Oscars in 4K gallon indoor pond-

[destro]

So I just got my first Oscar on Monday (along with two JD's and a pleco).

For the last couple months the only thing in the pond were channel cats. Now that I have an Oscar, I want to get more (5 cats 6-12" long and a 6" Oscar and two 4" JD's do not make a dent in a 4K gallon pond!).

My question is what sizes can I mix? I want to get a 12" albino Oscar from a fellow MFK'R, but not sure if he will have issues with the smaller fish. There are lots of rocks and a potted plant "island" for the smaller fish to hide in/around, as well as a ton of floating plants and lilly pads. I think the 12" Oscar will be fine, but I want 5 or so more Oscars and can't find any that are bigger than about 4". Should I start a grow out tank (100 gallon stock tank) and let them get a bit bigger? At $15 each for the 4" Oscars I don't want them to get bullied/killed!

I also would like to get an arro for this pond. What size would be OK? I am probably going to wait on that until the Oscars are all a good size (8" +).

 

[mbunafishkeeper]

a silver arrow should be ok in the pond, the 12" oscar should be ok with the others as long as there is hiding spaces, but u said there is so no worries there. if u want to get the other 5. buy 5 at 4" if you cant wait and buy 3 and grow them up an then 2. buy 5 for the 100G but do 50% water changes weekly, decnt filtration and feel cichlid gold as a staple 3 times daily, they will be big enough for the pond in 2-3 months

 

[mbunafishkeeper]

get some shots up aswell.

 

[destro]

I'll bring a camera tomorrow and snap some pictures. Doing a water change/cleaning today and don't have my camera. Picking up the 12" Albino Oscar in about 30 minutes!

 

[mbunafishkeeper]

ok cool get some shots of the O up.

 

[CTU2fan]

Another thought is call around to some LFS in the area, see if anyone is looking to rehome some big oscars that have outgrown tanks. You see a lot of that around, and you'd be saving the wait on growouts and giving a home to some big guys. Depends on the shops though...my LFS gets big oscar trade-ins all the time and they stick them in 20G tanks and price them @ $50 heh. But I suppose you can't blame them, the oscars sell (or they die at the store).

 

[destro]

That is actually where I got the big guy today- LFS that rocks, he is keeping an eye out for any other large turn-ins for me. 12" Albino oscar for $20. I'm not complaining, he looks really nice. The 6" red O you can't see in the pond (ceramic tile pond with chocolate brown tiles) same story with the JD- you can only see them if they move and you get a good side shot of them.

I would like about 3-4 more albinos and maybe a tiger or two for some variety.