Oscars

[GobyMaster]

Would an Oscar be able to be kept in a 65 gallon aquarium with the smallest fish being some Pearl Gouramis and the largest of which being a sengal bichir?? There will also be a pair of Twig Catfish, and a Macrognathus circumcinctus.

Any help will be appreciated.

GobyMaster

 

[idlefingers]

What dimensions are the tank? Pearl gouramis would get bullied by the oscar and probably become either injured or very reclusive.

Personally, I'd say a 65 is a little small even for a single oscar and no tankmates, though some may disagree.

 

[GobyMaster]

I'd only keep it in the 65 until it got too big. Then I'd move it into a bigger tank.

Thanks anyway. Can you give me the names of some larger cichlids that won't be eaten by my fish, or be too much of a bully?

GobyMaster

P.S.-It's a 72x18x24" tank.

 

[idlefingers]

Oh, a 6ft x 2ft x 1.5ft is 135g (or is that the bigger tank you're talking about) anyway, that's what I have my O in..

You never know what a cichlid's personality will be like, but I've tried my oscar with a green terror (which was quite a bit smaller than my oscar), a severum and a convict (which was also much smaller than my oscar) and all of them bullied him to the point I had to take them back to the shop.

The stocking I ended up with is my oscar, 9 silver dollars and a royal panaque. Oscar rules the tank now

So, I guess what I'm getting at is that while a lot of sites will give a list of cichlids which may be suitable with oscars it hasn't worked for me and after trying it I decided to stay away from keeping it with other cichlids. Be careful with your choices and be prepared with a divider to separate them if needed.

For a list of some tankmates, have you read the Oscar profile in the species forum and the pinned topic in this forum?

 

[GobyMaster]

Would a Geophagus surinamensis, or Suriname Geo work with those inhabitants?
Also, would it work if I add a Ornate Bichir, or would it eat my other fish??

GobyMaster

 

[england]

all fish have different attitudes i have 2oscars 1green terror 1severum 1jack dempsey 1jaguar 1gibbicep in a 150 gallon and honsetly theres no probs...had oscars/sev/gterror for a year and others 6months around....will be upgrading now very soon....

 

[ziggy_jacob]

it depends on the fishes personality if you grow them up together you might get away with some fish if they have a slow growing rate the oscar when its big will eat them for sure.cause if it can fit in its mouth it will try to eat it