:-( can see why people dont like oscars

[kelly82]

i rehomed 1 of the 2 oscars i had in my 180 as it was attacking the other one, even though they had been together since they were tiny. they are around 8" or so, and i figured they simply didnt want to stay together.the smaller one of the 2 was chasing and biting the other, keeping it hemmed into a corner, and stopping it from eating. so im left with the other oscar, i kept the well behaved one which wasnt chasing all the other tankmates. sooooo, over the past 2 days, this one aswell has decided it owns the entire tank. the only thing it is ok with is the synodontis ocellifer i have in there. the silver dollars are chased constantly, and i mean they can hide behind a rock or something, but the oscar can and will find them and then chase them out, they both have scrapes and marks on their sides, new ones every few hours. they look a mess and stressed too.

i always thought i would love an oscar, i love the way they look, and how they interact with people. i definately do not love their moods! i think getting them was a huge mistake, and now im considering swapping out the oscar for something a little tamer. the school of dollars will grow from 2 to 8 over the weekend. im not sure what else i could have in there with them which will look nice, be calm, stand out. i know i can take the oscar in for rehoming at our local lfs so that isnt a problem. its just thinking what else i can stock. i think im totally off cichlids, i just cant deal with the aggression. i was thinking a few albino tinfoils instead but just dont know.

[verbal]

Why don't you try a Severum(Green or Gold depending on your preference). You should get the good parts of cichlid behavior without much aggression. They also are fairly hardy fish.

[kelly82]

ive looked at the severums before, will have to look into them again. ideally im looking for a larger (6-10" approx) fish which doesnt hide, swims all areas of the tank, and preferably has a bit of colour. i dont mind if i need a few of them or 1 in the tank with the other fish. i just cant make up my mind (plus its costing a fortune and my husbands getting a bit fed up i think!)

[excuzzzeme]

As an Oscar owner (I have 5), I have found that most people expect things of them that just isn't in their nature.

Baseline: Cichlid. As a cichlid, they are not a communal fish and often prefer to be alone rather than in groups unless 6 or more. Almost any Oscar tries to be the king of the tank. They can and often will bully any other tank resident. They extend their territory to include the immediate area OUTSIDE of their tank. Some will be laid back and are OK with other fish but that is an exception rather than a rule. Their possessive nature extends to the person that feeds them the most often and may not accept food from other people. This is not true of all, rather is a general rule.

Tankmates: Mates that will work with Oscars need to be a fast swimmer and docile. Also need to pair off and will enter into a monogamous relationship with it's chosen mate. It will fight with anything it can catch and will eat anything that it can get into it's mouth. Sometimes they can be just as happy alone as they might be with a mate.

Decor, plants, etc: Forget it. They will rearrange the decor or plants to suit themselves, not you! Anything that is not nailed or glued down is fair game to be moved.

Attitude: Sulk, pout, and generally moody. Will turn their back on the owner to show displeasure for no reason at all. When in a good mood they can be taught to jump for the food, can be hand fed, petted, rubbed , and generally treated like a dog. They can greet you with frantic wiggling or turn their backs. They might take the food offered and then just spit it right back at you.

If you care for an Oscar, you will need to treat it as a spoiled child or as an abused/neglected dog. You need to be patient and willing to allow that they are "misfits". They are like a cat in the sense of "you don't own them, they own you".

You have to accept them on their terms, not yours. They aren't for everybody. All mine are rescues or rehomes due to many reasons with the most common being that they are too aggressive and moody. Only 1 Oscar I have came from an owner that understood them. The rest came to me because they were too much trouble and too aggressive for the owner. They aren't for everyone and there is no shame in admitting they aren't a good fit for you.

Good luck with your decisions.

[kelly82]

thank you for that, its all so true. i guess i was looking at owning them with rose tinted glasses so to speak. as my husband doesnt like oscars i cant dedicate this tank to just them, and they are so moody with other residents (or the ones i have are) i doubt whole heartedly that i will keep it. i dont think they are for me, if i had more room for more tanks i could dedicate one for a single or pair of oscars but we are so limited. i will search for a good knowledgable home for the one i have i think, and see how i go with the school of dollars until i figure what i really want.

[msjinkzd]

you could try rearranging the tank decor to throw him off while they settle into their new hierarchy. I think adding more silver dollars will help as well as it will help to split the oscars agression.

They are super rewarding fish but yea, they are cichlids and can be a bit testy.

