75 gal. adding more fish?

[Lynsey]

Here is my setup:
5 foot long x 18" wide x 16" tall tank (75gal)
two fluval 404's
a maxi-jet 1200 powerhead
weely 30% water changes + gravel vacs.

Occupants:
Albino Tiger Oscar (~11")
Sunshine Pleco L-14 (9")
Three silver dollars (5-6")

I am wondering if I could add another fish to my setup (don't want overcrowding)? My Oscar is pretty territorial with other cichlids, so I would like to steer clear of other cichlids. I was looking at several things to put in my tank and I am not sure how it would work out (one of these, not all of them):
Kissing Gourami ?
Ropefish ?
Bichir? species?
catfish? species?
or Red hook silver dollars to add to my school of regular silver dollars?
any oddball fish?

I am not too attached to my silver dollars because they are soooo spooky (but they are cool fish). They freak out when I close the tank lid and they bash their little faces on the side of the tank. Is that normal? They also hit their noses on the tank lid sometimes when they rush up to get food. They often get little cuts on their noses (which heal pretty quick).

P.S. sorry if I posted in the wrong forum. Just figured you guys would know what goes best with cichlids.

[peifc]

Have you really tried putting any cichlid with the Oscar? If you did, what kind of cichlids?

[Lynsey]

Yeah, I tried:
A Blood Parrot that grew up with the Oscar and they lived very happily for a little over a year together until my Oscar turned on my BP. I then tried a 6" JD that was fine for a few months, and then the JD became too aggressive for my Oscar. I also tried a larger BP and a larger severum, but my Oscar was too aggressive. I was thinking about maybe a convict, but I can't find any that are of any size in my area. I can only find ones that are like 2" and my Oscar would eat that. It is pretty hard to find any larger cichids in my area. I can't really think of anything else: GT, RD, Texas are probably too aggressive too, so I don't really know what to do. I do however like the oddball type fish. My Oscar doesn't really care about none cichlid fish so that is why I thought of a kissing gourami.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

[peifc]

GT isn't as aggressive as people believe. I have a GT...he is very well behave. If you do plan on getting GT...have to get one that is about 5" or so. And they know how to take care themselves.

The reason that your Oscar turned on the Blood Parrot because of the space issue. Both fishes get very big. 75 for that 2 big fishes plus a silver dollar will not be enough space.

You can go for Clown Loach or Botia Loach. If do plan to go for another silver dollar, like red hook...well...please remember, red hook gets to about 12" and you probably will find one of the silver dollar kills just to make room.

You can always try for Giant Danio too. They are great dithers for aggressive fish.

I have one aggressive cichlid. He killed a few fishes. So I threw in couple Giant Danio, he calmed down a lot. He ever stopped attacking fish. I don't know if that will work for your Oscar.

If you really want a Kissing Gourami...it might work if your Oscar doesn't feel cram. Need to consider how big all your fish will get when they are adult before you decide on getting other fish.

[Lynsey]

Thanks. I had large Giant danios, but my Oscar ate them at night. I think I might just leave things the way they are if their is not really a good fit for the tank.

[scott]

I just picked up a synodontis decorus for one of my cichlid tanks and I love it! Beautiful catfish and he actually comes out and swims around during feeding time. Most catfish are nocturnal so you shouldn't see to much conflict after the initial aggitation surely occurs. Another idea is a sun cat. I have kept one successfully in a 90 with oscar, blackbelt and JD. He hides out in his cave during the day and eats all of the mess at night, works out quite well.

[DarthV]

In a 75gal, don't bother putting any other large fish in there... your oscar will be taxing your filtration system once it gets full grown on its own. You can try some silver dollars or something like that...

[Lynsey]

Thanks. I just added two more silver dollars. They immediately found the other three and are now swimming around with their new friends.