RUDE awakening this morning!

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pierre_john

AC Members
Sep 20, 2000
38
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0
Smithers, BC, Canada
This AM, I woke up doing my normal ritual, turn my tank lights on do a quick scan to see how things are going. This morning, I check my 80G tank that has 1 oscar, 2 severums, 3 Silver Dollars and 3 rope fish. Who have coexisted for over four months. To, find my oscar with one of my rope fish in his mouth...screaming for my husband to help me, we tried to scare the oscar to let it go, (unsure of the poor little rope was still alive), sure enough my husband helped to see if it was alive, it wiggled. So we desparetly tried to get the fish to let go, he did spit it out and the poor little guy shot to the top of the tank, all freaked. The rope is injured but alive, I salted the tank immediately, added melafix and got the oscar in my 168 gallon. He doesn't like it in there but he is on time out....I think that he doesn't like it in there because of the filteration is a UGF--that is the only difference in the tanks. The Oscar is fairly big, he is over a foot long but has NEVER shown this type of aggression before. I had him in with some feeders, he never ever at them, they grew to adult size and are living in their own tank...since they were spared.

Unreal...
 
I dont think we can EVER second guess a fish TRUE Identity, no matter how much we want to. In my tank I had 5 Dist. affninis. Everything was fine. Sure, once in a while the Dist. Affinis fin nipped my elephant nose and a few other fish I have. I said to myself. OK ..as long as its only small and far in between, I can live with that type of aggresion. UNTILL I woke up one day to find my ELEPHANE NOSE BADLY bitten (both side fins torn up and a chunk on the bottom bitten off). Well, that made my decision. The dist. Affiinis had to GO! So off to the store they went.
Before you put ANY fish togethor, research it to see what type of fish it is and its behavior. IN My case, there was LITTLE if any info on these guys and none of them mentioned aggression or fin nipping. MOral of the story.... Never second guess a fish natural instinct.

I would separate your rope fish and your oscar... IT WILL happen again...
 
Yah you have that right Cichlid Woman, My rope fish is looking good today. I was really worried about the punture wounds. But before I went to work today, I had to pull my Oscar from the 168 and put him in a tank by himself...like I said he is a very mellow fish...he got his butt kicked last night by something and nothing in that tank can compare to his size. So now he is in a 33 gallon hospital tank recovering. He seems okay in there but what a space difference.
 
What kinda of fish did you have in the 168G with the Oscar? If you have any Jack Dempseys they WILL fight with Oscars and believe it or not the Oscar will end up getting pretty roughed up.
 
One of my books describes the oscar as having "a large mouth into which smaller fish all too easily disappear".

It's not aggression. It's feeding. Oscars are not an aggressive fish for their size, but they are predatory.
 
THank you all for your information, I am very partial to my Oscar due to his sociability with humans. I have a select group of fish that I am very protective of, that include; Oscar, 2 Blue Acaras, Jack Dempsey(very calm - non aggressive), Nicraugnese, Fantail Catfish (Europitus), - all of them will pretty much let you touch them and are very eager to meet you at the top.

I love all my fish but I am very close with the named fish. I bet the blue channel catfish got to the Oscar, he is mean and is a tyrant in my tank he is going to be donated to a local highschool that has a 750 gallon tank. The BCCF is about 18" long!
 
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