[cobfreak]

ideally im looking for a larger (6-10" approx) fish which doesnt hide, swims all areas of the tank, and preferably has a bit of colour. i dont mind if i need a few of them or 1 in the tank with the other fish. i just cant make up my mind (plus its costing a fortune and my husbands getting a bit fed up i think!)

What about some gourami or other? One of the varations of 3 spot?

[BOLTSFAN]

Ditto all of what excusemee said, I have 3 very large, about 10" they totally moved everything in the 120 I have them in. They manage to get along but nothing else except a huge Pleco survives in the tank. However they eat out of my hand and dance and sway anytime I come near. Good luck.

[Sploke]

some other options for less aggressive, larger cichlids are severums (8" or so, at least 3 distinct color variations), uaru (8-10"), firemouths (6-8" or so)...plenty of other options.

[ODPILOT]

Here's the real problem. Oscars are big fish. In the wild, they might have an entire lake or canal to make a home -- steaking off perhaps a 10 square foot area to defend and lay eggs. In a home aquarium, even a big one, like 180 gallons, this is not nearly enough space for a territory for these big fish. The fact that they grew up together means nothing -- these are not children, they are fish with natural preditory and territorial instincts. Here in Florida, you can see all types of Cichlids in the local canals and lakes. When they spawn and lay eggs, they each create about a 5 square ft circular area that they defend viciously, but there is enough space for everyone so no one gets hurt or suffers from lack of food. In a fish tank -- different story - not enough space - and no place to hide from aggressive Oscars .

[kelly82]

thanks for everyones opinions on this. i know they stake out much larger areas in the wild, and i figured this was why they took a dislike to the other fish. what i wasnt expecting was the aggression which surfaced between the 2. i got them from a small 3ft tank, they were fine in there, they were fine in my tank for a while, then all of a sudden seemingly from nowhere they fell out. i let them be for a day or 2 but decided to split them when the smaller one really beat the snot out of the slightly larger one. maybe they werent a male female pair like i was told (i know they cant be sexed easily but figured by that size of they werent compatible they would have already fought) i dont know, but they went from seemingly inseparable to all out trying to kill each other in a very short space of time. ive decided to rehome my remaining Oscar, ive been offered 1 home already which ive turned down (4.5ft x 1ft x 1ft tank with 2 other oscars in there and 2 common 'sucker fish' :shakehead: ) i will keep hold of it until i find a good new home, the lfs have said they will take it on but ive decided to make sure it gets the home it needs.

ive had to swap the oscar for the parrot i had separated, as i still hadnt found a home for it that i was 100% with, so the oscar is in the 20g (daily water changes) and the parrot is back in the main tank. so far it seems all good, the parrot doesnt really bother with the dollars, it was only the oscar it was tearing bites from so it may actually work out staying in there. the dollars were getting so many bites and scales removed by the oscar i figured a bit of chasing by the parrot if it happens would be the lesser of 2 evils until i get this mess sorted out. so far so good though, the parrot is doing ok, the dollars are up and about more than ever, all are eating well, no chasing so far.

i do think the oscar and parrot were totally wrong to be in the same tank (serves me right for listening to the sales guy!) even though they were equal size. i hope the parrot does settle in well with the dollars, they really look nice together. i am fully prepared to separate and rehome if neccessary though. time will tell.

thanks for all comments so far.

[GEV83]

You could go with silver dollars some giant danios large pieces of driftwood and some Panaque pleco's. I got Silver Dollars and Giant Danios together with driftwood. The water is yellow from the tannins and they look nice. I like them in yellow water more then in clear water.

[kelly82]

i think you must be a mind reader! i am on the lookout for a school of larger giant danios :cool: had them before in a huge commmunity and loved them.

really want to find more drift wood too.

are there any live plants at all that the dollars wont eat?

[GEV83]

Dope Silver Dollars will eat any plants you put in your tank. That includes even thick leaved anubias. Oh wait there is one plant but those plants dont grow so good. But they are impossible to kill. The type of plants that they just cant eat are plastic plants lol. I got 7 Giant Danios on has a messed up spine. There trippy fish. Wish I had a bigger tank so I could get more.

