Oscars In Planted Tanks.

[FLA]

I like the floating plant idea. I always assume people don't want floating plants in aquariums. I seriously doubt the other oscar is going to act as a dither. My guess is they either spawn and destroy the tank by moving their bed around. Or they try to define territories and they rearrange the tank int he process.

As for dithers, BA tetras are awesome. They are sturdy and fast enough to keep up with pretty tough tankmates. Once they get to the three inch mark they are nearly indestructible. Giants are another great choice. Once they hit the 2.5 inch mark they are way too fast to be eaten. I used to keep gambusia with my oscar. When I put them in one by one he would eat them. I was in a hurry one day and dropped 20 in there and they stayed for months until I went on vacation and didn't feed. I rarely saw fry so I assume they got eaten. I have no idea if other livebearers would work or not. I knew I shouldn't have entered this conversation now I miss my oscar and want another one.

 

[NW Cichlid Keith]

Sorry from r your loss - my family doesn’t get the hobby and is certainly not supportive - you are lucky to have had that special bond. Regarding floating plants, I have only had luck with duckweed (bigger ones got trashed) and then with duckweed, I wasn’t able to get the surface agitation that I wanted with such a big fish

 

[FreshyFresh]

Yes, sorry for your loss! It had to be SO great having an uncle like that! I have no one in my family that's into fish. I'd love it if I did.

In regards to an oscar in a tank with plants, my take is there is a lot of factors at play. Muvh of this has been mentioned. It depends on the individual oscar. They all have different personalities and traits. Also depends on the amount of space, how the tank is laid out, the toughness of the plants and how they're secured.

I kept floating wisteria in my oscar/severum tank when they were babies. The problem was, with all the surface flow from the filtration, it didn't work out well long term.

 

[Supalah17]

My LFS almost never had BA in stock, but ALWAYS has giant danios so I guess I’ll give them a try, I’ll probably add them first, let them hit that 2.5-3 inch mark and then add the Oscar (my LFS typically has their oscars for sale at around 4+”) I’ll try the frogbit cause I have it, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just hope the Anubias/Moss/crypts survive. If they don’t, I can either move the plants to other tanks, or just feed them to my girlfriends turtle lol, he eats everything!

 

[Trimapit]

Glad I can help