Recently my Oscars been trying to kill everything in my 75. His tankmates were 2 green sunfish and a male con. I know its overstocked but my Oscar hid in the corner for 2 years before I added the other fish. I moved my female sunfish in with my red devil I have growing out in my 55 but the male is to big to go with her. Is there anything I can do keep him from killing my male sunfish until I can get a 125 set up for my devil and get my male in the 55. The only thing that's been working for me is me standing in front of the tank. The Oscar just hides and the sunfish can come out of his cave to eat.
Help with psyco oscar
- Thread starter MJak23
- Start date
I agree just nervous about putting my male sunfish in with my devil. He's 9" and the devil is 3".
I would reevaluate the type of fish you are keeping. Your tanks are just to small for the fish you have.
The kindest thing to do, would be to take the fish back where you bought them from.
Your Oscar is not a psyco, it's just being forced to live in inadequate conditions.
Oscars and red devil's need big tanks. I would recommend no less than a 180 gallon for either fish.
In the mean time divide the tank. Next time I would do some proper research to avoid any unnecessary suffering of the fish in your care.
The kindest thing to do, would be to take the fish back where you bought them from.
Your Oscar is not a psyco, it's just being forced to live in inadequate conditions.
Oscars and red devil's need big tanks. I would recommend no less than a 180 gallon for either fish.
In the mean time divide the tank. Next time I would do some proper research to avoid any unnecessary suffering of the fish in your care.
leave the Oscar in the 75 alone and put the 2 sunfish, convict and red devil in the 125 . Use dividers in the meantime .
I did all the research I could about these fish. Don't act like I don't know what I'm doing off of a single post. Every site including this one said 75 gallon minimum. After owning an Oscar I'd agree they need bigger and I'm working on it. The devil doesn't get as big as an oscar and I think a 180 is overkill for a single 8"-14" fish. And I said the 55 was a grow out its going in the 75 after I get my 125 going for the Oscar. The sunfish are going to get their own 75 after a few more paychecks. And psycho maybe to strong but the fish has gone bats@#$ compared to how he's been for the past 5 years in adequate conditions.
Red Devils grow larger than Oscars in most circumstances, at least if you've got a male. Males are massive fish with big attitudes. Neither fish should probably be in a 4' tank, especially when the Red Devil gets to "glass banging" size. If you do keep them in 75s, they would have to be in there alone. An Oscar might play nicely with a handful of tankmates in a 6' tank but the reason you're seeing him acting this way now is because you've introduced fish into his territory and he's determined that the other fish need to be evicted. In a 4' tank they have nowhere to go, so the Oscar's goal will be to shred them.
A 55 gallon is not large enough to house either of those fish as adults unless you end up with a smaller female RD. But "small" is a relative term, especially when dealing with aggressive CA species.
Here is a video of a Red Devil ruling a 350 gallon tank, even keeping peacock cichlids in line. This fish later snapped and shredded the guy's Oscar so the RD had to be removed.
A 55 gallon is not large enough to house either of those fish as adults unless you end up with a smaller female RD. But "small" is a relative term, especially when dealing with aggressive CA species.
Here is a video of a Red Devil ruling a 350 gallon tank, even keeping peacock cichlids in line. This fish later snapped and shredded the guy's Oscar so the RD had to be removed.
Just because most sites say a 75 is adequate, doesn't mean its true.
I have watched terrirorial male JDs (much smaller than adult oscars) defend areas equivalent to @ 250 gallons from all other cichlids in their natural habitat.
Watch the male below, at about 1 minute in the video.
Cristalino
A 75 gal tank has the volume of water equivalent to truck tires rut in the road, most small cichlids would not be caught dead in that limited amount of space.
To me a 75 is only large enough for 1 or 2 cichlids that don't get any larger than 7.5".
Your oscar is doing what comes naturally, eliminating the competition needed to exist in such a restricted amount of space
I have watched terrirorial male JDs (much smaller than adult oscars) defend areas equivalent to @ 250 gallons from all other cichlids in their natural habitat.
Watch the male below, at about 1 minute in the video.
Cristalino
A 75 gal tank has the volume of water equivalent to truck tires rut in the road, most small cichlids would not be caught dead in that limited amount of space.
To me a 75 is only large enough for 1 or 2 cichlids that don't get any larger than 7.5".
Your oscar is doing what comes naturally, eliminating the competition needed to exist in such a restricted amount of space