I have a small 5" red tiger oscar in a 29 gallon tank. I had a 8" koi in there with him and the koi got beat up on....so I'm guessing I got ahold of an uncommonly aggressive oscar. I took the koi out and put him in my other 29 gallon tank where he is much happier, but since I took him out, the oscar has been spending a lot of time just bottom sitting and appearing to be miserable. I did some reading about it and it seems that he might be unhappy with just a small pleco in the tank with him. So I am looking to possibly get him 1 or 2 tankmates. I have done large amounts of research here and on other websites and I can't seem to find any one species that everyone agrees will work. The most common fish I read might work are jack dempseys, green terrors, midas, severums (sp?), clown loaches and convicts. I am worried about the breeding power of the convicts, so I am not really interested in those fish, but I would love to have any of the others. I would also like to own a flagtail prochilodus or some datnoids....would either of these fish be okay to add in there? Please let me know what fish you think would work out well, why and what size I should start one off in the tank at (due to the fact that the oscar will grow very fast). Also, I realize this is a small tank, but its just a starter tank for the moment and the oscar, as well as all the other fish that are in there, will go into a much larger tank (125+ gallons eventually). Thanks for any and all advice!!
Need oscar tankmates
- Thread starter Nexusrider12
- Start date
Do wait until you have that 125g. Oscars don't do "lonely" unless they are a pair and one dies, usually. Your biggest enemy right now is water quality.
Fight the good fight.
Stock your tanks light.
Until then it's:
J/K. You are good to upgrade. Sooner is better.
Fight the good fight.
Stock your tanks light.
Until then it's:
J/K. You are good to upgrade. Sooner is better.
Okay...I will make sure he gets a tank upgrade asap, but can I get some advice about the tankmates anyways. I would like to know so that I don't have to start a whole new thread when I get my next tank (which will be in a few weeks).
this is funny to me.. my Oscars best friend.. is a koi... the kois fins to get abit rustled up from time to time.. but my albino O prefers his Koi buddy to his other Oscar buddy.. I also keep an eclipse/sun cat with my Oscars and they all play nice. the cat eats any extra food the Oscars miss in their messy eating. I'de rather clean up more fish poop then rotting food scraps >.< icky! ... sounds like you've done some good research. If you're worried about cons breeding like mad.. just get one. They usually make nice dither fish.
Most Oscars will talk the talk but don't walk to walk.. w/ other cichlids.. so while your O may appear very aggresive.. be wary of overly aggresive other cichlids. I've seen Oscars that "bully" their tank-mates.. until the other cichlid/s have enough and just rip them apart. I'de start w/ some of the less aggresive species.. and build from there.
Also make sure to keep the 29 running once you set-up the new tank to QT any new fish that you intend to keep w/ your Oscar or as a "sick-Tank" incase you do have aggression issues. Or thats my advise. Don't forget to cycle your new tank.. so may be a month or 2 before you get the tank.. but you'll need ideally minimum another 1-2 weeks to get the cycle process going well.
Most Oscars will talk the talk but don't walk to walk.. w/ other cichlids.. so while your O may appear very aggresive.. be wary of overly aggresive other cichlids. I've seen Oscars that "bully" their tank-mates.. until the other cichlid/s have enough and just rip them apart. I'de start w/ some of the less aggresive species.. and build from there.
Also make sure to keep the 29 running once you set-up the new tank to QT any new fish that you intend to keep w/ your Oscar or as a "sick-Tank" incase you do have aggression issues. Or thats my advise. Don't forget to cycle your new tank.. so may be a month or 2 before you get the tank.. but you'll need ideally minimum another 1-2 weeks to get the cycle process going well.
Another oscar may work, please don't even think about getting another til your tank size triples. O's will generally ignore plecs. I've had success with other o's, jd's, some gt's, sevs, convicts (not a pair though) and firemouths. Your fish is not lonely. Check your levels
Get the bigger tank then all of the above mentioned have worked for me, also you may want to look at salvina. I have also had luck with them
Good advice!!!.. I've got my oscar pair in with a couple lrg tf barbs, a few blood parrots, jd, gt, and an 18" common pleco....of course my tank these are in is a lot bigger than 29gl..LOL
Good Luck,
Chris
Good Luck,
Chris
many people put a few tinfoil barbs in with their oscars. they are active non agressive fish that eat aggressively enough to compete for food with the oscar.
but they get just as large as an Oscar so they need a big tank too.
but once you get a 125+ you would be good to have a few in with an oscar.
but they get just as large as an Oscar so they need a big tank too.
but once you get a 125+ you would be good to have a few in with an oscar.