Tips on getting a compatible Oscar/JD in my new 90

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T

threefiveseven

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Oct 4, 2010
10
0
31
San Diego
So I traded my unused 75 for a used 90 gallon with a friend.

This will be my first large(ish) tank.

I want to do 1 Tiger O and 1 Jack Dempsey in the 90 gallon. I have about 2-3 weeks to plan how im going to do this but tell me what you think...

I buy the tiger O first, let him or her get settled in for a few days to a week and then go buy a JD half the size (both juvies), and hope for the best?

Tank will be heavy with driftwood/ rocks and such as I have an unlimited supply. Also I plan on building a lot of little caves/ nooks into it.

I know someone is going to tell me this is not going to work or tank is not big enough but I have read 100 threads on this and have decided to try it. If all fails I will take the Jack back and keep the O.

Question is mostly regarding the timeline of introducing them... Same time or O first? I hear O's get a little shook up after a move so I was gonna let him settle.

Also any advice on picking out a particular fish from a group of 10 at the pet store? How do I find a mild mannered one?
 
Just buy them together, both as juveniles. I would also just buy them at the same size. Oscars grow very fast, and my experience with JD's is not a very fast growth rate.
There isn't going to be much fighting when they are small anyways, cause that's a lot of room for 2 small fish. And with all that decoration you will have even less problems.

About finding a mild mannered one, I would just observe the fish for a while.
 
The rowdy little fish is the one you want. That's the most reliable criterion of health. A mellow fish won't necessarily be mellow when it hits sexual maturity in 8 - 12 months (but there might be something wrong with it now).

One gets the impression that the ideal Oscar tankmate in a 4' tank is a Convict, Firemouth, Severum, or Chocolate, with the JD being in the second tier: worth trying but more hit or miss. I'd definitely try one before trying two Oscars, or an Oscar and a GT (heck, before trying most of the cichlids not mentioned here).
 
I think you'll be fine. Again, I think if you get them at the same time as juvies, as it was said, and put them in together from the start you shouldn't have any problem. I have always thought that dempsies and oscars made classic roomies. I use to have them together in most of my set ups and they did quite well. Good luck!
 
mark377;4541568;4541568 said:
Just buy them together, both as juveniles. I would also just buy them at the same size. Oscars grow very fast, and my experience with JD's is not a very fast growth rate.
There isn't going to be much fighting when they are small anyways, cause that's a lot of room for 2 small fish. And with all that decoration you will have even less problems.

About finding a mild mannered one, I would just observe the fish for a while.
Click to expand...
x2. adding them together as juveniles is best IMO. You could also add a dozen Tiger Barbs to keep the JD and O out of hiding. Just don't get too attached to the Tiger Barbs, they may end up being food a few months from now. JD are usually skittish and shy, especially as juvies. The smaller barbs should lessen that behavior a little bit. If you get a male JD. It will get larger and have better coloration too. Downside is that many people believe that male JDs are real ugly when their old. To each his own.
 
I'm putting together a 150 gal, just waiting for the filter to be delivered, but I couldn't wait on picking up fish so I recently picked up a, JD, Oscar and Green Terror. They are all juvenile, the largest being the Oscar is sligtly less than 3 inches while the other 2 are 2.5 or less. They are currently in my 55 along with 1 tiny pleco about 2.5 as well. I hope to have the 150 up by this time next week.

I bought each one individually over a span of about 2 weeks. First I got the GT, then about 4 days later picked up the Oscar, who got along fine, actually they seemed like friends. Then about a week later I added the JD who was just a little bigger than the GT. Within the first few hours they did some fighting, but after the JD established himself as the dominant one the GT backed off. The Oscar is the biggest and seems to be the peacekeeper.

I think especially as juveniles you should be able to keep Oscars with JD without a problem just monitor them the first day.
 
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