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Oscars and other cichlids
Badmans Tropical Fish Message Center:
archive: Oscars and other cichlids
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Steve
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Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 06:42 am
If i put 2 oscars in 55g could i put anything else in? WHAT?
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joycedonley
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Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 12:12 pm
Maybe a pleco or catfish that's about it. I know many
many other people on the web keeping Oscars and a 55gallon
in the smallest tank you should even consider. They are
messy, destructive but extermely personable fish. Many people
use a 100 gallon tank with lots of filtration to keep them
happy. They will knock equipment around and change your
decor to suit their likes. They will also provide you with
lots of entertainment!
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joycedonley
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Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 12:39 pm
June 2001 A fish magazine had a good article on the oscar
and suggested tank size was indeed 70gallons for a pair.
Only a pair or two females are compatible so if you have
two males you may be in for big problems. Regarding tankmates
per the article I was correct...a large armored catfish.
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G
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Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 07:11 pm
Keep in mind, plecos and other large catfish are by no means
a requirement, and the fewer fish you keep, the easier maintenance
should be (although you may have to get your arm wet
every month or so if you get some algae on the glass).
Also, Oscars are best left alone, as has been said, but
with a large enough tank (over 100 gallons) you
could probably add another larger fish or two. Oscars are
aggressive eaters, but aren't that mean towards fish
they can't fit into their mouths. Unless they're
pairing off and getting ready to spawn, they aren't
too bad, but in that case, even the smallest of cichlids
are aggresive.
If you do have a BIG tank, and wish to add fish along with
the Oscars, other larger, mildly aggressive cichlids should
work, as would smaller, more aggressive cichlids. I recently
read that severums make good tankmates for Oscars among
other fish.
Anyway, Aquarium Fish Magazine is running a series of articles
on some of the most popular cichlids. They did an article
on the Oscar about three or four months ago, which is a
fairly decent oscar. Most of the fish they're doing
in the series would probably work with oscars, so if you
get a chance, pick up an issue or two, and give it a read.
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joycedonley
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Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 08:27 pm
A fish is Aquarium Fish magazine. I just abbreviated it.
I also know at least 5 people on the web with Oscars.
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joycedonley
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Monday,
September 10, 2001 - 06:35 am
I think it is really a better idea to just keep the Oscars.
My LFS guy that I consider pretty knowledgeable once told
me that Festivum and Angels were great tankmates. You can
also read that many places. Unfortunaltely noone told Moby
my 8" festivum(pictured on Badmans member gallery)!
He had a exciting time terrorizing my angels until I moved
him to a 55 gallon. Lucky me I had a tank to move him to.
The problem with advising people with very large cichlid
to get tankmates is if and when they don't get along
the person has to either: 1. Beg the LFS to take the fish
back. 2. Let them bully each other until one fish gets hurt.
or 3. Buy another Large tank which not everyone can afford
to do(especially if they are going for the smallest
tank possible in the first place). If you are not an
experienced fishkeeper with adequate financial resouces
and able to go with option number 3 I would suggest you
take the safest route and skip tankmates for large Cichlid.
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