Chocolate Cichlid vs Oscar fish vs piranhas

[JTRG05]

Everytime I see Rams as a recommendation for an "aggressive eater" I lol.

Chocolates and Oscars will be to big, especially if you're a beginner, the work load in an overstocked 55 would be too much. To have enough RPB's for them to feel comfortable the 55 would likely be to small as well.

Firemouths are a great option since they constantly flare their gills at each other and look awesome doing it, for straight aggression convicts are probably a better option, but make sure you get all males or all female, breeding convicts can clear a tank fast. Texas cichlids look good and will fit well, but don't get to aggressive until they are larger. Exodons are a great alternative to RBP's and are much more interesting IMO, the only drawback of them is the price, around here at least.

 

[Iliketurtles]

Thanks for all the info really helps alot! As you can tell im semi new to fish, i've kept reptiles, aphibians, and arachnids my whole life but never got to much into fish besides goldfish. Ill take this all into consideration, im thinking about geting a flowerhorn or a jack dempsey. Im gonna go look at some of the exotic fish shops her in denver and see whats available

 

[shamrock]

Oscars too big for 55 and bad beginner fish-really? Probably the easiest fish to have. Owner responsive, not hard to feed, and pretty hardy. I believe bigger is better but a 55 for 1 Oscar would suffice.

 

[shamrock]

Thanks for all the info really helps alot! As you can tell im semi new to fish, i've kept reptiles, aphibians, and arachnids my whole life but never got to much into fish besides goldfish. Ill take this all into consideration, im thinking about geting a flowerhorn or a jack dempsey. Im gonna go look at some of the exotic fish shops her in denver and see whats available

You are aware that Jack Dempsey and Flowerhorn get pretty much the same size as an Oscar or Chocolate?

 

[caribexr2]

Thanks for all the info really helps alot! As you can tell im semi new to fish, i've kept reptiles, aphibians, and arachnids my whole life but never got to much into fish besides goldfish. Ill take this all into consideration, im thinking about geting a flowerhorn or a jack dempsey. Im gonna go look at some of the exotic fish shops her in denver and see whats available

Well you need to do A LOT more research matey.

You will not be able to get a flowerhorn either as you cant keep a 12" fish in a 55 us gallon tank.

Look at the dwarf cichlids or some African cichlids.

 

[cacichlids]

lmao @ only "ram and some dithers" for a 55 gal. water nazi x 100000

there's hundreds of good choices for a 55 gal. Salvini, convicts, jack dempsey, australoheros species, african cichlids, blue acaras, firemouths, nicaraguensis, sajica, herotilapia multispinosa, keyhole cichlid, some geophagus species, uaru, etc, etc.

Just because you don't have a 1,000 gal pond doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to dwarf fish.

 

[Iliketurtles]

Well honestly the aquarium may be bigger than a 55g, the tanks is 48L x 16w x 17h.

 

[cacichlids]

According to a volume calculator it's roughly 57 gallon, but the fact that it's 16 inches wide (instead of 12 like regular 55 gal tanks) gives you many more alternatives. You could keep a single adult Oscar in that tank (with no other fish and good filtration).

The problem with regular 55 gal tanks for Oscar cichlids is not the volume of water per se, but the fact that they can grow to 12 inches, so the tank being 12" wide makes it impossible for the fish to turn around comfortably without bending its body, which can cause problems.

 

[Iliketurtles]

nvm i just did the math and it is 55g. I talk to a pet store who has babies, would they be ok in it for a couple years or am i better off to go with something that will live in this cage its whole life?

 

[cacichlids]

You mean baby Oscar? a tank of that size won't house anything but a single Oscar. More than one and you will have a lot of trouble keeping the water clean, and keeping them from killing each other, trust me, I've had a group of Oscars grow-outs in a 55 gal and I couldn't handle it after only 3 months.

If you really, really want an Oscar get one, but my advice would be to get other beautiful, smaller fish that will be much more comfortable in that tank, and might even breed... such as Salvini:

They can be as aggressive and "personable" as Oscars, they also eat live food... and you will actually enjoy the fish instead of having to get rid of it at some point because it was simply too big for the tank.