for decor, i would suggest nothing with plants lol. mine tear up plastic or real and i used to always find bits and pieces of plastic plants floating on top. maybe your oscars won't be like that, but just heads up on that.
Could two oscars go in a 125g?
- Thread starter franchise513
- Start date
True.....3 is a bad number for Oscars. But, Geo's work, pikes work, con's work, Pretty much any cichlid that can hold it's weight with Oscar's.farawayinn;2561644; said:
haynchinook334;2561654; said:
so how about 4 oscars with one or two plecos? would this work? And would 2 AC110s work for the filtration or would i need more?
should be good, BUT, might want to bump your filters up. AC110's and a canister will be good.franchise513;2561679; said:
I agree two Oscars is a 50/50 shot... 3 Oscars rarely work...
I've heard many people say bigger groups of Oscars work, so I tried raising a group in a 6' round 300 gal rubbermaid tub. In the end only two were left. I no longer believe that Oscars work (long term) in groups...
I've heard many people say bigger groups of Oscars work, so I tried raising a group in a 6' round 300 gal rubbermaid tub. In the end only two were left. I no longer believe that Oscars work (long term) in groups...
nc - thats our current setup also, rubbermaid 300 gal stock tank. have had no aggro problems at all between the 4 oscars or other inhabitants, but it has only been set up for a few months.
i have seen a 125 with 5 red oscars set up long term (5yrs plus, not my tank) with few issues. that tank had lots of visual barriers, which may have helped. a pair spawned once in that tank, but no fry survived. bad 300w heater eventually killed everything.
i have seen a 125 with 5 red oscars set up long term (5yrs plus, not my tank) with few issues. that tank had lots of visual barriers, which may have helped. a pair spawned once in that tank, but no fry survived. bad 300w heater eventually killed everything.
There are a ton of details that will influence an experience... I'm not saying it cannot work, I'm simply sharing my conclusion based on many years of Oscars being one of my absolute favorite fish... Here are some of my experiences...
As a kid, I raised 4 Oscars in a 55 gal and kept them together with zero aggression issues for over 3 years... Knowing what I know now, I assume there were no aggression issues because the fish were to unhealthy to fight. We didn't know as much back then as we know now...
I tried 3 Oscars in a 4x2x2 120 gal... The biggest killed the second biggest and tormented the smallest (smallest was a suspected female)...
I tried 4 Oscars in a 125 gal... The two Lutinos hung out on one side and the two Tigers hung out on the other... all four commonly battled in the middle... Each suspected 'pair' were moved into tanks together but never spawned or showed any signs of breeding behavior.
I started 8 Oscars in a 300 gal, not expecting all of them to remain here long term. I can't recall all the details but the aggression toned down from "violent" to "rough" at one female and two males... the only reason the males didn't kill each other is because the massive female (13", I still have her) wouldn't let them fight. Fortunately that female is sterile and bounced between the males. If she ever produced fry with one of them I'm sure the other one would be dead.
Here's the 300 gal toward the end of it's Oscar days:
When it contained more Oscars the pots/caves were turned away from each other to offer more 'seclusion'
I'm not saying it cannot work, only that it consistently did not work for me despite several different approaches. I'm also not the type to call someone a fish abusier if they try something I don't think will work. I'm just trying to share my experinece so others can build on it.
As a kid, I raised 4 Oscars in a 55 gal and kept them together with zero aggression issues for over 3 years... Knowing what I know now, I assume there were no aggression issues because the fish were to unhealthy to fight. We didn't know as much back then as we know now...
I tried 3 Oscars in a 4x2x2 120 gal... The biggest killed the second biggest and tormented the smallest (smallest was a suspected female)...
I tried 4 Oscars in a 125 gal... The two Lutinos hung out on one side and the two Tigers hung out on the other... all four commonly battled in the middle... Each suspected 'pair' were moved into tanks together but never spawned or showed any signs of breeding behavior.
I started 8 Oscars in a 300 gal, not expecting all of them to remain here long term. I can't recall all the details but the aggression toned down from "violent" to "rough" at one female and two males... the only reason the males didn't kill each other is because the massive female (13", I still have her) wouldn't let them fight. Fortunately that female is sterile and bounced between the males. If she ever produced fry with one of them I'm sure the other one would be dead.
Here's the 300 gal toward the end of it's Oscar days:
When it contained more Oscars the pots/caves were turned away from each other to offer more 'seclusion'
I'm not saying it cannot work, only that it consistently did not work for me despite several different approaches. I'm also not the type to call someone a fish abusier if they try something I don't think will work. I'm just trying to share my experinece so others can build on it.
All i know is i never had a peaceful tank until all the tanks had only one oscar.... they just do not get along.. long term... maybe if it paired up... or maybe two females..but what ever sex i had put them together and it was non stop fighting.. and then when Oscars suffer stress.... the most common thing that will happen is HITH
