Oscar EBJD and Raphael

[Rainkaj]

Hello, I’m pretty new to the forum and personal fish keeping in general. My family has always had fish around and I finally decided to set up my own tank. My mom loved raising Oscar’s and said I should get one for my 55g I found on Facebook. After doing the research I found that this is just barely enough for one guy (and my mom said she used to keep 2 of them in this!) so I figured I’d just get a bigger tank for him later. Knowing I was getting a bigger tank I figured he would look better with more in the tank after the upgrade. I got Eclipse (the Oscar) [Orinoco Locale wild] a Raphael catfish (Ralph) and an EBJD (Blueberry ice). I was wondering what would be a good sized tank to upgrade to once these guys are half way through their growth phase? I’ll put pics of the little guys too! (EBJD just went in today after a rough shipping process so he won’t come out of hiding currently)

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

Welcome to the fun group! lol.

As for the tank, I would go with a 200-gallon tank (Others can chime in on that). You can have the Oscar as the centerpiece, the Raph can be a bottom dweller, and the EBJD can be another showpiece.

Though, if I'm going to be honest, I think you should leave the EBJD in the tank you have it in now as they are not very hardy, and they don't grow as big as a regular JD, making it more likely to be bullied by the Oscar over time. It would be best if you got another decent-sized cichlid (others can also chime in on that if more cichlids would be okay in this scenario) for the larger tank to be with the Oscar, get another Striped Raphael, or get a large pleco-like a Royal or something.

This may be bad advice, so take it with a grain of salt, but you might be able to have a black ghost knife fish with the Oscar. I have both together in a 55-gallon, and they don't bother each other (though the knife is slightly larger than my baby Oscar).

 

[kno4te]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[tlindsey]

Welcome aboard

 

[AR1]

welcome to mfk

 

[Rainkaj]

Welcome to the fun group! lol.

As for the tank, I would go with a 200-gallon tank (Others can chime in on that). You can have the Oscar as the centerpiece, the Raph can be a bottom dweller, and the EBJD can be another showpiece.

Though, if I'm going to be honest, I think you should leave the EBJD in the tank you have it in now as they are not very hardy, and they don't grow as big as a regular JD, making it more likely to be bullied by the Oscar over time. It would be best if you got another decent-sized cichlid (others can also chime in on that if more cichlids would be okay in this scenario) for the larger tank to be with the Oscar, get another Striped Raphael, or get a large pleco-like a Royal or something.

This may be bad advice, so take it with a grain of salt, but you might be able to have a black ghost knife fish with the Oscar. I have both together in a 55-gallon, and they don't bother each other (though the knife is slightly larger than my baby Oscar).

I’ve noticed the Oscar chases the baby EBJD around a lot. I got the Oscar at .75 but now he’s gotta be decently bigger since the 2 weeks. The EBJD online said it would come in at 1.5 inches but he’s nearly 1/3 the size of the Oscar! Is this behavior going to continue overtime? The EBJD doesn’t appear to be too depressed or distraught (yet) and whenever the Oscar leaves him be he appears happy. He’s much faster than the O and anytime he chases they’re able to make a quick escape. He can’t fit in the O’s mouth which is good. I figured if the EBJD got to around 8-10 in and the Oscar 10-14, other forums said those two plus a RD could fit in a 90 gal. I may give them a week to see how it plays out with time. Updates coming! (EBJD been coming out a lot more! A lot running from the Oscar but left alone he likes to roam.)

 

[Deadeye]

I wouldn’t expect the Jack to make it past 6-8 inches, if it makes it past the juvenile stage at all (they are notoriously non hardy). Furthermore, I wouldn’t expect the Oscar to cap out any less than 12 inches.
In a 90 a red devil would kill them both quickly, and neither an Oscar or a amphilophus cichlid should be in a 90 long term.
Once cichlids decide they don’t like a particular fish, they usually don’t relent until it’s dead IME.

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

I’ve noticed the Oscar chases the baby EBJD around a lot. I got the Oscar at .75 but now he’s gotta be decently bigger since the 2 weeks. The EBJD online said it would come in at 1.5 inches but he’s nearly 1/3 the size of the Oscar! Is this behavior going to continue overtime? The EBJD doesn’t appear to be too depressed or distraught (yet) and whenever the Oscar leaves him be he appears happy. He’s much faster than the O and anytime he chases they’re able to make a quick escape. He can’t fit in the O’s mouth which is good. I figured if the EBJD got to around 8-10 in and the Oscar 10-14, other forums said those two plus a RD could fit in a 90 gal. I may give them a week to see how it plays out with time. Updates coming! (EBJD been coming out a lot more! A lot running from the Oscar but left alone he likes to roam.)

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I would say that's another reason why you shouldn't keep those fish together long-term. You should put the Oscar with the ADULT raph in their own tank long term with a few suitable tankmates.

 

[Redshark1]

This is just a warning and it may not happen but it's an interesting story anyway. In my opinion the Oscar may want the EBJD out of his territory and it will be a stressful and possibly short life for the EBJD. I'm not sure how much of your catfish you will see either. It may remain in hiding. Something you may not be aware of is that the catfish, which is nocturnal, may also terrorise your cichlids at night. I found that my EBJD did not seem to be able to defend itself against my catfish at night. I stayed up in the dark to confirm my suspicions and watched my EBJD pursued relentlessly by my Sailfin Plec. He was so afraid that he was trying to jump out of the tank and damaged himself repeatedly. Mine went from a highly regarded beauty celebrated on the EBJD website to a beat up mess before I intervened.

 

[Rainkaj]

I was worried that the O chasing the Jack around the tank would be stressful and life threatening to him so i have another 40g available, however the Jack doesn’t appear stressed during or after the chase and will even approach the O at times to start the interactions (usually don’t last long). The O doesn’t hold a single territory to himself but the whole tank so there’s a couple second chase whenever the two cross paths. The Jack has been eating fine and appears healthier and happier than when he came! I think with time the two will either clearly not get along or be best friends. The O and the Raph are already best friends since the day they came together. Once outgrown, I was thinking around 100-125g for the group if they get along, and if not, giving the EBJD the 55 and moving the Oscar to the new one alone. For not hardy fish, my EBJD has been the soldier surviving the worst shipping conditions I’ve ever seen and toying with a giant 3x his size for fun.