Getting a 100 gallon, need stocking help!

[endilliteracy]

I REALLY want an albino oscar. I've been doing research on them and they sell very small ones (about 3 inches) at my LPS so I can watch it grow into the little monster it will become one day.

What else could I put with them? Would clown loaches do okay? If any of you have an oscar, what do you put with them? And could you also show me pics of tank set-ups. I am really excited as this is what I've always wanted to do (have a tank big enough for an albino oscar) and now I have the chance. What else should I put in it?

EDIT:

This is my list of possible fish so far

List 1:
albino oscar
blood parrot
gold sev
large plec
6 tinfoil barbs


List 2:
albino oscar
blood parrot
large plec
4 tinfoil barbs
3 pictus cats

Any other suggestions?

 

[Dwarfs]

You would have to buy some HUGE clown loaches, or the oscar would outgrow them and eat them. lecos or other large catfish would be a good combo, as well as cleaning up the oscars leftover mess Large schooling fish would look nice as well, maybe silver dollars

 

[DannyBoy17]

Silver Dollars are perfect. The problem with Clowns is that they grow a lot slower than Oscars. Other fish include Balas, Tinfoils, and really any NW Cichlids.

DB

 

[endilliteracy]

What if I housed the clown loaches in a 10 gallon until they started to grow as big as the oscar? I also have a 29 gallon I could put them in as they got larger. Then when they got to be about 6 inches could I put them in with the oscar?

 

[endilliteracy]

What about doing yellow labs without the oscar? What would go well with them? Also, if I stick to a community tank and my clown loaches get big, will they eat smaller fish like mollies and neons?

 

[DannyBoy17]

Dooon't even think about it We need more Oscar enthusiasts around here. Put it this way, once your Oscar gets to be full grown, it can and will eat anything that fits in his mouth, and sometimes larger. I got a feelings labs might end up as food.

DB

 

[endilliteracy]

Dooon't even think about it We need more Oscar enthusiasts around here. Put it this way, once your Oscar gets to be full grown, it can and will eat anything that fits in his mouth, and sometimes larger. I got a feelings labs might end up as food.

DB

Well I wasn't going to put yellow labs with the oscar. It is either the oscar OR the yellow labs. I have a feeling I will be bringing home an albino oscar. They are just so darn cute. But I also don't want him to end up being the ONLY fish in the tank. Someone mentioned larger catfish. I like catfish.

 

[endilliteracy]

What about this?
An albino oscar
3 bala sharks
4 clown loaches
1 african big eye catfish

Would that be overstocked?
A teacup stingray would be awesome.

 

[Gourami Lover88]

Balas should be in groups of 4 or more, and iam not sure but balas may outgrow even a 100gal. I persoanly would just forget about balas and get more clowns

 

[endilliteracy]

Balas should be in groups of 4 or more, and iam not sure but balas may outgrow even a 100gal. I persoanly would just forget about balas and get more clowns

It says that balas get to about 13 inches max and clowns get 12 inches max. I really would love some balas but I wouldn't want to give them a bad environment.

 

[sylvia]

With balas it isn't so much their size but their activity levels - you could compare them to gigantic zebra danios The minnimum for balas is actualy 3 but they are schooling fish and a group of 6 would be the best for them. Unfortunately, even three balas actualy need a 125 or more tank as they need lots of room to swim. However, 3 in your 100 would be possible though I'd stick to a few (approx. 4) tinfoil barbs, some clowns (2-3), a large-ish pleco and maybe some kind of big catfish (though this might be pushing it once all are full grown) with your oscar.

What concerned me with the idea of adding the clown later on, is that the oscar will have established the tank as his own territory and may not be very welcoming towards new additions. As such, I suggest you buy large ones (at least 6") so that you don't encounter any serious problems. BTW, clowns CAN eat small fish like neons but usualy they won't until they are quite big (big enough to move in with the oscar).

I personaly like the idea of yellow labs. Synodontis catfish are ideal tank-mates, as are most other malawi cichlids and any plecs that can take a high pH (such as bristlenoses).

 

[endilliteracy]

With balas it isn't so much their size but their activity levels - you could compare them to gigantic zebra danios The minnimum for balas is actualy 3 but they are schooling fish and a group of 6 would be the best for them. Unfortunately, even three balas actualy need a 125 or more tank as they need lots of room to swim. However, 3 in your 100 would be possible though I'd stick to a few (approx. 4) tinfoil barbs, some clowns (2-3), a large-ish pleco and maybe some kind of big catfish (though this might be pushing it once all are full grown) with your oscar.

What concerned me with the idea of adding the clown later on, is that the oscar will have established the tank as his own territory and may not be very welcoming towards new additions. As such, I suggest you buy large ones (at least 6") so that you don't encounter any serious problems. BTW, clowns CAN eat small fish like neons but usualy they won't until they are quite big (big enough to move in with the oscar).

I personaly like the idea of yellow labs. Synodontis catfish are ideal tank-mates, as are most other malawi cichlids and any plecs that can take a high pH (such as bristlenoses).

I think I will stick with an albino oscar, maybe some tinfoil barbs and a larger catfish. I don't know where I can find large clown loaches. The ones at my LPS are always only about 3 inches max.

 

[endilliteracy]

What about jack dempseys? My last name is dempsey.

Also, would it be okay if I purchased the clown loaches first and waited a few months for them to grow along with the tinfoil barbs and maybe a catfish or large plec and then I add the oscar last? Would this be okay? Or would the oscar go crazy and attack everyone?

 

[Fishy411]

Well Clown loaches grow about an inch every year so You would be waiting a really Long time until you could add that oscar. A good Catfish for An oscar would be 2 Lima Shovelnoses which you could fit in yur tank. I dont know a lot about the big eye cat but how big do they grow anything around 6" That isnt thin bodied should be ok.

 

[endilliteracy]

Well Clown loaches grow about an inch every year so You would be waiting a really Long time until you could add that oscar. A good Catfish for An oscar would be 2 Lima Shovelnoses which you could fit in yur tank. I dont know a lot about the big eye cat but how big do they grow anything around 6" That isnt thin bodied should be ok.

What about pictus cats? I just don't want to spend a whole bunch of money on a large tank and have my oscar end up kicking everyone out of "his" tank you know what I mean? I'd really love to have a small school of balas but I would probably need a bigger tank.