Tiger oscar tank mates ? 190g gallon 3x oscars what friends should i get ?

[Bara fisk]

Hello ! i want to hear your guys opinion i have a 190g with a 9 inc and 2x 6 inch oscars , a 8 inch frontosa 1 african snakehead 2 bichirs ( 1 senegal 5-6 inches and 1 delhezi 8-9 inches ) and 2x salvini chiclids and 3x bala sharks , recently my bala sharks has started terrorizing eachother and im not sure why im guessing its because there is less fish since i recently got ridd of 2x oscars and a rainbow shark and got a frontosa instead the rainbow shark would constanstly swim at the balas and in my opinion bully them tough it didnt really leave any bitemarks , and it alsmot seems as tough the balas miss the monster.. ( fun fact the rainbow shark is in a new home with a paroon shark thats about 1 feet and its still a bully agains the shark .. ) , So my question is CAN i add more fish and if so WHICH ones ? i watch alot of youtube and google alot but in my opinion the answers are really vague , half the fish they recomend not to have with them i had with great succes and fish they recomend i had issues with ... thankfull for any advice

 

[duanes]

I would consider that 190 fully stocked as is (even over stocked), especially since a number of those fish are not yet fully grown.
Whenever you have aggression in a tank, it usually means the fish themselves instinctually sense the space, is too small.

 

[neko1]

your overstocking it . thats the reason why they are agressive. Balasharks need a bigger tank aswell since they are group fish aldo your tank is close to what i would call the minimum amount of gallons for them. Post a picture maybe we can do something with design that reduces agression.

 

[esoxlucius]

You are overstocked, simple as, and as a result your fish are not getting on.

I certainly wouldn't be adding any "friends" to your existing stock, in fact I'd be downsizing the stock to a more manageable level.

Just as a guide, your 9" and 2x6" Oscars, once all full grown are plenty for a 190g.

Incidently, what's your maintenance schedule like to keep your water good with your current set up?

 

[Bara fisk]

You are overstocked, simple as, and as a result your fish are not getting on.

I certainly wouldn't be adding any "friends" to your existing stock, in fact I'd be downsizing the stock to a more manageable level.

Just as a guide, your 9" and 2x6" Oscars, once all full grown are plenty for a 190g.

Incidently, what's your maintenance schedule like to keep your water good with your current set up?

your overstocking it . thats the reason why they are agressive. Balasharks need a bigger tank aswell since they are group fish aldo your tank is close to what i would call the minimum amount of gallons for them. Post a picture maybe we can do something with design that reduces agression.

I would consider that 190 fully stocked as is (even over stocked), especially since a number of those fish are not yet fully grown.
Whenever you have aggression in a tank, it usually means the fish themselves instinctually sense the space, is too small.

1st of all i want to say that i agree the bala sharks need a bigger tank sadly i didnt know this , when i got them at the store there were about 10x the sizes of 6-10 inches and 20x 1-6 inches in a really small tank ( about 40g ) so atleast its better then that ...

2. im a semi new fish keeper not trying to make excuses because ofc the fish comes before my personal emotions and thats why i even posted this in the first place because i simply dont care if you call me a sh1t fish keeper as long as my fish are happy.

3. I've had 4 bala sharks + 1 ''argonectus longiceps'' which is pretty much a bala shark behavior wise , i've had them all for probaly about a year but im really only now seeing the issues when my biggest bala has passed ( the store said that it was probaly about 7 years old ) , i know overstocking is bad but in SOME cases it seems to help since again the issues has begun as i removed fish,

4. I clean about once every 2-4 weeks i gravel all the substrate and take out about 30-50 % water depending on how much / what i fed them. i will try and snap a picture of the tank later today since its 4 am atm where im from

 

[Bara fisk]

here is some pictures , sry for the bad quality its hard to get a nice picture of such a long tank since i haze to stand pretty far away to catch it all , its 200 x 60 x 60 CM = 6.5 feet long times 2 feet times 2 feet , remember i did say CAN i add more and WHAT , not that im AM gonna add more fish in there , thanks alot for the replies but it can be a bit frusttrating when people just comment overstocked without any context what so ever.. , it just looks / feels empty in my opinion and with adding fish i was thinking of something more silver like , Like a bala shark / silver dollar or smthing of that sort that is not to big but not to small and if so maybe 1-3 max not 20x .. thanks

 

[Ogertron3000]

here is some pictures , sry for the bad quality its hard to get a nice picture of such a long tank since i haze to stand pretty far away to catch it all , its 200 x 60 x 60 CM = 6.5 feet long times 2 feet times 2 feet , remember i did say CAN i add more and WHAT , not that im AM gonna add more fish in there , thanks alot for the replies but it can be a bit frusttrating when people just comment overstocked without any context what so ever.. , it just looks / feels empty in my opinion and with adding fish i was thinking of something more silver like , Like a bala shark / silver dollar or smthing of that sort that is not to big but not to small and if so maybe 1-3 max not 20x .. thanks

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It looks empty now but give it a few months and it will look very full. Maybe add some branches or wood to fill in the empty spaces.
My only advice is be patient and increase the water changes and cleaning to once a week, the cleaner the water the fastr the fishes will grow.

 

[Melwin]

Hi fish keeper !
Lovey fishes you have there mate ! Nice !
So 190 gals is a 5 foot tank , you have a 6 foot tank, cool !
First of all you have to decide what you want mate. You need to decide if you want to keep fishes for the fishes wellbeing or for you to just have a nice 6 foot view with all kinds of fishes in it. It's up to you to think about it now.

