small Tiger Oscar and other fish?

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olwiggum

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Dec 31, 2003
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I set up a tank for Cichlids and put a small Tiger Oscar in it the other day. The tank is 30 gallons and the fish is about an inch to and inch and a half long. I was planning on putting other cichlids with it, but I'm not sure what would be best. I've been reading about them and it doesn't look like I have many choices. Jack Dempseys seem to be pretty compatible with them.

There were actually 2 Oscars in there last week with another cichlid that my brother brought over because it was being chased in his tank. Well, it killed both of the Oscars so it has since been returned to him.

Since the Oscar is so small, would it be possible to put small African cichlids in there? Once the Oscar gets too big for the tank, I will probably trade him in to the LFS so that he won't be completely unhappy.

I would like for him to have at least a tankmate or two and I'm looking for suggestions.

Thanks.
 
Oscars need much larger tanks than 30g, I suggest you rethink your stocking plans. Oscars should reach a length of 12'' or more very quickly... they usually grow 1'' a month if proper tank mantenance is observed. They are also extremely messy and produce a great ammount of ammonia as well as left over food which also produces ammonia... ammonia is toxic to fish. I would return him quickly istead of later. Oscars are very hard to depart with because of their friendly nature and "dog in a fish tank" type behavior.

If you are interested in african cichlids, I would look into the smaller Lake Tanganyika species, such as those of the Julidochromis genus and of the Neolamprologus genus as well as some others.
 
^^ Yes, that oscar will grow very quickly and will need a minimum of 65gallons. Mine was in a 75g... t'was a sad day when I parted with him...
 
Oh my...an Oscar in a 30 gal! Yikes! I'de say he's good in there for about 5 months. I have an Oscar (9 inches) in a 45 gal, and he is soon to be out growing that too. He will be moving into new quarters soon.
You also may wish to consider some heavy duty filtertration for your tank.
Keeping Os are like keeping a great dane in a tiny backyard..lots of mess.

My guy never could get along with tank mates. He either ate them or terrorized them to a point where they had to be removed.
 
Oh yeah, ... I don't think it is a good idea to combine African cichlids with South and Central American ones. I do believe they have fairly different water chemistry requirements.
Do your homework. There is a great deal of info at this site. It will save you a good deal of head aches and disappointments.
 
Yeah, I put him in there by himself before adding anything else to it. I didn't want a disaster to happen. I think I'm going to take him back and just put several African cichlids in the tank.
 
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