is it safe to put a terracotta pot in a bare bottom tank with an oscar?

[djsaltynuts]

i have an oscar in a 65g with a fluval aquasky and id like to put a pot with a water onion in it.
the reason im hesitant to do so is that i moved the oscar into this tank with nothing else in it because i didn't like him picking up largish rocks and rearranging them and i thought he might break the tank. would i be risking the oscar breaking the tank with the terracotta even if its a large pot ? should i add substrate so that it isnt glass on glass? or should i just stick to plants that float in the water column?

 

[Deadeye]

65 is a little small for an Oscar.
On the decor note, I’d personally be afraid to put a pot with an Oscar on a bare bottom. You may want to put a layer of sand or gravel on the bottom.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Fellow oscar keeper here. As much as I love my tanks with plants, I've never gotten them to work out in my oscar's 75gal tank. Any 4 ft tank is just not enough room for them IMO, so you really need to minimize decor to give the fish maximum footprint to move.

I would definitely not put any type of hardscape directly against the glass. Even if the oscar doesn't intentionally want to move the pot, they can get spooked and bump things.

 

[Kelly_Aquatics]

my oscars pick up rocks and drop them hard or ram the front panel with them would not trust an o with decor in a bare bottom

 

[djsaltynuts]

Fellow oscar keeper here. As much as I love my tanks with plants, I've never gotten them to work out in my oscar's 75gal tank. Any 4 ft tank is just not enough room for them IMO, so you really need to minimize decor to give the fish maximum footprint to move.

I would definitely not put any type of hardscape directly against the glass. Even if the oscar doesn't intentionally want to move the pot, they can get spooked and bump things.

i dont plan on keeping him in the 65 forever but i feel like after an oscar hits around 9” their growth slows down a bit

 

[djsaltynuts]

well i suppose ill just stick with hornwart and water hyacinth then

 

[djsaltynuts]

my oscars pick up rocks and drop them hard or ram the front panel with them would not trust an o with decor in a bare bottom

same

 

[FINWIN]

My 225 has tempered glass walls. It was still hairy when my Oscar kept knocking over a 17" ceramic log against the glass. I removed it (no point in being stupid). He cracks river rocks against the glass when stacking his nest. He grew up with plants and mostly loves swimming through them or resting. He'll shove them apart during water changes to make more room. Once in a while he'll rip big pieces off of the fake plants plants (I find them floating). I have sand bottom.

 

[FINWIN]

i dont plan on keeping him in the 65 forever but i feel like after an oscar hits around 9” their growth slows down a bit

Growth slows down but max potential will be ruined by too small a tank. Health too but you probably already know that. Some O's have spurts, level off at a certain size then spurt again. Then its a steady creep.