Stocking Sanity check

[Drachos]

Hi Everyone,

So I have a 6'x2'x2' tank and have been working some time on a big list of stock options. Mostly because my sibling and I share a house and if the tank is in the lounge room we both should enjoy looking at it.

So they reviewed the list and pointed at all the fish that they liked and from there I made a stock list combing both my interests and theres while focusing on keeping the stocking somewhat risk averse.

Still while I am FAIRLY confident from my own exploration of this forumand google it should work, I figured I would come and see if I am suffering from "Old posts said this is safe, but new information says its definately not."

So the list:

1x Oscar. This fish is the reason I brought the tank and is the only part non-negotiable.​

2-3x Delhezi Bichir​

1x Black Ghost Knife. I know this fish should be much larger then the Bichir to prevent the Bichir going after its tail. Plan is to go for a 20cm one if I can.​

9x Yo-yo loaches.​

This is a fairly bottom focused tank and Yo-yos are on the borderline size I decided was the absolute smallest fish that could be kept with an Oscar. (Only Giant Danios and EBA were smaller). But Yo-yos sizes seems to be HIGHLY variable (I get reports there maybe 2 different spieces in the hobby which causes this) and if I get smaller growing ones instead of safe friends I get 2.5 inch Spikey Oscar Choking hazards.


So a second list was constructed.

1x Oscar.​

2-3x Delhezi Bichir​

1x Black Ghost Knife.​

9x Filament barbs.​

This list is more mixed water column and from what I have read here, should be safe. But most of the threads on the topic are pre-2015 and when I asked the other Characins forum I didn't get much of a responce. (Although the single response I did get was a 'no')

In either case I plan to get the first fish by new year (need to do some tank modifiications and cycle the tank yet) and add the Oscar last at about the 6 month mark.

Is either plan viable or should I reconsider my options? (To be clear I won't be super disappointed if thats the case. So many different tank combinations to go and if I just want a tank that will work I will swap the schooling fish for Spotted Silver Dollars)

 

[Conchonius]

Volume-wise you're good, but aggression-wise I have some reservations. Can an oscar chase and kill filament barbs in a 180g? Sure, if it wanted to. Will it? I'd wager that it eventually will. Same with the ghost knife, some oscars will be accommodating while others will take offense to it. That's the problem with having fish with personality: sometimes a beautiful display fish will be as murderous as it is lovely. You can try, but know that you're taking a risk with it.

Bichirs and silver dollars are better-established as "oscar-safe" (still a risk, but less of one, with many reports of successful cohabitation), and since you're dead-set on the oscar while other fish are bonuses, bichirs + SDs would be my recommendation. I am not experienced in cichlid-keeping however, so other members who have more hands-on experience can assist you better.

 

[Drachos]

Bichirs and silver dollars are better-established as "oscar-safe" (still a risk, but less of one, with many reports of successful cohabitation), and since you're dead-set on the oscar while other fish are bonuses, bichirs + SDs would be my recommendation. I am not experienced in cichlid-keeping however, so other members who have more hands-on experience can assist you better.

I think you are definitely on the conservative side, at least on the idea that SD's and Bichir could fail. I do agree Oscars can have varied personalities but I have never heard of one harass a Silver Dollar to the point where the owner decided the Oscar must live alone or exclusively with Cichlids.
(Assuming a reasonable tank size of course.)

If you have a source for an Oscar like that I definitely will be interested.

That said I definitely will take your advice under consideration for the other two options.

 

[Conchonius]

An oscar bullying silver dollars to the point of death is very unlikely, true. But with bichirs there are cases of oscars taking them out or vice-versa: see here, here and here, for example. Then again, that is a common combination and for every case of an aggressive oscar or bichir, you will find dozens that are compatible.

Same with larger plecos, which you can also consider. Commons despite their name are showy animals if you can stand all the poop, and cactus plecos are getting quite affordable these days. A hyper-aggressive oscar might take one out, but it's rare enough that it's a safe combination to try.

I am less inclined to say the same for filament barbs, however. It can succeed, but they seem to me like very expensive feeder fish for a large enough oscar.

 

[Drachos]

Thank you for providing sources as requested.

It did seem to be more Bichir on Oscar violence which I did not consider at all, rather then the other way around.

(There was one example of the opposite obviously, that poor Senegal)

While rare just knowing its a possibility means I can act to mitigate it more then if I had assumed they were perfectly compatible.

So thanks again.