Oscar Tankmates

[HODDY]

Hi i know oyu all have had load sof these topics but the search bar isnt working so cant skip thourght the pages.Would any of these fish be good with a oscar in a 6ftx2ftx2ft?

severum
green terror
jack dempsey
parrot fish
texas cichlid

and any more if you can suggst any.

Also i would like a big pleco and a LARGE catfish.Can you suggest any?

thanks,Ben,

 

[MHunt]

Hi i know oyu all have had load sof these topics but the search bar isnt working so cant skip thourght the pages.Would any of these fish be good with a oscar in a 6ftx2ftx2ft?

severum
green terror
jack dempsey
parrot fish
texas cichlid

and any more if you can suggst any.

Also i would like a big pleco and a LARGE catfish.Can you suggest any?

thanks,Ben,

There have been several threads about adult oscars not getting on with their tank mates. One was a parrot fish that had to be rehomed as the oscar started to get agressive towards it. I'll be honest i don't know alot about the other fish you mention, but i have heard that as plecs are quite spiky and armoured, that they are quite suitable as oscar tankmates.

 

[HODDY]

thanks,

 

[cheesy feet]

Most of the time O's are good tank mates with parrots.Let's see your tank is 180 gals give or take.
This is how I would do it.
Oscar, 55gals
Severum, 12gals
parrot cichlid, 12gals
Convict cichlid, 10gals
5x silver dollars, 25 gals
pearsei,
15 gals
Some sort of expensive pleco (or more than 1 if they are small), 20 gals
Catfish,personal choice i suppose,
15 gals Firemouth, 10 gals 174 gallons

 

[HODDY]

the tank is 140g,What about 1 oscar,1 jd,1 large plec,1large cat and maybe a texas cichlid?

 

[ox5477]

Most of the time O's are good tank mates with parrots.Let's see your tank is 180 gals give or take.
This is how I would do it.
Oscar, 55gals
Severum, 12gals
parrot cichlid, 12gals
Convict cichlid, 10gals
5x silver dollars, 25 gals
pearsei,
15 gals
Some sort of expensive pleco (or more than 1 if they are small), 20 gals
Catfish,personal choice i suppose,
15 gals Firemouth, 10 gals 174 gallons

Cheesy, a sev needs way more than 12G, and its not good to look at a large fish tank the way we would a smaller communtiy tank.

About the o aggression issue, the thing you need to watch out for is the o getting picked on. Even at half of an o's size, a jd, gt, or sev can easily beat up an o.

and hoddy, when you say "large catfish", name some species that your thinking of because many catfish species will grow way too big for your tank

 

[HODDY]

i'd love some cats that grow to like 14inch's not sure on species though.

 

[D4N]

would a arow work in a 6ft tank?

 

[ox5477]

i'd love some cats that grow to like 14inch's not sure on species though.

I would say thats may be a bit too big but it could work if agression is watched very closely

would a arow work in a 6ft tank?

No, none except an asian but they are fiercely aggressive so would kill most other fish in the tank. As laid out by CFC, an aro needs roughly a tank that is 4x2x1 I believe (compared to its adult size). So a 36 inch adult silver aro needs a 10 to 12 ft long tank, 4 to 6 ft wide and about 2 to 3 ft high tank... aka, a lot of room

 

[jayjay]

A Jardini arowana would work but tank mates would be highly restricted.

 

[HODDY]

hi guys thanks for replys,Would this be possible?


1 oscar
2 lima shovelnoses
and one or to more cichlids,not sure which yet though,
thanks,ben.

 

[Jake Jackson]

Just found this, so, sorry for just now chiming in. But w/ that kind of space I suggest going the distance.

Cichlids
1 Oscar
1 Jack Demp (female)
1 con (female), OR 1 firemouth (female)


Cleaning Crew
3 Pictus Cats
2 Bristlenose Plecs

Dithers/ Targets
(You more than likely won't need any at all, but they can liven up the tank, and act as buffers for aggression, I'd add the cichlids and cleaning crew before thinking about adding these guys.)
6 Tiger barbs OR 6 Giant Danios


And while they are little TONS AND TONS of hiding spaces.

 

[idlefingers]

That sounds like a good mix but I wouldn't consider any plec as 'cleanup crew', I'd say quite the opposite. They create far more mess than they clean (they aren't very efficient algae eaters, anyway).

 

[Ferris]

BN PLecs are extremely efficient algae eaters and stay relatively small so their waste production is nowhere near as bad as the larger Plec species.

Pim Pictus, as with most Pimelodus species, have a voracious appetite and will be very effective as a cleanup crew.

If you go with these 2 species - make sure they are a reasonable size when added - remember large cichlids, especially Oscar's can and will eat anything that will fit in their mouth's. Adult BN's and Pictus with juvenile cichlids would be ideal.

 

[idlefingers]

I guess my BN was just lazy. He hardly ate any algae