120G oscar and tankmates- can I add?

[fishie111]

I have a 5ft 120G filtered with 2 Rena XP4 canisters.

Current occupants are:

1 tiger oscar (6.5 in)
1 heros efasciatus gold (2.5 in)
1 heros efasciatus super red (2.5 in)
1 heros efasicatus sp. (3.5 in)
1 heros severus (4 in)
1 a. heckelii (4 in)

I rescued the tiger oscar a few months ago- she is about a year old and had been living in a 10G tank until I adopted her. She is obviously quite stunted and it is likely that she will not grow much beyond her current size.

The gold severum is also stunted- I think the damage was done in the LFS before I bought him/her- he/she has grown very little since I bought him/her over a year ago.

I have an aequidens pulcher (3.5 in) in quarantine that I will be adding as soon as I am sure that it is healthy.

I would like to know if I can add anything else to this tank- such as a small school (3-5 fish) of silver dollars, some sort of catfish (green phantom pleco?) or even another cichlid (uaru?) to the tank. I think my preference might be for the silver dollars.

I've been combing this and other forums and see a range of different opinions on how many fish should be stocked together in a tank of this size. The number of cichlids in my current stock link seems to match many, but not all of the recommendations I have been seeing (and in those cases, the stock includes oscars that will grow much larger than mine).

I don't want to add anything if it would push it too much. I'm significantly overfiltered and I do very large partial water changes each week. The wild card is that at least 2 of the fish are stunted and so will not grow to maximum potential.

TIA!

 

[andyjs]

I don't think I would add anything more. Even though those fish are stunted, keeping the tank less heavily stocked still might allow for more growth, though more than likely not anywhere near their maximum possible sizes.

 

[evojoey]

I personally wouldn't add any more cichlids but, I would go with a pleco or some other type of smaller growing catfish like a striped raph or something like that. Good luck.

 

[steelshade]

Seems like a good combo you've got. The problem with adding more fish is that it would have to be a small one and the oscar might then eat it.

 

[fishie111]

Thanks for the responses. I was concerned that I didn't have much room left.

Yes, she will definitely eat a small fish that acts like prey- I found this out first hand. She leaves her current tankmates alone- seems to enjoy them. They respect her, but don't fear her. I kept her by herself at first in a 65G, then I moved her into a 75G with 3 of the severum. Then, when I got the 120, I gave the heckelii and the new severum an overnight in it to establish themselves in the tank before adding the her and the 3 other severum.

She seems to do fine as long as I don't drop a new fish in as if I was feeding her. There were even 2 small bn in with her for a while, but I took them out because she hogged their food. Whatever lives with her has to scavenge or be bold enough to grab food quickly. The severums and heckelii seem to make great tankmates.

She's never had feeder fish- at least according to what her former owners said- so perhaps that helps some.

 

[DMD123]

I have the same size tank that I am in the process of setting up; 120g (60x18x26). It will have 2 Cascade 1500 with Hydor in line heaters.

My fish will include the following:

1 Midas (4.75")
1 Marble Sailfin Pleco (3.5")
5 Red Hook Silver dollars (? on size, waiting for LFS to get in)

This will be my entire stock. I do not plan on adding any more fish.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

I would not go with more cichlids, although adding a small pleco or two might work, or smaller dithers (might be a problem with the oscar though).

 

[Noddy]

a school of Silver dollars will add quite a lot to the bioload.
My sd's are eating machines!
They're supposed to eat plants and stuff, but mine will eat anything but plants.
They even steal the feeder fish from my gar nowadays and rip those to shreds.
i wouldn't add anything at the moment and just keep your water in pristine condition.
That and a varied diet should help bring out the best growthwise for your Oscar.
Sounds like there's a lot to look at allready!

 

[fishie111]

Thanks all. I'll leave things alone. I do try to keep the water pristine. I aim for less than 10ppm nitrates preferably close to 5ppm.

It is a nice combination so far and fun to watch. The oscar sometimes shoals with the other fish. Sometimes the oscars and severums mimic each other.

 

[Noddy]

Thanks all. I'll leave things alone. I do try to keep the water pristine. I aim for less than 10ppm nitrates preferably close to 5ppm.

Nice, and please keep us posted on your O's growth, I'm very curious what the lil' guy is gonna do!