Large Empty Tank And Thinking Of Oscars.....

[england]

Agreed with davo86
Tank may sound big,but its not much bigger than my 5/2/2 i used to have, cichlids like the ones being thrown in here in convosation are aggressive stuff,ive battled through alot of different combo's in my time, leaving me with the idea that one type of cichlid wether singular or a pair is the best option,with different fish aswell that are peaceful...

Ive done jag/oscars/vieja/madagascan cichlids/green terrors/chocolate/firemouths/tbars/earth eaters/ and others...you can do some good mixes with that size tank granted, big catfish as someone reccomended fair enough,but stay away from tigershovel noses and retailed cats,niger cats as these are all tank busters

 

[mattlee]

Agreed with davo86
Tank may sound big,but its not much bigger than my 5/2/2 i used to have, cichlids like the ones being thrown in here in convosation are aggressive stuff,ive battled through alot of different combo's in my time, leaving me with the idea that one type of cichlid wether singular or a pair is the best option,with different fish aswell that are peaceful...

Ive done jag/oscars/vieja/madagascan cichlids/green terrors/chocolate/firemouths/tbars/earth eaters/ and others...you can do some good mixes with that size tank granted, big catfish as someone reccomended fair enough,but stay away from tigershovel noses and retailed cats,niger cats as these are all tank busters

this i dont mind as i really wanted a kind of pet fish rather than a mixed com. so if i went for a single species of cichlid or a pair of the same species, a few dithers like silver dollars for example and a couple of cats for the bottom or a large plec. i also didnt really want to just have 1 fish or a pair in a tank of this size as it would seem very empty and still.
if i was to go for this idea of single species cichlids then could i pick any? or would i still have to be wary of what else goes in the tank, would the cichlids leave the dithers alone as long as they werent eatable...?

 

[mattlee]

ok how does this sound.....

2 x oscars or other cichlids
1 x BGK
2 x sun catfish
1 x pleco
6 x silverdollars or other dithers of a large size

im getting so many mixed reviews about mixing cichlids and i dont really want to be removing fish and replacing etc etc etc so im happy to go for a peacefull set up (hopefully). the tank will have sand substrate, rocks with plenty of bogwood and depending on the dithers some plants (unless i go for silverdollars). i dont want the tank full of fish but at the same time i dont want it to look empty. would these fish live in peace? ish.....

 

[kizno1]

ok how does this sound.....

2 x oscars or other cichlids
1 x BGK
2 x sun catfish
1 x pleco
6 x silverdollars or other dithers of a large size

im getting so many mixed reviews about mixing cichlids and i dont really want to be removing fish and replacing etc etc etc so im happy to go for a peacefull set up (hopefully). the tank will have sand substrate, rocks with plenty of bogwood and depending on the dithers some plants (unless i go for silverdollars). i dont want the tank full of fish but at the same time i dont want it to look empty. would these fish live in peace? ish.....

Looks good to me. But if you get a breeding pair of big cichlids im not sure how a BGK would do. If you dont want to much fighting maybe go for more peaceful cichlids like severums and chocolate cichlids. Maybe a group of geophagus for the bottom. What about a bichir.

 

[Wills]

If your stuck for choice on cichlids there is a book I strongly recommend Its the pocket professionals guide to cichlids by David E. Boruchowitz. It is such a good book quite upto date as well though its not got the most recent reclasifications of cryptoheros and aequedens but no biggie but still a very good book especially for names, sizes and rough guides as to how certain fish are. Fantastic for a flick through for by anyones standard and a lot to learn in the book as well!!

Wills

 

[AstonN24vantage]

ive had oscars but no success

 

[star4]

No dont go for an oscar, they get under your skin and your hooked!!!!!

Another option is some texas Herichthys carpintis, could have a group, they do well as a species only thank and have bags of personality, just like oscars and are usually quite easy to come by. The only thing is silver dollars would be out, unless its just mine they seem to hate dollars, sun cats you should be ok with as I have a black collared cat in with mine (looks like a sun cat but with a collar instead of a spot)

 

[hamfist]

ok how does this sound.....

2 x oscars or other cichlids
1 x BGK
2 x sun catfish
1 x pleco
6 x silverdollars or other dithers of a large size

im getting so many mixed reviews about mixing cichlids and i dont really want to be removing fish and replacing etc etc etc so im happy to go for a peacefull set up (hopefully). the tank will have sand substrate, rocks with plenty of bogwood and depending on the dithers some plants (unless i go for silverdollars). i dont want the tank full of fish but at the same time i dont want it to look empty. would these fish live in peace? ish.....

