Oscar question!!!?

Question

I have a 125 gallon tank with 2 medium size oscars and thinking about adding a green terror. Are these 2 fish compatible? If not, what cichlids are ok with oscars?

Answer 1

The Green Terror might not be the best choice as a companion to your Oscars,it may sound silly,but Central American Cichlids and Amazon Cichlids speak different languages. The submission posture (head up,side exposed) of Oscars seems to invite attack by Central Americans. For tank mates for Oscars look for large "Chocolate Cichlids("Cichlasoma" coryphaenoides) or temporalis,or testae,or maybe even some large Angelfish. When I tried Central American cichlids with my Oscars,I wound up dividing the tank,to save the Oscars. By the way,the Genus name Cichlasoma is no longer valid but if you can find a good taxonomic website the synonyms will be easy to follow.Good luck.-----PeeTee

Answer 2

My green terror kicked my oscar's asses so bad I had to split them into 2 different tanks. I had 1 green terror & 6 oscars, all adolescents, around 5-6 inches. It wasn't pretty.

I've seen a co-existing pair in my local pet supplies plus. It was a 180 gallon bowfront tank with a 14" oscar & a 13" green terror.

With 125G, you're bareley big enough for those two oscars you have when they're full grown. If you add another big fish to the mix, you're going to risk a war for territory when they get bigger.

Perhaps a better option would be some dither fish on the top & some hearty bottom dwellers on the bottom to make the tank a little more active. I reccommend australian rainbowfish, giant zebra danios and clown loaches.

I also second the language barrier mentioned above. If you must put another chichlid in there, keep it from the same region of the world.

My green terror also killed Ithslatum cichlid (mexico) and
FlowerHorn (hybrid).

The only fish getting along with my terror are my JackMac hybrids and my xingu pike. He definately rules the tank with an iron fist of fear.

Answer 3

My green terror kicked my oscar's asses so bad I had to split them into 2 different tanks. I had 1 green terror & 6 oscars, all adolescents, around 5-6 inches. It wasn't pretty.

I've seen a co-existing pair in my local pet supplies plus. It was a 180 gallon bowfront tank with a 14" oscar & a 13" green terror.

With 125G, you're bareley big enough for those two oscars you have when they're full grown. If you add another big fish to the mix, you're going to risk a war for territory when they get bigger.

Perhaps a better option would be some dither fish on the top & some hearty bottom dwellers on the bottom to make the tank a little more active. I reccommend australian rainbowfish, giant zebra danios and clown loaches.

I also second the language barrier mentioned above. If you must put another chichlid in there, keep it from the same region of the world.

My green terror also killed Ithslatum cichlid (mexico) and
FlowerHorn (hybrid).

The only fish getting along with my terror are my JackMac hybrids and my xingu pike. He definately rules the tank with an iron fist of fear.

Answer 4

They aren't called green terrors for nothing. I have heard of people adding them to oscar tanks and the terror killing or greatly hurting/stressing the oscars. I wouldn't recommend that combo. You would be better off with a Jack Dempsey ... but that is still not the best option (but GTs and JDs can look similar).

I would find a dither fish, but, they may not be the 'look' you are after. Something quick and darty that knows how to hide. Tiger Barbs if your medium Oscars are close to the size of a full grown Barb ...

Medium is quite vague for Oscars since most people don't realize they grow between 12-18"+

I would love to have your 125. I would keep just one or two Os in it personally since they get so big.

Answer 5

Do the fish a favour and do not add any other cichlids to this tank - cichlids do not share tanks well and mixing them is not the correct way to keep them, even if a mix can be managed in which they tolerate each other, which is quite difficult in the long run, since they get more territorial and aggressive as they get older and bigger. Plus, Oscars a quite passive compared to other cichlids of similar size and tend to get their butts handed to them when it comes down to confrontation.

Try larger sized pleco, catfish or clown loaches, large schooling fish like silver dollars... Non-territorial fish means the Oscar won't feel threatened, and large fish means they won't mistake them for food - keeping these two things in mind will lead to a much happier and more natural tank.

Answer 6

Keep in mind that those 2 Oscars can grow to OVER 12 inches each.

Answer 7

oh this is a fish question....thought it was about the academy awards....my bad