jaguar or oscar

[knifegill]

Yeah, this kind of Oscar misinformation is just silly.
Truth:
They are only as messy as the food you feed them. Any cichlid that size is a floating crumb dispenser when fed certain foods.

Only some captive strains of captive bred Oscars are weak and deformed. Wild Oscars as available from Jeff Rapps are very lively and symmetrical.

While most Oscars seem to be susceptible to HITH, they aren't alone. Discus, Jurupari and Uaru are among the afflicted as well, so you'd better hate them too if you're using that as a discriminating factor.

I have seen some butt-ugly scarred up old Oscars but the same is true for jags. Many fish lose grace and color with age and some don't. It's genetics and environment, true for both species.

Oscars are easier to feed and almost never picky. There will always be those one or two foods an O won't eat but for the most part, they take all nutritional efforts in stride. I don't know how accepting Jags are, but an Oscar barely sniffs the food before inhaling it. So glorious.

Wild Oscars are amazing. Don't waste your $8 at the chain store, order from Rapps or get your LFS to bring in a wild one. Peru is a common locality, and most wild O's here on MFK are indeed Peruvian. Here's mine:

 

[Reptilesfishbirdsmammals]

Look this is helpful..If you really like both think of tank requirements etc..such as my point i love jaguar cichlids and id keep one over a oscar but the jaguar would eventually need about 125Gallons to live comfortably..but a oscar on the other hand can have a 75Gallon comfortably since one oscar only needs 55Gallons..and you could throw in a common plecostomus for life in a 75Gallon but anyways the ultimate choice is yours so good luck dude. (hope your oscar gets better)

 

[Gasha]

.... like i said earlier hopefully he got rid of both fishes and got some smaller fish, even though i hate oscars they seriously dont belong in a 75 gallon their whole lives <-- why don't you think a 75 gallon is suitable for a 14" fish?

And my final question (for this post): how much experience do you actually have with oscars? Based on your hate for them, I'd assume none? If this is so, then why are you even attempting to give advice on them and arguing with people who have actually kept them?

a 14" fish in a 75 gallon tank.... **with hidding spots and decorations and lots of gravel because oscars... they love to dig***....lmao i should start a new thread with your quote... that is so small.... i hope you don't keep 14" fish in 75 gallons... you probably think its also ok to let them live in a bare tank....lmao my texas cichlid is 8" and my pleco 7" and the 75 is all ready too small for her (pleco is fine) i got a large peace of driftwood she likes to hide behind, plants for her to hide at the top of the tank when she wants...(she will sit there sometimes i don't notice her) why i just bought 140 gallon.... 6ft she will have so much room to swim and hide!!

Fish are family!! mine acts like a dog, she knows when it's feeding time and it's creepy but she will follow me(stare) across the room as i'm walking by(10ft away from tank) and if people walk up she headbuts the tank and goes bazurk! so funny.....
anyways... you keep a 14" fish in a 75 gallon and all i got to say is

i have experiance with oscars.. it's called i look at them and walk away...lol seriously though 2 of my boys think they are so cool and had them for years... one of them stopped with fish but the other still has a tank... he actually has a decent looking oscar right now too.... im over his house all the time(hes my boy) i have observed these fish for 13 years now... just don't like them and i will tell anyone to keep a jaguar over them, if you read any of my posts you would see that i told him to get rid of both fish if he isn't upgrading...

 

[balton777]

one oscar only needs 55Gallons..

Actually, if Oscars grow 14", a 75g should be the minimum since it's 18" wide....but since the OP has a 75g he's fine.

 

[Gasha]

Actually, if Oscars grow 14", a 75g should be the minimum since it's 18" wide....but since the OP has a 75g he's fine.

with drift wood and plants or a cave big enough for him....no way!!

 

[creepyoldguy]

^^^^^^ Your 7" pleco will out grow that 75g. What a scumbag to keep a full grown pleco in a 75g tank. I will agree, keeping a 14" O in a 75g isn't optimum living standards, but unless you go grab part of Peru and set it up in your back yard you'll never achieve proper living standards. Seriously, all of your comments were unnecessary and you should be the one who gets banned.

 

[balton777]

I agree with you, they should have a bigger tank. We're talking bare minimum and that seems to be what most MFK'ers do...so I have to advise to at least get a tank that's wider than the fish is long.

 

[Chrisplosion]

I have had no experience with Jags but I have with oscars and I think they are wonderful fish to keep. They have great personalities and are fun to watch. I also think that a 75 is fine for one oscar.

 

[Aquanero]

The OP asked a simple question. He has a 75 gal tank and two fish, he can save one. Given the tank available the only answer is the Oscar. It's not complicated. It's not who likes what or anything else just answer the question that was asked.

 

[knifegill]

And to be honest, a 75 wasn't really enough for my Oscar. Being wild caught, the nitrAtes were getting too high even with twice-weekly 50% changes. I'd strongly recommend a 90 wide for the likes of an Oscar, and bigger is better because it makes caring for the fish that much easier.