Matt, You're more likely to have success with one oscar, one choc and one sev as the cichlids (all added at the same time) instead of two oscars. Two oscars would either breed (causing havoc) or probably end up fighting.
As someone else suggested, some geos would also go well with that mix (maybe instead of the SD's ?) .... thy'll love the sand too.
THe rest sounds good, although I don't know anything about the Sun cats at all.

As you really don't seem to like the idea of fighting cichlids and swapping inhabitants to get a community that will co-exist, then you are probably wise to avoid CA cichlids.

 

[Davo86]

Matt, You're more likely to have success with one oscar, one choc and one sev as the cichlids (all added at the same time) instead of two oscars. Two oscars would either breed (causing havoc) or probably end up fighting.

Totally agree with the above, and is something i have said time and time again, with cichlids conspecific aggression is a big thing and if the fish don't pair up (which in itself isn't necessary a good thing as aggression will come from the pair) the friction could grow between them, Cichlids can turn on each other at the flick of a switch.

South American cichlids opposed to Central american cichlids are relatively placid for their size and the majority of species whether it be oscars sevs, chocs, uarus, geophagus or acaras will cohabit generally well if given the space to do so,

and with regards to tankmates these species will tend to get on ok with anything to big to be considered food which gives you masses of options that could include, bichirs, botias, larger barbs, hujeta gars, pink tailed chalceus, and even the likes of Dats or a Fire Eel

As soon as you start mentioning the likes of Jags, Texas, Viejas or Festae though, (as stunning as these are) the risk of trouble increases radically IMO unless you are wanting to have just a very small number of extremely well selected tankmates which in a tank of this size is going to seem a waste IMO

With regards to filtration I would also agree one FX5 will struggle, 2-3 of these would be much more benficial, although shroobs mention of the trickle filter maybe something to look into,

 

[mattlee]

thanks for the advice guys

after a visit to a lfs today the stocking has begun...... i came home with 2 small asian sun catfish that are currently settling in my 2 foot q/tank i had one of these cats ages ago and was sold it as a 6 inch max fish but after research i discovered it was far from it! this tank will be much more suitable for them

 

[mattlee]

i know its not s or c american but could i have a frontosa in with an oscar and a sev? or is it a no no.....? ive no intention of breeding before anyone jumps on that wagon

 

[star4]

Frontosa are a grey area, I have seen them mixed with sa/ca before, I myself had a group of Elliotti (same family as the firemouth) with my fronts without any bother, however on the other side of the coin I have heard of problems of frontosa dying for no apparant reason in a sa/ca set up. Fronts are best as a species only tank, they are very beautiful, however if you want more of a wet pet sort of tank, personally stick with the sa/ca set up as Fronts I have found are very shy.

 

[Davo86]

You can certainly try and in most cases i've seen does work out ok, Like Oscars, Frontosa seem to be quite intelligent and not overly aggressive and IMO a good tankmate provided you aren't aiming for any kind of biotope

 

[mattlee]

Frontosa are a grey area, I have seen them mixed with sa/ca before, I myself had a group of Elliotti (same family as the firemouth) with my fronts without any bother, however on the other side of the coin I have heard of problems of frontosa dying for no apparant reason in a sa/ca set up. Fronts are best as a species only tank, they are very beautiful, however if you want more of a wet pet sort of tank, personally stick with the sa/ca set up as Fronts I have found are very shy.

was there no explanation for the deaths...? i saw some at the lfs today and they were beautifull fish.

 

[mattlee]

You can certainly try and in most cases i've seen does work out ok, Like Oscars, Frontosa seem to be quite intelligent and not overly aggressive and IMO a good tankmate provided you aren't aiming for any kind of biotope

im not aiming for a biotope of any kind just a nice selection of fish that i would not normally be able to keep. ive been and got 2 sun catfish today as my bottom feeders so thats threw any biotope out of the window
ive come up with a list for stocking that seems to be ok, it is -

2 x sun catfish (already got 2 small ones)
1 x oscar
1 x red spotted severum
1 x texas cichlid
1 x large pleco
6 x silverdollars (not 100% on these yet)

and now if the frontosa is suitable thats gone and messed it all up again maybe swap the silverdollars for the frontosa or is that too many big cichlids in this tank?