View Full Version : tankmates: can i put these with oscars,snakehead,clown knife????
stik6shift98
05-11-2003, 10:36 PM
8 inch fat sleeper goby
5 foot ....some other goby
2 4 inch puffers
will these be ok with the following
1 12 inch clown knife
4 oscars 7 inches
1 18 inch snakehead
the two sets of fish have been been together in the two groups...i just freed up a big tank so i was wondering if i can throw them together
jiggerpolebill
05-12-2003, 2:04 AM
you have a 5 foot gobie? i dont think anything would be safe with that!
thom336
05-12-2003, 3:47 AM
Oscars should not be kept with any other species..only in pairs of their own, or you will end up with a bunch of dead tank mates. Exactly what size is this tank, as those are a large number of large sized oddballs you have there, and I'm not too sure of compatablility, except on the Oscar side of things.
Thom.
DarthV
05-12-2003, 7:53 AM
I'll go out on a limb and say you'll probably only end up with the snakehead after a while. It's a hungry hungry fish-eating machine.
thom336
05-12-2003, 8:45 AM
And, if Im right, its a hungry hungry fish-eating machine that grows to over a metre and likes to live in groups.
demon_surfer
05-12-2003, 2:17 PM
the clowns or the snake heads will eat anything else. oscars are not very aggresive or tough. not sure about the gobies though. particularly the 5 footer?
stik6shift98
05-12-2003, 4:27 PM
lmao
i meant 5 inch
it was late......
but this is a 120 or 150 gal tank
the oscars and snakeheads have been doing fine together for about 2 months
dbcb314
05-12-2003, 6:14 PM
thom36,
oscars can be put with lots of fish. there not really aggressive, they are just big.
back to the original post,
i have kept the clown knife before or the snakehead, but from what i have read, there is no way in hades puting the gobies and stuff withe the snakehead and stuff. they will killed, no eaten, in a matter of days.
just keeping a snakehead with anything at all isnt really smart from what i have read. snakeheads get to 3ft long, and it is reccomended to not put them with anything smaller that they are. the clown knife is a big predatory fish. it gets 2ft. im surprised the oscars are not already fish food. they are guppies compared to the other 2 fish.
in short, darth is right. snakehead is goin to be the lone fish in that tank
thom336
05-13-2003, 4:55 AM
Originally posted by dbcb314
thom36,
oscars can be put with lots of fish. there not really aggressive, they are just big.
I think maybe you have some research to do on Oscars...
dbcb314
05-13-2003, 7:23 AM
Umm, actually I don't. If you would like, I could list tankmates that would be suitable for oscars. They do not have to be in a tank all by themselves.
On the aggressive side of things, they are not terrible aggressive. When people talk about aggressive fish, the oscar rarely, if ever, comes up int he discussion. Can oscars be bullies? Yes, but they usually are not like a red devil, dovii, jaguar, green terrror, jack dempsey, trimac ect ect.
DarthV
05-13-2003, 7:48 AM
Oscars would more aggressive than your garden variety community fish, but it would get a severe beatdown against the other more aggressive cichlids. I'm not familiar with the clown knife, but I really think the snakehead will eventually (if not _soon_) make meals of the other fish. I've read on other forums that they will kill even when they are full to the gills just to claim territory.
demon_surfer
05-13-2003, 2:11 PM
Like Darth V said, Oscars are mean compared to most of the run of the mill community fish but the are really not aggresive. If anything they are just hungry and will try and eat things smaller than themselves. I have heard of these things being beat up by convicts and other more aggresive fish less than half their size. They are not safe too keep wit things that will fit in their mouths but they are really not so aggresive.
pinballqueen
05-13-2003, 2:33 PM
I might be wrong in this, but aren't gobies brackish fish? And the Puffers as well? You might be best served by having a second tank for your brackish fish, since they will not do as well in a fresh tank, and will not live long.
The oscars like to have 50-70 gallons each, and a snakehead is going to get really massive really fast, and will eliminate everything else in the tank out of spite once it is large enough. At least, that's what I've heard, as I've never actually owned one.
I have owned oscars, though. They are not as aggressive as you would think. They aren't incredibly territorial or anything, they just happen to be a piscivorous species, meaning they will eat other fish if they are hungry and can cram their tankmate down their crop. The only time they are truly territorial is during mating season, at which point every cichlid species is mean. Other than that, they're pretty peaceful, as long as you've got tankmates of similar size and temperament.
That being said, the oscars and the clown knife should be okay together in that tank, but I would find either another tank or another owner for the snakehead, and a brackish setup for the gobies and puffers.
some oscars arent that agressive. mine is very calm, and wont even eat medium sized feeders. people jump to conclusions way way too much with oscars.
DarthV
05-13-2003, 7:05 PM
demon_surfer,
Cons have been know to beat up on a lot of larger fish species, not just O's. Nasty little fishes :)
ChilDawg
05-13-2003, 7:08 PM
Yeah, Stratton gives the story of a pet store in which excess Cons were fed to an RBP, but some bred and forced the owner to remove the P from the tank.
Mantis_22
05-14-2003, 4:30 PM
Originally posted by thom336
Oscars should not be kept with any other species..only in pairs of their own, or you will end up with a bunch of dead tank mates. Exactly what size is this tank, as those are a large number of large sized oddballs you have there, and I'm not too sure of compatablility, except on the Oscar side of things.
Thom.
your wrong on that buddy, i now tons of people who have schools of mixed cories with large oscars. Anything boney is a perfect tank mate...
stik6shift98
05-14-2003, 9:38 PM
Originally posted by Mantis_22
your wrong on that buddy, i now tons of people who have schools of mixed cories with large oscars. Anything boney is a perfect tank mate...
ive had corys with my oscars
Tightdog1
05-14-2003, 10:38 PM
how big are the oscars and how big is the snakehead.
cause the snake head will get big and then eat everything i mean everything!
wetmanNY
05-15-2003, 12:44 AM
Chowder also needs parsley and potatoes.
DarthV
05-15-2003, 8:02 AM
Originally posted by Tightdog1
how big are the oscars and how big is the snakehead.
cause the snake head will get big and then eat everything i mean everything!
I think he said the snakehead was 18" long...so it isn't one of the dwarf species... wonder how long the oscar would last? I mean as in how much time after it was eaten would the snakehead need to be fed again ?
stik6shift98
05-15-2003, 5:00 PM
th oscars have been with him for a while......he doesnt really bother them at all
stik6shift98
05-15-2003, 11:49 PM
so is that a no??????
MonoSebaelover
05-17-2003, 11:00 AM
I would say you should just move the Oscars, Snake, and Clown up. You will have to remember adult size with these guys. The Oscars will get a foot a piece, the Snakehead will get 2-3 feet, and the Knife will get 3-4 feet. That is a lot of big fish for a small tank (150). I may be a little off on adult size since I have never kept any of the above mentioned fish but know tons of people that do. Plus like PBQ said the gobies and puffers are technically brackish (20% saltwater 80% freshwater) so they should be kept on their own.