[kelly82]

:lol2: lol ye i thought they would, ah well, plastic it is then, at least i can scrub any algae off :)

on a good note, the parrot fish is happily cruising around the tank, and the dollars are so much happier now they arent being harrassed constantly. will be getting 6 new dollars tomorrow, and will head off in search of a nice group of danios.

i like the dodgy looking fish too, i once had a strange zebra danio, it was around twice as long as the others, was completey normal until it got to the end of its back by where its tail should be, where it had a 2nd set of gills, all the extra fins and a normal tail. it was like one fish had swam too fast up the butt of the fish in front. it lived and grew well for at least 3 or 4 months then i just found it dead. i guess it was some kind of siamese twin fish thing.

[GEV83]

Yeah it was prob what they refer to as a parasitic twin. Thats weird though 2 fish in one. I dont care for the Zebra Danios. They are to small for my liking. If im gonna get something small ide go for either guppies or ummm endlers. Giant danios well get big and look nice in a group and when healthy really shine.

My Giant Danios are a lil crazy right now. Since I got the 4 they been more jumpy. 2 Of them from my orginal group stay away from the others. They are the 2 biggest ones from the group.

[kelly82]

strange, you would have thought they would enjoy being in a larger group and it would calm them down.

i dont much care for the smaller fish, but i got to say when i had my 180 as a planted community, they were a great lookin fish in a school of 30 :)

[GEV83]

30???? Wow that was a nice sized school of Danios.

[FishPish]

Ive had angels get along with dollars too. Chances are if you can put a dollar in, you can put an angel.

[GEV83]

I dont think an Angel would be a good choice considering Kelly has a blood Parrot in the tank as well.

[FishPish]

Problem with aggressive fish is that they actually expect the other fish to leave the area and disappear. They think by attacking relentlessly that they will achieve this. You definitely sound like a person who wants to have a more social tank.

[kelly82]

well things have changed a little over the past 2 days, i lost the smallest dollar, its seemed weak since i got it home to be honest so im down to 6 dollars, 5 stong big healthy fish and 1 smaller one that is eating well still so im guessing it will be fine just needs to put on a bit of weight.

also, the parrot isnt in there any longer, it was a constant battle between the parrot and the synodontis, im not sure exactly what the issue between them was but the parrot could be the other end of the tank and if it saw the catfish it would launch an attack. the catfish has issues and was blinded before i got it (i was told it was extreme temperature in an old tank which caused cataracts???) either way it has pure white eyes and it really doesnt see anything so it didnt react until the parrot had gotten to it and is now scratched up pretty badly, but healing well. the parrot went to a new home last night and this morning the tank, although looking empty, seems more relaxed.

im still on the lookout for giant danios, but no-one has any in. we have rung round and have our name down for them to contact when anyone gets any in stock but so far no luck. we are considering a school of zebra/leopard danios instead but arent sure if they may become snacks-any ideas?

i wouldnt add angels to this tank as i think the dollars may well beat them up when they get skittish, i cant imagine an angel doing well with 6"+ fish zooming round the tank at top speed.

my other idea was some rosey or gold barbs, or a mix of both. this is very tempting as it would add some colour to the tank.

[RhondaAnn]

i wouldnt add angels to this tank as i think the dollars may well beat them up when they get skittish, i cant imagine an angel doing well with 6"+ fish zooming round the tank at top speed.



Around 15 years ago I had adult angels and silver dollars together. It was the angels who picked on the dollars.:jaw-dropping:
But anyway, they lived in the same tank for many, many years.

[kelly82]

wow, i would have thought the dollars would rule over angels, mind you i had a breeding pair once and they would attack me so i guess a fish the same size as themselves would be no issue :laugh:

[GEV83]

Angel fish and Silver dollars would in my opinion be ok. You may have problems when the SD get scared and dart around like lil nuts. Reason being is cuz they dart of aimlessly and a school of SD going toward a Angel would injure it if they collided. Ide wait for the Giant Danios. Its be well worth it.

Im sure i could think of a nice center piece fish for you just give me some time to think.

[kelly82]

good luck with figuring that out, lol i been thinking a lot and cant come up with anything. i know il have the dollars and danios, and have the hoplos and the syno and plec but nothing seems to come to mind for a good peaceful nice sized centerpiece. also, i think im losing the smallest of the dollars, i have 5 large ones and 1 small one, and the small one hasnt eaten all day, usually hes first to the food. il keep tabs on it but im not holding much hope. they were pretty battered when i got them and the little ones had obviously taken a beating at some point. the bigger ones are growing their fins nicely and looking good, all putting on weight. fingers crossed the little guy pulls through.