tiger Oscar, Fire Red Tiger Oscar, Copper Oscar, White oscars, Golden Oscars, Lutino variants, Golden Oscars, Red Oscars, Ruby Red Albino Oscars and so on). You can also get most of them in common tail, veil tail, butterfly tail shape, and recently some of these strains are available in balloon oscar body shape (a dwarf round body).
If you are concerned on anything related to Oscars or any central American or south American cichlids let me know, and i am happy to share my small knowledge i acquired in past 10 to 12 years. If oscars really interest you i can share 5 to 6 posters which explain most of the popular color strains. If you can pm me your email address i can send you some articles and ebooks written by me related to oscars.
Here is a video link of 2 of my albino ruby red Oscars. They were moved to a small tank to take this video, and 6 of them (3 pairs) stay very happy in a 6 foot tank.
