Suitable tank mates

[seaofdreams]

I've wanted to get myself an Oscar for awhile and I'm finally taking the steps towards getting a tank set up. I'm looking at getting a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft tank and only wanted to get one Oscar but I would like to get a few tank mates for him/her. I adore Clown Loaches and Black Ghost Knives and would love to keep them in a tank with my future Oscar but I just wanted to know if they would be okay living with an Oscar and would there be enough room to house them all for hopefully their entire lives?
I also was curious about if they are compatible, at what ages/sizes should I introduce them to my tank?
I know that BGK are rather slow growing so I was thinking that I would try a juvenile Oscar with a few Loaches and a BGK that were bigger to give them a head start.
Any advice would be awesome, thanks

 

[big_tank_boy]

well clown loaches are very slow growers unlike oscars so if u can find 4 inch clowns u can get a baby oscar with them and they should be fine and the clowns should stay out of the oscars diet.........

 

[bluehairman]

well clown loaches are very slow growers unlike oscars so if u can find 4 inch clowns u can get a baby oscar with them and they should be fine and the clowns should stay out of the oscars diet.........

 

[SIN1312]

my 9in tiger oscar is in my 150g with my 10in BGK n they are fine....i have one of those clear tubes with small plants around it to shade him a lil from the light....as for the loaches, my oscar ate 3 of my botias when he was in the 55g down in the basement, they were 4in so that'll b somth'n you play by ear but I do agree that 4in loaches w/ a BABY oscar should work GL

 

[TwistedPenguin]

Agreed with the Loach comments. My Oscars would think a BGK was a chew toy, probably not what you want to hear.

 

[shamrock]

I also think a BGK would have trouble competing with an Oscar for food.

 

[seaofdreams]

Thanks for the advice so far. I actually thought it would be the other way around, that BGKs would be better suited to living with Oscars than Loaches because of their aggressive streak.
I've kept both BKGs and Loaches in a community tank and handfed them so I haven't had to worry in the past about problems with fish not getting enough food but would the presence of an Oscar make the fish too timid to come up to be handfed?
Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions, I have had some experience with tropical fish and limited experience with Cichlids, I just want to get as much information as possible before I embark on anything new.