chaat Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 I am getting closer to my big tank being up and running and it's time to decide on who is moving in. Tank is 5' and around 400L. I was really wanting a mixed cichlid setup with quite high stocking levels for colour and movement. Hubby has decided he wants an Oscar :evil: . Everywhere I go around the house .. my fishbooks have been left open to pages on these beasties. Everytime he looks at the tank.. he mentions Oscars ( and Aro's which I have no desire for whatsoever). I have to admit to being more than a bit sulky as this fish throws my plans ( for my tank !) right out the window. I've googled, but seem to get a lot of conflicting ideas on tankmates for an Oscar. I do want to put a pleco in there .. but what else could live in relative harmony with a beastie of that size ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Gotta love the Oscars must admit :lol: Silver Dollars, Jack Dempsey, Nicaragua Cichlid, Plecs, Chocolate Talking Catfish and other larger robust cats and even synodontis, large Snakeskin Gourami.. etc are good tank mates for Oscars also and have been kept successfully with Oscars over the years... Just pays to have really good filtration as Oscars are messy eaters.. but well worth keeping. We keep mainly African species of fish, but would never part with our two Oscars and their tank Oscars are classed as semi aggressive not aggressive compared to alot of other large cichlids species.. I reckon Oscars are fair little devils as youngsters but seem to grow mellow out with age and size Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegemite Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Whoever is doing the maintenance gets to decide what goes in the tank imo. Stand your ground - go for the colours of Africa if that's what you're leaning towards. He'll come around. Show him some pictures of big Malawi eye biters - the name alone will sway him. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Like Afrikan said, other large non-agressive fish are fine with Oscars. Oscars are predatory by nature, if it fits in their mouth, they WILL try and eat it. They are not super agressive, they just have big mouths :lol: Having larger species will mean less fish, but you can keep the really cool ones Silver dollars and bala sharks are open water 'movement fish' that wont cause problems, and will grow big enough to not be an Oscar snack. Definately a pleco, likewise peacefull, and armour plated is a bonus. You may even be able to pick up some good tankmates cheap that have outgrown smaller tanks. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollergirl Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Also...if you do end up with an Oscar and want colourful tank mates I've seen blue colour morphs of Jack Dempsey's round lately that are just stunning. Wish I had a tank big enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becc4 Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 SEVERUMS!!! They are great with Oscars and will add some colour in there. Oscars are cool fsh, they are so expressive and great pets. I have seen a tank with large oscars x 3, severums x 2, jack dempsey, Pleco and one other large cichlid which I can't recall name...and the tank looked magnificent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaat Posted September 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Some nice suggestions there .. might not be so bad afterall. I do like the Oscars, they just take up so much space and do limit choices a tad. The blue Dempseys, I have drooled over them already. I think one of those could certainly get rid of the sulks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slash Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 would a black ghost knife fish be cool considering there are many spaces to hide in a 450L tank ? currently i have 1 adult oscar and 1 bristlenose catfish (med-large), had them for maybe 6-8 months nw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Black ghost knifes like a planted tank... Oscars like plants to, but mostly to rear up and eat. :-? Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slash Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 543AAXuT1l seems everyone says its cool! yay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EpiC Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 yeh i have a ghost knife in with an oscar and a texas cichlid. the oscar completly ignores him the texas is curious but actually scared of him.. just make sure hes big enough to not become a snack and it should be fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slash Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 i got a small GKF from hollywood fish farm on sunday, about 5cm $40! Woo costs alot. gona leave him in the small tank till he gets bigger, are the fast growers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 I have in one of my tanks three younge oscars, a bigish pleco, a BGK, and a peacock spiny eel and they all get on fine. The oscars never hassel the BGK, in fact the BGK has taken on one of my oscars in a very small skirmish. BGK's are cool, they are full of personality. Mine eats Pleco Chips and lives in a big ship wreck ornament Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlid Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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