Just getting ready to set up a new tank and want an Oscar. Should I get 1 or 2 Oscars? And can any other fish live with them so the tank has some different fish?
2007-04-16 16:43:50 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
The best Oscar tankmates are Clown Loach / Jade-Eyed Cichlid / Syndontis Catfish.
There is one very important factor you have got to bear in mind. You may just not have enough room for any tankmates. Oscars need an absolute minimum of 55 gallons all to themselves. So if you have got a fairly small tank, don't even consider adding any more fish. I know that a small 3 inch Oscar looks very small In a 4 foot tank. Try and imagine what a 12 inch fish would look like.
2007-04-16 18:45:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Just get 1 Oscar.
And before you do, research them! If you went out and got 2 Oscars they will grow up, reach sexual maturity, and then fight until one dies of stress.
To keep 2 Oscars you must establish a mating pair so they would share the tank rather then fight over it. To do this it's best to start off with a few juveniles, grow them out, and let a pair form among them. Then the rest would need to be removed.
That said, a 55 gallon is really only room enough for one. These guys are big, meaty, strong, and very messy. Technically you can squeeze in two if they are an established pair and you are very good at keeping the tank clean. Without pristine water they'll likely develop hole-in-the-head disease and die.
There are many tankmates that can work with an Oscar, but they all get too big for your tank. Other cichlids are not a good idea because they are all territorial.
2007-04-17 01:01:28 · answer #2 · answered by Ghapy 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
one oscar in that small of a tank, and as others have said, oscars don't take too kindly to tankmates. your tank will be ok for an oscar in the short term, but as he grows he will be needing a 75 gallon tank minimum. they're BIG fish!
in a tank that small i would keep it oscar-only.
fish that can be kept with oscars have to match the oscar in size and include silver dollars, common plecs, clown loaches, pictus catfish...BUT remember these fish also either grow large, or need to be in groups, or a bit of both, so shouldn't be attempted in anything less than an enormous tank with good filtration.
2007-04-16 23:37:03 · answer #3 · answered by catx 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just a Plecostomus, nothing else. Do not get 2 oscars in that small of a tank. Lot of good info at Oscarfish.com
2007-04-16 16:49:48 · answer #4 · answered by Jason 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The general thought is one Oscar or 4+ Oscars. Other large fish such as Tin Foil Barbs, Catfish, and I have Black belts with mine but other Cichlids aren't usually a good choice.
2007-04-17 05:41:10 · answer #5 · answered by Crystal M 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Short answer, nothing. A 55 gallon makes a good tank for a single oscar with no tank mates. Once he claims that tank, and he will, nothing small enough to share it with him would live long in his company.
MM
2007-04-16 16:49:34 · answer #6 · answered by magicman116 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I would put cichlids, the same size or greater, they would get along good, i actually have a 10 inch, and a 4 inch Oscar with a 3 inch fire-mouth cichlid, and a Malawi lol, the only problem is, the cichlids fight lol, but the other fish get along great.
2016-05-17 06:12:47 · answer #7 · answered by marget 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
lol dont listen to magic man on this i kept two 9 inch flower horns and 4 5 inch pacus in a 30 THATS RIGHT 30 gallon tank for 2 years and they were perfectly fine XD. But since your tank is a bit small and ill admit it, your best bet is to go with 2 small 3 inch pacus. Be warned when you first put it with your oscar there is going to be a lot of ruff play but your pacus will get used to it and the more you put in the less the oscar will bully them
2007-04-16 17:23:18 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋
I agree with the previous posters. Not a social fish, sorry.
2007-04-16 16:57:07 · answer #9 · answered by Dreamer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
his food is all. and they wont last long. oscars eat otherfish and even their own kind. just like parahna
2007-04-16 16:52:46 · answer #10 · answered by wlfbelcher 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