I have a 125 gallon tank. I first added a pair of Oscars and three silver dollars. Let the Oscars grow for a month, then added a Texas cichlid and a green terror. Let them grow for a month then added a red devil. Any thoughts on if this mix of fish will work down the road? I know it's very hit and miss and a lot depends on chance, but any advice would be appreciated. I have never kept red devil or Texas cichlids before. The others I have kept with great success.
South American cichlid mix... Too aggressive?
- Thread starter Zcddrew
- Start date
You most definitely will be rehoming a fish or 2.
In my opinion you have three too many cichlids, four if the O's are not a pair. Also you have mixed Centrals and Southern who have very different aggression levels and water peramaters.
I would keep the O's and the SD's and rehome the rest before it gets bloody.
I would keep the O's and the SD's and rehome the rest before it gets bloody.
Fair enough. Noted. I will check it out for a bit and rehome if needed. Thanks for the advice.
As other have implied I think you'd eventually be facing a 'Game of Thrones' situation, with the Texas and the Red Devil fighting it out for the Iron Throne after mashing indiscriminanatly through the rest of the troops. Texas can be hyper territorial and Red Devils are certainly no slouches either. I'm not saying it's impossible they'll get along, just not very likely at all, not to mention with the Oscars & SD's in there.
All of that said, if the Texas and Red Devil are actually opposite sex they might hook up -- Texas are notoriously 'horny' fish and will mate with just about anything lol. But if they did start the breeding process they'd probably kick the living daylights out of everything else in the tank so you'd be in just about the same situation.
But good to see you're open to advice and prepared to re-home, good luck with them.
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I agree with the others, the oscars and SDs are a good mix, and when full grown will max out the tank space of a 125.
The North and Central Americans you added are definitely on a much more hyper aggression level scale starting when young adults, and probably kill the oscars, and then "maybe" start on each other at that point.
If they are now all young, you may be the exception to the rule and have them coexist, but that's a bit of a long shot.
Oscars prefer soft to neutral low pH water (5-7), the Central and North Americans do best in hard mineral rich high pH water 7.5-8.5.
If your water is hard, you may want to do twice as many, and larger water changes than the norm, to keep the Oscars from getting HLLE scars as they age (usually begin about 2 years or so down the road in hard water).
If your water is soft and you opt for keeping the North/Centrals, you may want to do the same routine to spare them chronic issues.
The North and Central Americans you added are definitely on a much more hyper aggression level scale starting when young adults, and probably kill the oscars, and then "maybe" start on each other at that point.
If they are now all young, you may be the exception to the rule and have them coexist, but that's a bit of a long shot.
Oscars prefer soft to neutral low pH water (5-7), the Central and North Americans do best in hard mineral rich high pH water 7.5-8.5.
If your water is hard, you may want to do twice as many, and larger water changes than the norm, to keep the Oscars from getting HLLE scars as they age (usually begin about 2 years or so down the road in hard water).
If your water is soft and you opt for keeping the North/Centrals, you may want to do the same routine to spare them chronic issues.
Wow. This isn't gonna work. And tank is too small. Oscars are really not an aggressive fish. They just eat other (smaller) fish at times.
That tank would probably work for one midas (very aggresive fish).
I wouldn't group large aggressive SA cichlids in any tank (unless it was huge).
That tank would probably work for one midas (very aggresive fish).
I wouldn't group large aggressive SA cichlids in any tank (unless it was huge).
As others have already stated, your current set up is a recipe for disaster. IMO - two adult oscars would be max, and only if they get along well, and only if you are willing to do the maintencance required to keep them healthy.
Even IF they were all calm, "community" species of fish, which the red devil and texas are not, your bio load will eventually be FAR too much for a 125 gallon tank. This set up is wrong no matter how you slice it.
Even IF they were all calm, "community" species of fish, which the red devil and texas are not, your bio load will eventually be FAR too much for a 125 gallon tank. This set up is wrong no matter how you slice it.
Well I'm going to get rid of some fish then it seems. I think the problem was I saw a lot of YouTube fish keepers having similar if not identical stock. Maybe they don't show the struggle of these fish living together. Thanks for the info mfk people!
