320G stocking - can I add Oscar + Jack Dempsey

[FINWIN]

So, this should be an acceptable stocking?

1 x Chocolate cichlid
1 x Oscar
4 x Severum
1 x L142
1 x L002
2-3 x Silver dollar

Or 4-5 silver dollars and get rid of the tiger pleco? (Snowball ain't going nowhere).

Any other tips/suggestions left? Tony (chocolate cichlid), Snowball (L142), and at least 2-3 Severums are staying and main priority is adding that Oscar. From their I'd like to weigh all options.

Looks good. If you aren't partial to the dollars you could move them and keep both plecos. There would be less competition for swimming space that way. O's will use the whole tank. Also, Chocs and Sevs can put out heavy bio load as well as some plecos. So you're dividing up gallons and will likely need to adjust your w/cs once the oscar grows. What I find helps is always plan based on max size even if the fish don't get that large

Chocs 10-12"
Sevs up to 10"
Oscars 11-16+"
Dollars 6"
Plecos 6-?"

So as you can see that big water volume isn't so big once you slice it up...an O alone can foul over 100 gal.

 

[duanes]

So, this should be an acceptable stocking?

1 x Chocolate cichlid
1 x Oscar
4 x Severum
1 x L142
1 x L002
2-3 x Silver dollar
Or 4-5 silver dollars and get rid of the tiger pleco? (Snowball ain't going nowhere).
Any other tips/suggestions left? Tony (chocolate cichlid), Snowball (L142), and at least 2-3 Severums are staying and main priority is adding that Oscar. From their I'd like to weigh all options.

The above should be plenty acceptable for that size tank.
As far as other options, there are about 250 species of cichlids in Amazonia alone, so your options are really only limited by what cichlids prey on smaller ones, current preferences, and territorial aggression, and what kind of water change schedule you are willing to take on..
Cichlids such as those in the Heros genus, prefer only moderate to slow current environs.

Cichlids in the geophagine groups (Geophagus, Retroculus) generally prefer stronger, faster currents, and prefer to live in shoals..

In a 320 gal there is enough room to create both flow type areas.

 

[mindstate]

The above should be plenty acceptable for that size tank.
As far as other options, there are about 250 species of cichlids in Amazonia alone, so your options are really only limited by what cichlids prey on smaller ones, current preferences, and territorial aggression, and what kind of water change schedule you are willing to take on..
Cichlids such as those in the Heros genus, prefer only moderate to slow current environs.

Cichlids in the geophagine groups (Geophagus, Retroculus) generally prefer stronger, faster currents, and prefer to live in shoals..

In a 320 gal there is enough room to create both flow type areas.

Thanks, talked to my gf and we decided to relocate the tiger pleco to another tank. The snowball I've had for years and it's one of the only pleco's I've held that I actually see daily.

Stocking:
1 x Chocolate cichlid
1 x Oscar
4 x Severum
1 x Snowball

Still have to decide about the silver dollars or adding something else. I'm not sure what to be honest but 7 fish doesn't sound like a lot either in this tank even if they get pretty big. Could reduce the severum to three as well and maybe open up a spot then for another cichlid. Hard to decide but doesnt have to be today and the basis is here.

 

[mindstate]

1. Why do I see Oscars so often mixxed with CA Cichlids btw like a Convict, Firemouth or Jack Dempsey?

2. Is a green terror an option for this tank if I skip the SDs?

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

1. Why do I see Oscars so often mixxed with CA Cichlids btw like a Convict, Firemouth or Jack Dempsey?

2. Is a green terror an option for this tank if I skip the SDs?

I don't know about the first question, but for the second, I highly doubt that it will work, even in your size of tank. You would have to have a lot of hiding spaces and territory dividers.

 

[duanes]

I suppose because people think S American oscars are large cichlids just as many Central Americans are similar appearing cichlids, it must be OK.
The reality is most people don't do their homework, or just believe, water is just water.
If one does do the homework, they'd realize the water in Amazonia where oscars come from is drastically different, from water in Central America where JDs, FMs or other species in CA come from, and when these fish are combined problems often occur.

And because the problems that arise are chronic, as opposed to acute, the connections are not made.

It often takes the adverse effects out of line water parameters a year or 2 to show up, so if you put an oscar in those adverse water conditions, just when the oscar is about to hit maturity is when scarring and infections appear.

It's interesting, if you go back over posts in the disease section, you often see.....
"my oscars was doing great for 2 years, yet all of a sudden, this mystery disease appeared"
or ........my oscars were fine in my tank.....but suddenly they all died for no apparent reason!
When I see such posts, I will ask about water parameters, and the answers are (to me) quite obvious.

 

[mindstate]

I suppose because people think S American oscars are large cichlids just as many Central Americans are similar appearing cichlids, it must be OK.
The reality is most people don't do their homework, or just believe, water is just water.
If one does do the homework, they'd realize the water in Amazonia where oscars come from is drastically different, from water in Central America where JDs, FMs or other species in CA come from, and when these fish are combined problems often occur.

And because the problems that arise are chronic, as opposed to acute, the connections are not made.

It often takes the adverse effects out of line water parameters a year or 2 to show up, so if you put an oscar in those adverse water conditions, just when the oscar is about to hit maturity is when scarring and infections appear.

It's interesting, if you go back over posts in the disease section, you often see.....
"my oscars was doing great for 2 years, yet all of a sudden, this mystery disease appeared"
or ........my oscars were fine in my tank.....but suddenly they all died for no apparent reason!
When I see such posts, I will ask about water parameters, and the answers are (to me) quite obvious.

Yeah its probably also because if you search for "est tank mates Oscar", literally every list is similar with over half of the options being CA. I have not yet found a list with decent options that are actually SA.

 

[mindstate]

I actually don't see much options for a decent sized SA cichlid besides Andinoacara and specifically the electric blue acara or the green terror. Or maybe some Aequidens species?

And ofcourse the option Finwin has, the blood parrot, which is a hybrid and can probably thrive in both parameters?

 

[FINWIN]

I actually don't see much options for a decent sized SA cichlid besides Andinoacara and specifically the electric blue acara or the green terror. Or maybe some Aequidens species?

And ofcourse the option Finwin has, the blood parrot, which is a hybrid and can probably thrive in both parameters?

Water here in D.C. is 7.6 - 7.8 ph. No issues with parrots or the oscar.

 

[duanes]

For my point of view S American options are many.
Both Uaru species are from the same water (amphiacanthoides and fernandenzyepezi).
There are 6 species of Mesonauta.
There are at least 30 pike cichlid species, some quite large.
Probably 30 out of the 40 Geophagus species would work,
there are many more.