Starting a new oscar tank -- tankmates?

[rob9217]

Hi everyone

I am planning on getting a tank somewhere around 125G. I am going to make this an oscar tank. Right now my plan is to purchase a single oscar and a group of silver dollars to go in with it as i have read that oscars do not tend to be aggressive toward silver dollar fish.

However, I am open to suggestions on some other types of tank mates. I'm really trying to avoid aggression as in my previous tank, aggression was an issue and it was really annoying. Any ideas?

Also, what type of gravel would be good for this tank? Would Onyx gravel be a good choice? It is said to have a slight buffering effect. Is this good for the fish?

Thanks!!!

[MCHRKiller]

Oscars are compatible with a load of different fish. Severums are always a good choice as are large Geophagus, Green Terrors, Acara, Jack Dempseys, Convicts, Firemouths, etc. The buffering effect wont bother the fish but it also wont benefit it any...Oscars are south american so they naturally come from soft somewhat acidic water. However they tollerate a wide range of pH and hardness.

[rob9217]

Hmm. What do you think would be a compatible combination? Two Oscars and three firemouths... Something along those lines? Or is there some better way to do it so that certain fish aren't ganged up on?

[rob9217]

Another thought... would five convict cichlids and one oscar be a compatible tank?

[cuckoochews]

Something that always worked well for me was keeping parrots w/ oscars... W/ their little mouths they did a nice job picking up after the oscars as oscars always have tons of food bits shooting out their gills!:hmm3grin2orange:

[MCHRKiller]

2 Oscars is debatable as compatibility with them at maturity is iffy. I would also not do more than 1 Convict as they breed like crazy and can actually be very aggressive defending their brood. A juvie Oscar would get the crap beat out of it.

Here is what I would do:

1 Oscar
1 Convict
1 Firemouth
1 Salvini -or- 1 Severum
6 Silver Dollars

[AlanYoung]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the information.

[Fishin Phil]

I kept a Oscar in a 125 with a Jack Dempsey. They got along fine. Mostly ignored each other.

[Aeonflame]

Alan, this thread is over a year old. Please check your inbox.