So now , this what I think would be better for you and sor your fishes. As a fish keeper or as an aquarium hobbyist you have know everything about the fishes that you want to keep in your tank. Most of the people in the hobby add different kinds of fishes in their tanks which might be is their own way of fish keeping.
But as a hobbyist myself this is what I feel, when we are keeping any fish in our home in our tank we are seperating it from nature, this is the first thing we should keep in mind , so what you have to do is watch and learn about the natural habitat for the fishes you have, once you understand their nature try and create it in your tank .
This is the best thing you can do in your tank mate..you have cichlids, they have their own nature and personalities, try to choose one species of fish and create a natural scape for them . Lets say u choose to keep only oscars, you can add some more big rocks and also put in many almond leaves, I think this will give them a natural feel and they won't be much stressed when they get big coz Oscars move in small packs/schools. You also get Oscars in every color you want and u can keep even 6 of them in your tank.
This is what a good hobbyist will do for the fishes and will also be a good view to see how the fishes live in nature. This is good for you and your fishes mate.

Lastly if you want a mix species tank then you can keep the fishes you have ( 9 inc and 2x 6 inch oscars , a 8 inch frontosa 1 african snakehead 2 bichirs ( 1 senegal 5-6 inches and 1 delhezi 8-9 inches ) and 2x salvini chiclids) just return the sharks and for now u can add either 6 tinfoil barbs or 6 silver dollars and once the fishes grow big return them.

For all hobbyist - would be really helpful for the fishes if you research on the natural habitat and personalities of any species of fish you are keeping and try to give them their natural life.

PLEASE REMOVE FISH POOP ANS DO REGULARLY WATER CHANGES IN YOUR TANKS. HAPPY FISH KEEPING!

 

[Bara fisk]

Hi fish keeper !
Lovey fishes you have there mate ! Nice !
So 190 gals is a 5 foot tank , you have a 6 foot tank, cool !
First of all you have to decide what you want mate. You need to decide if you want to keep fishes for the fishes wellbeing or for you to just have a nice 6 foot view with all kinds of fishes in it. It's up to you to think about it now.

So now , this what I think would be better for you and sor your fishes. As a fish keeper or as an aquarium hobbyist you have know everything about the fishes that you want to keep in your tank. Most of the people in the hobby add different kinds of fishes in their tanks which might be is their own way of fish keeping.
But as a hobbyist myself this is what I feel, when we are keeping any fish in our home in our tank we are seperating it from nature, this is the first thing we should keep in mind , so what you have to do is watch and learn about the natural habitat for the fishes you have, once you understand their nature try and create it in your tank .
This is the best thing you can do in your tank mate..you have cichlids, they have their own nature and personalities, try to choose one species of fish and create a natural scape for them . Lets say u choose to keep only oscars, you can add some more big rocks and also put in many almond leaves, I think this will give them a natural feel and they won't be much stressed when they get big coz Oscars move in small packs/schools. You also get Oscars in every color you want and u can keep even 6 of them in your tank.
This is what a good hobbyist will do for the fishes and will also be a good view to see how the fishes live in nature. This is good for you and your fishes mate.

Lastly if you want a mix species tank then you can keep the fishes you have ( 9 inc and 2x 6 inch oscars , a 8 inch frontosa 1 african snakehead 2 bichirs ( 1 senegal 5-6 inches and 1 delhezi 8-9 inches ) and 2x salvini chiclids) just return the sharks and for now u can add either 6 tinfoil barbs or 6 silver dollars and once the fishes grow big return them.

For all hobbyist - would be really helpful for the fishes if you research on the natural habitat and personalities of any species of fish you are keeping and try to give them their natural life.

PLEASE REMOVE FISH POOP ANS DO REGULARLY WATER CHANGES IN YOUR TANKS. HAPPY FISH KEEPING!

Hi thanks for the reply ! , yes i have tried some plants and such but im not that great with plants like c02 and all that stuff and my oscars would tear them up , fake plants works tough even tough they dont do much, If im going to be honest the salvinis wasnt really planned , it was a friend of mine that had them , and the balas IN MY OPINION is very hard to find info on , 99% of youtube videos say 100gallon + there is even people with 10+ inchers in tanks below 100g im not trying to say that im giving the balas the best home but really i would like to think that i give them a better home then 99% of the keepers out there sadly where i'm from tehre isnt alot of big fish keepers with big i mean 10+ inch fish , so rehoming fish is pretty dificult sadly.

 

[Melwin]

Thanks for reading my opinion mate!
Yes mate, Oscars will eat plants coz they are omnivorous. That being said I'm not telling you to give 100 % natural environment which I think only nature can give but you can always do what max you can do. From your reply I can understand that you want to keep all the fishes so this is my other best option for you mate.

1) Try to find an aquarium shop who take big fishes, if they accept then you can choose more species from the terta family like Bala sharks, tinfoil barbs, silver dollars. They are schooling fishes so always keep min 6 fishes and once they don't have space in the tank you can return them to the shop ( it will take min 6 years might take more time to grow in your tank because they will be stressed by the Oscars most of the time )

2) Another best option is to remove the bala sharks and keep 6 Frontosa cichlids as they are also schooling fish, your oscars also won't get aggressive with them but they will go for the tetras because Oscars are predatory fishes.
Keeping a school of Frontosas with the Oscars and bichirs will give you cool view and you will not have to worry about aggression in the tank.

So again it's up to you to decide mate coz ultimately you are the one who's going to keep them safe . HAPPY FISH KEEPING!