ca cichlid behavior towards oscars in particular

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Apollyeon

Apollyeon

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Oct 15, 2019
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is there something about oscars behavior that gets them beaten badly or killed by aggressive ca's,ive never seen any other fish ive owned get beaten the way i end up finding my oscars in the past ive had.both times the culprit was a red devil.about same size as the oscar.no other fish were harmed.i was suspecting the oscar tries to start a fight it isnt prepared to go as far as the ca's will take it maybe due to different region or whatever.was curious what ppl had to say.i am aware red devils can be vicious..but ive never seen it taken to the degree that they do to an oscar.normally its a bunch of chasing with some biting here n there..i end up finding these oscars torn to pieces,i dont get it.
 
Tbh Oscar's should not be cohabiting with any CA Cichlids including Convicts especially a pair. Although the Oscar is intelligent they are not equipped to defend themselves against another species that's highly aggressive and has teeth. Now some have success and that is due to proper space. The Oscar can flee from the aggressor but with the Red Devil's range of territory the average home aquarium is too small. Have you ever been bitten by a Oscar? A female Convicts bite was worse lol
 
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I agree with tlindsey
Almost all Central American cichlid are on a much higher aggression scale than their S American cousins.
S Americans often live a varied cichlid communities in nature where resources are plentiful.
Central Americans often come from bodies of water not so rich in resources, and thus maintain a more intense territorial reaction to other cichlids in the vicinity, in fact in many areas, only one or two cichlid species inhabit a certain area (unless its a large nutrient rich lake like Amatitlan, or Managua).
So oscars although they look formidable, are not often equip to deal with their aggressive Central American neighbors especially in the space limits of most tanks.
 
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It is not optimal due to the reasons Duanes mentions above.

But I have seen plenty of people successfully keep Oscars with central americans. usually the key is a large (over 180 gallon) tank, with enough going on that the Oscar is not singled out. There are other factors like the size of the Oscar vs size of central, order introduced, and cover in the tank, that can affect the outcome. In a 300 gallon tank with plenty of cover and a few other large fish, a big Oscar which has been in the tank already (first introduced) is less likely to be killed. In something smaller like say a 125 gallon, with only an Oscar and red devil in the tank, the Oscar is going to have a huge target on it's head, and have nowhere to run, and nothing else to distract it's attacker.
 
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I do find that cichlids from west of the Andes in south America (Mesoheros, Andinoacara, and the few Geo's of that area) to be more capable of being mixed with centrals, if the tank is large enough.
They also come from similar water (harder, more alkaline, with higher pH).
Whereas those from east of the Andes, generally come from soft mineral poor waters.
There are also those from more southern South America like the braziliensus clade that have similar aggressive tendencies.
This does not mean they get along, it just means they may be able to handle the more rough and tumble species better than less macho oscars.
 
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duanes said:
I agree with tlindsey
Almost all Central American cichlid are on a much higher aggression scale than their S American cousins.
S Americans often live a varied cichlid communities in nature where resources are plentiful.
Central Americans often come from bodies of water not so rich in resources, and thus maintain a more intense territorial reaction to other cichlids in the vicinity, in fact in many areas, only one or two cichlid species inhabit a certain area (unless its a large nutrient rich lake like Amatitlan, or Managua).
So oscars although they look formidable, are not often equip to deal with their aggressive Central American neighbors especially in the space limits of most tanks.
Click to expand...
im guessing this doesnt apply to green terrors/gold saums? they seem to have no issues being around aggressive ca
 
Gourami Swami said:
It is not optimal due to the reasons Duanes mentions above.

But I have seen plenty of people successfully keep Oscars with central americans. usually the key is a large (over 180 gallon) tank, with enough going on that the Oscar is not singled out. There are other factors like the size of the Oscar vs size of central, order introduced, and cover in the tank, that can affect the outcome. In a 300 gallon tank with plenty of cover and a few other large fish, a big Oscar which has been in the tank already (first introduced) is less likely to be killed. In something smaller like say a 125 gallon, with only an Oscar and red devil in the tank, the Oscar is going to have a huge target on it's head, and have nowhere to run, and nothing else to distract it's attacker.
Click to expand...
i have a 125 with several ca's,sa's in there the problem i always have is if there isnt enough fish in there the aggression skyrockets where as if i keep em a bit overstocked everyone gets along much better provided there is enough hiding spots.most issues ive ever had is when its like 3 fish only.downside is my maintenance increases of course
 
Apollyeon said:
i have a 125 with several ca's,sa's in there the problem i always have is if there isnt enough fish in there the aggression skyrockets where as if i keep em a bit overstocked everyone gets along much better provided there is enough hiding spots.most issues ive ever had is when its like 3 fish only.downside is my maintenance increases of course
Click to expand...

I think this is the root of the problem- the tank is not really big enough to keep Oscars with large growing CA cichlids. You are right that there is a trade-off between aggression and bioload. More fish will spread the aggression around and lead to less casualties. But a 125 can only handle so much bioload before it has bad effects on the health of the fish. The only thing I would keep in a 125 with an adult red devil male would be perhaps some convicts. If the red devil were female perhaps some similarly tough 8"ish CA cichlids would work. Certainly would not recommend an Oscar for this setup.
 
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