Oscar tankmates in a 75 or other fish instead

[gomezladdams]

The oscar in my avatar shares a 75g with a royal pleco and a firemouth.
He was deeply offended by the 6 silver dollars.It took them months to recover from the injuries,one is missing an eye.He was only about 6" at the time.He hated the pictus cat as well.The front 3/4 of the pictus cat is still alive and living in another tank.The red tail of the red tail shark was found floating in the tank one day.Im guessing the rest was lunch.

Im thinking the oscar is female,its been digging and trying to entice the firemouth over ever since I put him in the tank.He doesnt want any of that.The pleco just chews up the driftwood and stays out of the oscars way.

 

[Corey236]

I like the firemouth and severum ideas, can I do either of them with an oscar and a pleco? Thanks for the suggestions every one.

 

[Corey236]

I have decided on 1 oscar, 1 turquoise severum, and some catfish. What is the scientific name of the 4 line pim? Are they pictus? The pictus cats they sell at petsmart would be ok right? If I get the pictus from petsmart and the turquoise severum how do they stack up to the growth rate of the oscar? Would I have to get the catfish and severum first and let them grow out before getting the oscar?

 

[packer43064]

My Sev is a slow grower. I would try and get a big sev at least 4-5 in before you even got the oscar. Let the sev settle down and have is own territory then put the oscar in. Less chance of the Oscar bullying the Sev this way.

 

[Corey236]

Thanks. What about the catfish? They are usually 3 or 4 inches at petsmart.

 

[holidayinn]

Hi, I suggest whatever you end up getting, get them as juveniles then you will have a better chance of success, especially Cichlids..let them grow up together and you will have less problems

 

[jgentry]

1 oscar and 1 severum will be OK in a 75g as long as you have good filtration and keep on top of the water changes. The pictus cats that are at petsmart are usually spotted pims. They don't get as big but still should be fine with an oscar for life. Some people will tell you the oscar will eat them, but I've kept them with an adult oscar and have seem others do it many times with no issues. Pick you out one small oscar and one small turq severum and get 2-4 spotted pictus cats, but that would be it for the tank for life. Also, turq severums are not slow growers. The oscar will grow faster, but not that much. If anything the severum is more likely to pick on the oscar when they are young.

Good luck

 

[packer43064]

In my experience they are slow growers. They don't nearly grow no 1 inch a month like an Oscar. But that's just how my Sev grew,

 

[jgentry]

All 3 turq severums that I have owned have all been at or over 8 inches in there first year. Gold, red's, and some of the others seem to grow much slower though.

 

[Corey236]

Ok, so 1 oscar, 1 turquoise severum, and 3 pictus all at the same time. The tank I'm buying is coming with a big canister filter and I'm gonna see what plants I can get the oscar and severum not to destroy so filtration wont be a problem. Now all I have to do is wait a month or two to get the tank and cycle it, thanks guys.