At risk of swimming against the current here...I'll just observe that the Oscars I kept were among the most relaxed, docile and non-destructive cichlids I ever had. Okay, they're not Neon Tetras; sand/gravel/rocks did get moved around and re-arranged regularly, and soft bunch plants tended not to hold up well. However, Anubias attached to wood was never touched, but of course the wood had to big enough not to be easily moved by the fish. Amazon Swords did well if potted, and then the pots held down and more or less covered with large stones. The only plant I ever saw them actually eat was Duckweed, which I threw in by the cupful whenever I had extra, which of course was all the time.
Compared to many other cichlids I have had over the years...T.buttikoferi, Devils, Managuenses, Texas, Dempseys, Blackbelts et al...Oscars are pussycats.
The Masked Shadow thanks for tagging me just saw this thread now ya a little while ago i had a nice corner rock scape left came home to rocks thrown everywhere and not like little pebbles these were 1-2 pound rocks my two oscars would pick them up and ram the glass or pick up these big rocks and drop them hard on the bottom which is a problem since its a bare bottom they shred any fake plants I put in even if I glue them down so never tried live plants because I know they will end up as a expensive salad . I have tried duck weed a big container and it was gone in a day or two recently I added sand and now half the tank is bare bottom and the other half has 10 inches of sand and is riddled with craters sooooooo long story short if you want a Nice tank dont get oscars maybe mine are just more psycho then most they try to kill everything including me during water changes they have made me bleed and bite the filter intake a lot try to bite me through the glass. I cant leave any food containers on the glass lid because they will jump at the lid trying to get it like I said maybe mine are just killers but I think its safe to say dont add plants
