Starting a Cichlid tank soon, need advice!

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Artemis17

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Oct 12, 2009
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Around December or so I'm going to be getting a 75gal tank maybe 100gal. This is going to be my first aquarium of any kind. I've been researching it a lot, and have already read a book on freshwater aquariums. I'm going to do a fishless cycle before I get my fish, and I might do live plants. But now the question comes to what to stock it with. I've been looking into Cichlids, and I think I want my tank to be specifically devoted to Cichlids. I know I want at least one Tiger Oscar, as well as a few other species of Cichlid to be in the same tank. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: Maybe 2 oscars, and some other cichlids/various fish.
 
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Artemis17

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Oct 12, 2009
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Could a 75gal tank hold 1 Oscar and 1 Green Terror? Would they get along? If so I'm going with that.
 

froglover007

Obsessed 13-year-old
Apr 15, 2009
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Alberta
I think if you are keeping an oscar you will have to keep him either by himself or in a mated pair. You can keep them with other fish in very large tanks. If you skip the oscar you can have the green terror with another central american cichlid or two. :) You will also have ot skip live plants.
 

Artemis17

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Oct 12, 2009
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I think if you are keeping an oscar you will have to keep him either by himself or in a mated pair. You can keep them with other fish in very large tanks. If you skip the oscar you can have the green terror with another central american cichlid or two. :) You will also have ot skip live plants.
Ok would a 75gal tank be able to hold a male and female oscar? Or should I just go with 1 oscar and maybe some smaller cichlids with it?
 

froglover007

Obsessed 13-year-old
Apr 15, 2009
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Alberta
I would not keep an oscar with anything else. THey are just too aggressive except in large tanks (like 200 gal. plus). You can keep a male and female together as pair, just watch for aggression and have a seperator on hand. If you go this route, you should: a) Buy the fish as a pair
b) Buy several juveniles and hope a pair forms. Sell the rest.
 

Sir

Please, can I have some more?
Nov 21, 2007
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Would a 75gal tank be enough to hold a male and female though?
Some would argue against it, but I say go for it. However since this is your first time having an aquarium, I would just get one oscar to start. Although you can get a pair and if they breed just don't be disappointed if the fry don't survive.
As for keeping a GT and Oscar together, that's totally up to you. I have a 75 with 1 Pleco, 1 GT, 1 JD, and 1 Tiger Oscar. I'm going to give my JD to my teacher though and eventually if I must I'll have to sell my GT and Pleco, but as youngins, you can keep the GT and Oscar together, but be warned that it is not likely you can keep them together forever. Tiger Oscars are beautiful fish, so me, being a total Oscar fanatic, would recomend an Oscar over a Green Terror (GT). Especially since they are really hardy fish and so much fun to keep. And if you take the path of keeping an Oscar and Green Terror together as youngins, make sure that the Oscar is bigger than the GT and allow the Oscar a few days in your tank before adding the GT, because as young fish, GTs are more violent than Oscars.

ALSO! MAKE SURE TO DO WEEKLY 50% WATER CHANGES AND HAVE A GOOD CANISTER FILTER ON YOUR AQUARIUM! I would recoment the Rena xP3 canister filter and an HOB filter as well just so that you can place pure carbon or nitro-carb into the HOB to create more filtration to keep the water cleaner and less stinky. :yuck:

With everything said, if you can get your hands on a 100 gal aquarium instead of the 75, I would definitely say you will have a better chance keeping 2 oscars in the bigger aquarium! And you could, possibly, keep a GT and an Oscar together in a 100 gal aquarium as well. (Though I think other people would disagree with me I say it's fine and since you are new with the hobby go ahead and experiment)
 

Artemis17

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Oct 12, 2009
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Ok Im going to stick with 1 oscar in the 75gal tank. Can I put some other small fish in schools with it? Like Tiger Barbs or something?
 
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