oscar/TSN alternatives

[JeninOK]

Ok so I am going to be setting up a 125 or 150 next week which will free up either my 55 or my 90 which I am going to suprise stock and set-up for my husband.

He really likes oscars a lot and also has his eye on a small 1 foot TSN at the store, which we cant properly house and wont be able to for some time to come.

He also likes needle fish and Black ghost knife.

But so far the oscars seem to be his favorite.

Im just not crazy about oscars, they seem blah to me, and I know I will be the one doing the maintence on the tank for the most part so I want to like the fish too.

Jack dempseys are pretty, especially the blue ones, but I dont know if he has seen them or not
And We also both like the Eletric blue african malawis at petsmart (but wouldnt buy it there.)

There are mudskippers at our good LFS too and they are too cool, But I dont know much about them.

It doesnt have to be a true community tank but I also dont want a single specimen tank of that size.

I was thinking a school of pictus cats since they swim with that back and forth movement sort of like a true shark which is what he wants other than an oscar, but they are still little and cute at the stores and he isnt convinced.

 

[south coast nelly]

oscars are great fish, i have a pair,
what about if you dont like oscars the have a look at jags for a single specimen, i have one now as a single spec as go aggro and hes a real stunner

 

[HPIZZLE]

there are lots of special oscars you can get besides just the blan ones.
i am thinking you have seen:
tiger
albino tiger
red
Why dont you look into veil tails. they are awesome. just dont get tankmates that are fin nippers

 

[JeninOK]

hmm veil tail oscars, ill have to look into that.

here is my other question, When my tiny rams are spawning they attack me anytime I have to do maintence.
How on earth do you do clean/move stuff deal with anything in the water with big mean fish?

 

[south coast nelly]

hehe you get attacked

 

[JeninOK]

hehe you get attacked

Lovely, thats what I figured. Im not even going to ask what a mean JD or oscar could possibly inflict on me though lol.

 

[haynchinook334]

crasspin Oscars are cool and a tiger shovle nose would look nice.

 

[Hawkfish3.0]

Oscars and JD's won't do too much to you. They're pretty tame.

Now if you wanted to keep dovii or odos, that's a different story!

 

[dragonfish]

1. Severums for your cichlids, school of pictus cats, several pieces of driftwood and a royal pleco.
2. Skip pictus and get BGK with some senegal bichirs.
3. Angels, BGK, senegals and a juruense.
4. None of the above.

 

[Danger_Chicken]

There are also Lemon Oscar's. I wasn't sold on these at first but now the one I have is my favorite. He has an albino body, strong tigar markings that are yellow/organish and black fins <--that's the coolest part of him.