75 Gal(uk) Oscar Tank.

[kniesh]

Hi guys, so I finally bought my bigger tank. At the moment I have a 40 gal (uk) 4ft tank which I will be keeping but I have just bought a 4x2x2 75gal (uk). My initial thought is to build it around an Oscar but I am struggling with tankmates. From initial research these are what I have come up with could you please give any advice on mixtures of these or anything else I might consider. I would very much appreciate it. Thx.

1xOscar
1xJack Dempsey
Gold Severum (not sure of numbers)
Green Terror (probably 1)
Hoplo cats (A small group of about 5).

Thx in advance for any help.

 

[jayjay]

The GT will most likely seriously injure the others. Personally I'd have the oscar as the only cichlid.

 

[ox5477]

You could get lucky with keeping the Oscar with one other cichlid, possibly a convict or a firemouth, but i wouldnt go GT or JD as those are too aggressive and will harrass the Oscar in such a small space. a convict or a firemouth would be perfect because they can hold there own against the Oscar but would not go out of their way to pick a fight.

 

[kniesh]

Thx guys, I was thinking the Oscar was going to be the most aggressive I may well go with a pair of convicts if a pair is ok, if not just a single one and I will stick with the Hoplos.

Does anyone have any other suggestions, I'm clean out of ideas now. These fish are hard to find tankmates for. Thx again.

 

[LisaLQ]

I've heard of pairs of convicts harrassing and killing oscars before. You're better off with two females. I dont know about adding much more after that though, it's only 75g which is what some folks think to be the minimum for one oscar on it's own with no tank mates.

 

[kniesh]

Do you think an albino Ruby Shark would survive ok in there with the Oscar? Both would be bought at a small size. I would love that but I'm almost certain the shark might get too big for his boots and get a pretty nasty shock. What do you think?

 

[LisaLQ]

I think a big oscar might see it as lunch as they're quite long and thin. Our red finned/rainbow/ruby shark is also very shy and peaceful, but that's just mine - I dont know about in general.

 

[kniesh]

Just read on the think fish profile that an Oscar gets to 40cm, is this in the wild? Presumably a bit smaller in aquariums I would imagine a 6" fish would be ok. They grow pretty stocky when fully grown, however they do get quite aggressive which I don't think would help his cause much against the Oscar. Thats more what I'm worried about than him just being eaten. I may be wrong though, I often am

 

[LisaLQ]

Are you sure you're not thinking of the red tailed black shark? Oscars can and do get to 16" in aquariums, usually around 14" though. A 6" stocky fish would be ok, but a 6" long skinny fish wouldn't. I've had both an oscar and a rainbow shark, and I wouldn't risk it

 

[kniesh]

By rainbow shark I mean Red Finned Shark, not a Red tailed shark although I dont think there's much difference in size though. I currently have a RTBS in my 40gal catfish and he looks amazing, really strongly coloured red tail an a very deep black with no marks, much different to when I bought him. I think a healthy albino version would look great if it is possible, if not fair enough I will look around, man these Oscars are hard work before u even buy one

Thx for the replies Lisa.

 

[ox5477]

Oscars are very hard to find tankmates for. But even if you don't, I think a whole tank to him/herself is well worth it. This is one of the most fun fish to have and from hearing about them, I plan on definatly having one in the future. But like I said, adding another medium sized cichlid would be optimal as it will not contest the oscar for tank dominance and should be quick enough to stay out of the Oscars way as to not become dinner.

If ever in the future you decide to buy a larger tank, say 120G to 150G, then def look into silver dollars or tin foils as tank mates. The silver dollars are an odd shape and not an easy meal for the Oscar while tin foils grow large and are much quicker than the Oscar. Both need to be in a shoal, say 5 to 6 atleast, hence the reason for a much larger tank. And bala's possibly too but I would asoon as go for the tin foils as they are basically the same fish (they are different species obv.) but the tin foils are much less timid and much less prone to darting across the tank and running into a decoration and hurting themselves or running into another fish and possibly hurting it.

And of course, there is always the standby of a pleco. With their armored scales and small amount of motion, the pleco poses no threat to the Oscar and likewise the Oscar towards the pleco. But with the pleco be sure you have alot of filtration on a tank with both in it as both create loads of waste and can easily overwork a normal filter so double the normal filtration is usually recomended.

EDIT: spelling

 

[Mako Man111]

In a 75 gal I believe an oscar, convict, and firemouth would work great. Just make sure you have at least 3 caves. My 105 gallon which houses those fish is of similar dimensions, just higher. It is 48"x18"x28". Just start them all off as babies and they should be good.

 

[kniesh]

Hi guys, I am now leaning towards leaving the Oscar untill my next upgrade, much as I want one it doesn't really look feesable now in this tank as I would want other fish aswell. Looks like I may go for a mixed oddball tank, this is going to open an entirely different can of worm I'm sure but heres hoping. Thx for ur help guys.

 

[Sp3nc3r]

someone said oscar and jd= bad combo

i have an oscar and jd in the same tank size that he does and they work very well together

it all depends on the fish

 

[ox5477]

someone said oscar and jd= bad combo

i have an oscar and jd in the same tank size that he does and they work very well together

it all depends on the fish

very true but in most situations its not the best idea. But like you said, a few examples exist to counter the typical school of thought