Oscar behaviour/stocking?

[BenPen]

I think a breeding pair of high quality wild Oscars with an l095 pleco, an ornate pim and 10 tiger dollars would be a great setup. I would consider a group of 4-5 uaru cichlids too personally.
I think the interaction wont change with tankmates imo as long as the Oscars are dominant which they would be in that stocking.
Buy 6-8 Oscars and grow them till a nice pair forms then find the others homes or drop em to a LFS.

I'd probably have to go through the trouble of buying a breeding pair in that case, as knowing myself I don't think I could bring myself to rehome any Oscars after caring for them, and of course 8 Oscars in a 240 would be a disaster. What can I say, I'm a softy when it comes to my fish.

 

[BenPen]

2 that paired off or 2 that are compatible. I would personally have one Oscar and add smaller species of South American fish not necessarily all Cichlids.

The smaller fish wouldn't get eaten? Any specific species come to mind? I'm new to the whole "what can live long term with my soon to be 12"+ monster" game.

 

[robham777]

B BenPen While keeping large cichlids with bichir is generally not an issue there is one aspect that I have had trouble with in the past. A fish like an Oscar is a floating vacuum cleaner and will tend to easily outcompete it's bichir tankmates for food. There are many people who do it successfully but I always end up with a fat cichlid and a skinny bichir.

 

[pops]

as for Oscars, 2 Oscars will more than likely pair up and hang together. there sex does not matter. silver dollars and the such do fine with them in a tank that big, have you lumber tail wagging oscars and then a school 5 or 7 dollars work fine, could also throw in a nice pleco, with them all. I would call it stocked at that.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Uh-oh, does that mean Bichirs don't make good tank mates to other Bichirs? I couldn't decide between the Ornate Bichir(Polypterus ornatipinnis) and the Delhezi(Polypterus Delhezi) so I was going to do one of each, d'you think that's asking for trouble? I've done some research and people seem to say that as long as they're more or less the same length when I get them that I should be okay, but I know the Ornate will eventually outgrow the Delhezi. Any chance the fact that they're both upper jaw species keep them from eating each other?
And thanks, that's good to know! It would be a "shame" to have a 240g tank with nothing but one Oscar in it!

Plenty of people keep bichirs together in large tanks like this, but you do want to make sure they are similar sizes. At 6" (bichir) and about 4"(cat), my pictus cat was slim enough that the bichir went for it, but a 12" delhezi will probably not be. I do know that bichirs can be territorial to each other though, I have only kept one at a time per tank. In the Bichir section I'm sure people would help you out, it's one of the most active sections on the site.

 

[AnthonyFish20]

If u just want oscars 4-6 would be fine with other fish 2-3

 

[AnthonyFish20]

as for Oscars, 2 Oscars will more than likely pair up and hang together. there sex does not matter. silver dollars and the such do fine with them in a tank that big, have you lumber tail wagging oscars and then a school 5 or 7 dollars work fine, could also throw in a nice pleco, with them all. I would call it stocked at that.

I think 10-15 silver dollars and 2 oscars 5-7 is kinda low imo for a nice group

 

[BenPen]

Plenty of people keep bichirs together in large tanks like this, but you do want to make sure they are similar sizes. At 6" (bichir) and about 4"(cat), my pictus cat was slim enough that the bichir went for it, but a 12" delhezi will probably not be. I do know that bichirs can be territorial to each other though, I have only kept one at a time per tank. In the Bichir section I'm sure people would help you out, it's one of the most active sections on the site.

Thanks for the info, I feel like a nutterbutter jumping from thread to thread.

 

[BenPen]

B BenPen While keeping large cichlids with bichir is generally not an issue there is one aspect that I have had trouble with in the past. A fish like an Oscar is a floating vacuum cleaner and will tend to easily outcompete it's bichir tankmates for food. There are many people who do it successfully but I always end up with a fat cichlid and a skinny bichir.

Thanks, definitely something to consider. Might have to look into purchasing something I could use as a temporary divider during feeding time if I do go through with this stocking plan.

 

[BenPen]

If u just want oscars 4-6 would be fine with other fish 2-3

They wouldn't pair up and beat the crap out of each other? I've never kept more than one so I don't know, but that doesn't seem like a lot of space for 6.