Oscar tankmates?

[Sky042]

What other sorts of fish could I have with my oscar that WON"T become a lunch on the run???

my oscar is getting a new home and I would like to have more than 1 fish in there. I was wondering about any apisto's or any other sort of chichlid that won't be a battle royale?

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

I have an African Knife fish in with mine, they are good mates, as they tend to only come out for any length at night when the Oscars are not very active

Its also one of the best looking fish in the world. He/She will pop out every once in a while during the day and u will never get bored of it

You can pick up 5+ inchers quite cheaply

 

[drobbins27]

Common Plecs, SilverDollars, Tiger Barbs and another Oscar all live in peice with Big Red. Whats ur tank size?

Maybe a:

Jag
Texas
Mang
Jacks
Cons
Eel
Knifes
Various Oddballs

 

[flintstone]

Be very careful when choosing Oscar tankmates! They might become very pricey fish food!

Make sure they are too big to be eaten & too fast to be caught!

My Oscar has eaten everything put in the tank with him including:

-2 golf-ball size snails (there are still 2 in there but he terrorizes them)
-2 equal sized oscars. He didn't eat them, just took bites until they died.(This was before I began taking care of him for my daughter)
-1 tiger barb.
-hordes of feeder fish (intentional)
-numerous plants

His current tank mates: a very large goldfish & 2 large snails are the longest to survive yet--a year for the snails and 3 months for the goldfish.

Maybe you should try getting an inexpensive fish first & see how it is treated.

Good Luck!

 

[Sky042]

I think I may just leave it to him and his pleco friend and call it a day.

 

[flintstone]

Probably the wisest decision!

 

[Shizat]

Usually any other south american cichlid will work out fine.

 

[Dwarfs]

Not any other, a ram would be food You mean large south american cichlids, right?

 

[Opcn]

You can buy plastic fish. or I'll bet you can pick up some convicts prety cheep.

and Dwarfs thanks for cutting the signature down to size.

 

[G_Sharky]

Do not put apisto's with oscars..you'd be buying a very expensive feeder fish if you do..... I'd put plecos, maybe some other american cichlids like green terror or convicts..if your tank is big enough....

 

[CFC]

It all depends on the tank size, in a smaller tank (one under 100 gallons) the fish you can safely keep with a oscar are quite limited because of territory problems, in larger tanks almost any fish that is too big to be eaten can be added. Remember that any equally large cichlids you may add will all need a minimum of 50 gallons of tank size per fish.

 

[noelberg]

electric catfish ... muahahahaha sama:

 

[Grams]

hey flintstone they probably got killed becauase you have a 2 year old oscar in a 30g tank the minimum size for a oscar alone is 55g.and 2 oscars are a 75g tank with no tankmates.

 

[flintstone]

hey flintstone they probably got killed becauase you have a 2 year old oscar in a 30g tank the minimum size for a oscar alone is 55g.and 2 oscars are a 75g tank with no tankmates.

You are soooooo right cat fish food! I am saving up to get that 55 gallon asap---maybe even a 100 gallon. "Big Stinky" is a VERY big fish!! But he's lots of fun. I recently discovered that he will "play" with a golf ball. This activity takes the heat off of the snails, which seem more active now (not always "hiding out). By the way, when he was put in the 30 gallon tank, he was only about 2 inches long

 

[CFC]

I think you will find that 75 gallon is the minimum recomended tank size for oscars and that 100g is the minimum for 2. Oscars can grow to sizes of 16"+ and need large territories.