Need Oscar safe bottom feeder recommendations

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
P

pjsmetana

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 26, 2010
564
0
0
Cocoa Beach, FL
As the title says, need a bottom feeder. My Red O killed my expensive Blue Phantom Pleco... so I'm a bit leery about another catfish, especially since I have 2 Oscars now. But, I need a bottom feeder badly. See sig for tank and fish size.

So, what do you fellow Oscar keepers recommend?
 
Really? A 5" Oscar killing a pleco? That's pretty off. I'd keep an eye on that one.
Gibbiceps are awesome, and I suspect any pleco bigger than the O might be fine, too. Like a big pseudacanthicus sp. or a panaque.

My 12" Oscar only looks at my 6" L200 once in awhile. I never pegged him as likely to kill He's always had a tankmate or two and has been a very gentle fish the whole time. Even took a light scuffing from some sunfish a while back. He was wagging at me for mercy when I found him, but he never laid a scratch on the other fish.
 
The blue phantom is a Hemiancistrus and is not armoured like the common or Gibbiceps. it's also a slow grower and less competitive for food. It's a poor choice for aggressive cichlids. If you want an attractive aggressive bottom feeder, get a Pseudacanthicus. They are very very expensive, are carnivorous (won't hunt though) but are rare and attractive. If you just want something to clean up algae and leftover food, the common pleco or the Gibbiceps are the best bet, although they produce signifcant amounts of waste and can grow to 12"+ easily.
 
I have a common plec with my 10" tiger oscar and he doesn't bother the plec hardly at all. My plec is also only around 5". I think your best bet is some sort of armored cat or plec.
 
Oscars aren't aggressive. That what make the average Oscar tank a fine home for most plecos. Here we have the odd 'killer Oscar' of lore.
 
knifegill;4214954; said:
Really? A 5" Oscar killing a pleco? That's pretty off. I'd keep an eye on that one.
Gibbiceps are awesome, and I suspect any pleco bigger than the O might be fine, too. Like a big pseudacanthicus sp. or a panaque.

My 12" Oscar only looks at my 6" L200 once in awhile. I never pegged him as likely to kill He's always had a tankmate or two and has been a very gentle fish the whole time. Even took a light scuffing from some sunfish a while back. He was wagging at me for mercy when I found him, but he never laid a scratch on the other fish.
Click to expand...

Actually, he killed it when he was 3" and the BPPleco was about 4". He tore the pectoral fins off and rammed it continuously into the filter inlet. He's extremely aggressive, and bites me when I put my hand in the tank. He was moved to my 150 at about 3.5 inches, and fought the 6" Albino O I used to have. Crazy, this one. I'll try a cheapy common Pleco I guess, since you say it would be better if armored. I hope I can find a large one at the LFS, as my Oscars are growing fast.

Thanks!
 
knifegill;4215286; said:
Oscars aren't aggressive. That what make the average Oscar tank a fine home for most plecos. Here we have the odd 'killer Oscar' of lore.
Click to expand...

I don't 100% agree with that but I believe it is mostly true. I have my 10" O in with 6 Silver Dollars 3 of which around around 3" and the other 3 are like 5-7" and the 5" plec. He doesn't hardly show any aggression at all. Which is why I believe its mostly true that they aren't aggressive. Now for my reasoning on the other side I have put other cichlids in and the oscar will not tolerate them in his tank at all. When my o was around 5" I threw a similarly sized RD in and within hours the RD was killed by the O. I also just earlier threw a severum around 8" in with the O and he proceeded to chase, attack and just generally harass the severum. So I think they can be aggressive its just matter of personality I believe.
 
pjsmetana;4215304; said:
Actually, he killed it when he was 3" and the BPPleco was about 4". He tore the pectoral fins off and rammed it continuously into the filter inlet. He's extremely aggressive, and bites me when I put my hand in the tank. He was moved to my 150 at about 3.5 inches, and fought the 6" Albino O I used to have. Crazy, this one. I'll try a cheapy common Pleco I guess, since you say it would be better if armored. I hope I can find a large one at the LFS, as my Oscars are growing fast.

Thanks!
Click to expand...


If you can't find a plec I would be willing to let you have mine. (shipping cost only) He is around 5" I just have no need for him anymore and its becoming increasingly hard to feed him with the oscar eating EVERYTHING lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom