As far as I know, many people keep plecos with oscars. I also kept plecos with my Oscars for a couple of weeks (had to keep them for a friend of mine), never had problems
Oscar tankmates
- Thread starter Jsurtees
- Start date
I'm also hesitant because my Oscar has eaten two smaller plecos in the past and if I put another one in the tank he might just go and do it again.
Hi guys, I currently have a 10 inch + Oscar in a 55 by himself getting upgraded to a 160, have been struggling to come up with good ideas as far as some new tankmates for him go, so far the only new fish I have bought was a Black Ghost Knife who's in a 33 growout. Any suggestions for other tankmates would be well appreciated.
Cheers
I think it entirely depends on what you’re going for, you get some nice options with a 2.5 wide. If you wanna keep a predatory theme going with an Oscar, a large red or common wolf fish or bichir would be cool. A large Delhezi would fit nicely but I think you could get away with an ornate (don’t tell the other members that ?).
I’ve never personally liked SDs cause I think they get a little too big IMO and you can’t have a planted tank. Very similar to an Oscar shape wise as well plus will they’ll inhabit the same space so I think you should change it up.
I think a few larger clown loaches would be cool so you can still get a schooling affect plus they’re bottom dwellers.
Goodluck though! Whatever route you go just make sure they’re large enough for a 10inch Oscar. (Also the wolf is most likely to backfire FYI, depends on your risk appetite ?)
A Bichir would be really cool but there almost impossible to find in Australia, i'm also pretty sure that wolf fish are illegal, but a school of Clown Loaches wolud be really cool, just wondering though how many could I get plus how long would it take for them to grow large enough to not get eaten by the Oscar?
Also as
tlindsey
pointed to, your oscar has been in isolation for awhile. It might be a good idea to put the Oscar in the new tank last so he doesn’t think it’s his only his domain, although he’ll make it his shortly.
As for the CLs, I wouldn’t buy anything under 3-4 inches. That way I don’t have to worry about them getting eaten and it doesn’t matter how fast they grow. You could probably do 4-6 of them.
tlindsey
pointed to, your oscar has been in isolation for awhile. It might be a good idea to put the Oscar in the new tank last so he doesn’t think it’s his only his domain, although he’ll make it his shortly.As for the CLs, I wouldn’t buy anything under 3-4 inches. That way I don’t have to worry about them getting eaten and it doesn’t matter how fast they grow. You could probably do 4-6 of them.
Will definitely keep an eye out for Clown Loaches from now on, see if I can find any at a good sizeAlso as
As for the CLs, I wouldn’t buy anything under 3-4 inches. That way I don’t have to worry about them getting eaten and it doesn’t matter how fast they grow. You could probably do 4-6 of them.
Fellow oscar keeper here. A 160g sounds so sweet! I keep mine in a 75gal with a green severum. They've been together for 8yrs since they were babies. It's not enough tank for them, but I make it work.
My take on oscar tank mates is you can keep anything in with them that's smart enough to stay away from the O's pointy end. With my O and sev, They've got a few guppies and endlers that I swear can read the O and sev's mind and they know exactly where to place themselves at all times. They do eventually get picked off, but sometimes last months. A lot of it depends on the O's temperment.
My take on oscar tank mates is you can keep anything in with them that's smart enough to stay away from the O's pointy end. With my O and sev, They've got a few guppies and endlers that I swear can read the O and sev's mind and they know exactly where to place themselves at all times. They do eventually get picked off, but sometimes last months. A lot of it depends on the O's temperment.
