Oscars with South American cichlids

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Very true about the problems with Oscars. Breaks my heart when I'm at fish store and see surrendered Oscar's in such bad shape. Just the other day I say an albino tiger that looked as tho it had 30 holes drilled in its head. Iron seems to be a big issue in a lot of areas. When we bought our new house I added a softener and filters to remove iron and chlorine. My buddy has to buy water because his comes out of the faucet at 40ppm nitrate.
 
Agree with what duanes said, I will also add there's quite a few sa/ca cichlids that don't cope to well outside the normal temperature range for indefinite periods, beani, haitiensis, some of the thorichthys to name but a few, and there's more than discus that can be sensitive. There is a difference between surviving and thriving.
 
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At the moment my O is in with both a GT and RT, both South American as well. Both are different coloring than my O and different mouth shape, and smaller. At the moment she don't see them as a threat. But in the past she has rejected 5 other Oscar's, sadly killing one in the process RIP Juan Carlos.

My plan is let them grow out with her, and the one she gets along with the best with will be her tankmate.
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She is obviously bigger than the new arrivals, was 9in when the new 4in fish were added.

As others have stated, I would try to stick with other SA cichlids, Centrals have a lot higher aggression level comparatively
 
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Brettnewell4454 said:
For example, discuss fish are very needy and will not survive very far out of there parameters even after many generations.
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Not true. You can find Discus in most countries the world over and are kept at different water parameters. The general consensus is that as long as PH is kept stable & they are provided with clean water (regular water changes) the many generations captive bred will be fine.

Most fish are now bred locally and do fine in local conditions. Off course if the water out of your tap is rubbish, then it will be a problem no matter the fish you keep.

I would only worry about the aggression levels and food requirements of the fish, rather than where they originated,but that is just me.
 
Hidan said:
Not true. You can find Discus in most countries the world over and are kept at different water parameters. The general consensus is that as long as PH is kept stable & they are provided with clean water (regular water changes) the many generations captive bred will be fine.

Most fish are now bred locally and do fine in local conditions. Off course if the water out of your tap is rubbish, then it will be a problem no matter the fish you keep.

I would only worry about the aggression levels and food requirements of the fish, rather than where they originated,but that is just me.
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If you dig a little deeper, you will find statements by Heiko Bleher that many discus in other countries have been turned into hybrid discus because the breeders did not know any better. There are 2 species of discus that exist in black water low PH water, and a 3rd species that comes from neutral to alkaline PH. If you start mixing clear water discus with black water discus, then yes, you can have discus that thrive in non-soft water conditions.

https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/articles/definitive-guide-to-discus-part-one
https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co...-the-water-where-discus-live?rq=bleher discus
 
Rocksor said:
If you dig a little deeper, you will find statements by Heiko Bleher that many discus in other countries have been turned into hybrid discus because the breeders did not know any better. There are 2 species of discus that exist in black water low PH water, and a 3rd species that comes from neutral to alkaline PH. If you start mixing clear water discus with black water discus, then yes, you can have discus that thrive in non-soft water conditions.
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I am well aware of that most of the discus in the hobby are "hybrids" bred to thrive in local parameters (and its not just discus, its the same with most fish). Thing is unlike you, I take that as a positive and don't buy the "did not know better", rather it is
Without these hybrids that can live in my countries water parameters, owning discus would have been an impossible dream for a hobbiest like me. Instead I am now eagerly awaiting discus I have ordered, which are supposed to arrive any day now.
If the only option was wild caught discus, there was no way I could own them, as there was no way I would risk getting them knowing that they wouldn't survive in my water parameters.
 
I dont want to rehash the water paramaters that have been brought up. One other concern of mixing SA and CA that hasnt been brought up is temperament. Speaking in generalities, SA are generally more laid back than than centrals are. Of course with a proper amount of research one can attempt to mix them based on their relative aggressiveness.
 
I think it could work as these are probably many generations of tank raised fish. But firemouths exposed to consistent high temps will die in the long term. Oscars and convicts are much hardier IME.
Of course watch aggression as always w/ cichlids.
 
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