Adding a lemon oscar to a 125 with Peacock Cichlid's

[Reaperxvii]

Hey guys! Its been awhile since I've posted here.

Just had a quick Question that I can't seem to find an answer to on google. I have an established Peacock Cichlid 125 (Will add some pictures). At this point I've honestly forgotten how many are in there but the species are Dragon blood,swallow tails, sulfur heads, strawberry's, and some female OB's (playing the 3$ peacock lottery didn't win me any male ob's ). Also theres a common pleco and some electric blue hap's. This tank is...almost 2 years old now. Its filtered by an Eheim 2217 and a DIY trickle sump based on a 29 gallon tank with 2,000 1in bio-balls. The 125 gets semiweekly water changes.

The pea cocks were basically babies when I bought them and are now 3-5in's in length and maybe 2-2.5 years old?

Now for the oscar...I was at my lf when I saw they had gotten in a beautiful baby lemon oscar, I've always wanted to have an oscar, the 125 was originally for an oscar. Anyways long story short I bought him and he is currently hanging out in a 29 gallon in my upstairs office. He is about 2 inches long and shows no aggression to the cherry barbs and other fish in the tank but is an extremely aggressive eater (at least compared to all my other fish). I know oscar's are fast growers and he will quickly outgrow the 29 and eat all the fish in it, which I would like to avoid.

TLDR : Can I add him to the 125 with the peacocks? and if so when? If I can't whats a tank size for an adult oscar to be solo in? My LF says a 54 corner bowfront would be fine. I'll have a spare 75 gallon in a few months as thats being upgraded to a 180 for my fish hoarding problem .

 

[AnthonyFish20]

Hey guys! Its been awhile since I've posted here.

Just had a quick Question that I can't seem to find an answer to on google. I have an established Peacock Cichlid 125 (Will add some pictures). At this point I've honestly forgotten how many are in there but the species are Dragon blood,swallow tails, sulfur heads, strawberry's, and some female OB's (playing the 3$ peacock lottery didn't win me any male ob's ). Also theres a common pleco and some electric blue hap's. This tank is...almost 2 years old now. Its filtered by an Eheim 2217 and a DIY trickle sump based on a 29 gallon tank with 2,000 1in bio-balls. The 125 gets semiweekly water changes.

The pea cocks were basically babies when I bought them and are now 3-5in's in length and maybe 2-2.5 years old?

Now for the oscar...I was at my lf when I saw they had gotten in a beautiful baby lemon oscar, I've always wanted to have an oscar, the 125 was originally for an oscar. Anyways long story short I bought him and he is currently hanging out in a 29 gallon in my upstairs office. He is about 2 inches long and shows no aggression to the cherry barbs and other fish in the tank but is an extremely aggressive eater (at least compared to all my other fish). I know oscar's are fast growers and he will quickly outgrow the 29 and eat all the fish in it, which I would like to avoid.

TLDR : Can I add him to the 125 with the peacocks? and if so when? If I can't whats a tank size for an adult oscar to be solo in? My LF says a 54 corner bowfront would be fine. I'll have a spare 75 gallon in a few months as thats being upgraded to a 180 for my fish hoarding problem .

Id just give him the 75 gallon but ime I have had no problems keeping oscars with peacocks I was lucky and didnt lose any but be prepared for the smaller ones to get picked off every once in awhile when the oscar is bigger . I would add him once hes around 4inch if u plan on doing it.

 

[Ulu]

I keep an Oscar in a 55 with a sump and big sponges for filtration. He's 11" long and makes enough waste to keep me busy cleaning it up.
I bought him a 75, and he will live there solo soon. I don't think it's big enough for more because the Oscar is such a polluter.

They waste half their food, and only half-digest the half they swallow. Their waste makes lots of ammonia.

But I've been toying with the idea of putting him in a 125 with my mess of mixed African cichlids.
I'm putting his old 55 as a sump for the 125, so it's a lot of water. But I think the Oscar would lay waste to the African tank.

 

[Reaperxvii]

Here are my most recent pictures of the 125, was water change day

 

[Reaperxvii]

Id just give him the 75 gallon but ime I have had no problems keeping oscars with peacocks I was lucky and didnt lose any but be prepared for the smaller ones to get picked off every once in awhile when the oscar is bigger . I would add him once hes around 4inch if u plan on doing it.

The main reason I'd rather go with the 125 if possible is because of space. My wife might kill me if I re-set up the 75 after I get the 180 lol

 

[Reaperxvii]

Actually, here's a better picture of the tank layout

 

[Ulu]

The tank looks really terrific and the fish show off well because it's so open.

I have more fish than that stuffed in the 55 and so it is full of junk for them to hide in. Unfortunately a fish that looks like a male turned out to be a hybrid female and bred with my largest male. Now there are six more little mbunas in there! I think I have 20 fish in this 55 and one of them is a foot-long pleco!

The tank is really dim because all the ivy is blocking the light through the top but I think the fish prefer dim. Things will be better with the 125 once it's installed.

This is the sump running and you can tell it's pretty noisy, but without all the aeriation and filtration it it would be Ammonia City.

The 125 will have the sump on the outside of the house and its own closet so it's going to be much quieter at night.

 

[Ulu]

This is Buttercup who is now protecting the colony of fry in one corner of the 55.


Someone informed me that he is a red zebra. Go figure. . .
He is now 7" and he was over 5" when I bought him.

 

[RD.]

To the OP, I would not add an O to that mix of Africans. As far as your LFS, bad advice. IMHO an adult Oscar requires a minimum of 100 gallons.

 

[Reaperxvii]

The tank looks really terrific and the fish show off well because it's so open.

I have more fish than that stuffed in the 55 and so it is full of junk for them to hide in. Unfortunately a fish that looks like a male turned out to be a hybrid female and bred with my largest male. Now there are six more little mbunas in there! I think I have 20 fish in this 55 and one of them is a foot-long pleco!
View attachment 1375405
The tank is really dim because all the ivy is blocking the light through the top but I think the fish prefer dim. Things will be better with the 125 once it's installed.

This is the sump running and you can tell it's pretty noisy, but without all the aeriation and filtration it it would be Ammonia City.
View attachment 1375406
The 125 will have the sump on the outside of the house and its own closet so it's going to be much quieter at night.

I use a jeboa pump on the sump and while it's in the living room so noise isnt to much of an issue it's been pretty quite so far. I liked it so much I ended up buying another one for my 75 gallon as well. How do you like mubunus? I've always been told they'll end up killing each other and are hateful as all get out.