Jd an Oscar not friends.

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Cobbs

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I have a three inch Jack Dempsey and a 4 inch Oscar. I've had them for about 2 months and they recently started fighting. Even though my Oscar is bigger he is getting his butt kicked by the jd. Any tips on controlling their aggression? They are in a heavily planted 55g tank with plenty of hiding places.
 

Rbishop

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You can't control their aggression. They are maturing and establishing a pecking order, just a fact of life. It may settle out or it may not. You could easily end up with one fish, in which case you get get another similar sized fish and try again.
 

Treefork

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I have a three inch Jack Dempsey and a 4 inch Oscar. I've had them for about 2 months and they recently started fighting. Even though my Oscar is bigger he is getting his butt kicked by the jd. Any tips on controlling their aggression? They are in a heavily planted 55g tank with plenty of hiding places.
You're oscar will never be able to handle the JD. If the JD decides to kill him, he will. Oscars are not aggressive by cichlid standards and should be housed with other non aggressive cichlids and large fish or alone.


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Rbishop

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pffttt...IME it will be 50/50...have seen quite a few killer Oscars in 30 years....
 

excuzzzeme

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You're oscar will never be able to handle the JD. If the JD decides to kill him, he will. Oscars are not aggressive by cichlid standards and should be housed with other non aggressive cichlids and large fish or alone.
pffttt...IME it will be 50/50...have seen quite a few killer Oscars in 30 years....
+1

Oscars ARE aggressive. They cannot be housed with anything other than similar tempered fish. However, you can run into some on occasion that are evenly tempered. A JD is usually one of the recommended tankmates. If you think they are non-aggressive, I challenge you to stick your hand in my Oscar tank. That being said, you will find some that are pretty laid back and fairly docile, they are the exception.
 

Wyomingite

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pffttt...IME it will be 50/50...have seen quite a few killer Oscars in 30 years....
+2

IME, oscars tend to be the aggressor less often than similar-sized CA cichlids such as jags, RDs, midas, etc., but when an oscar decides a certain area of a tank is its own it make no bones 'bout it. And when another fish gets aggressive, most oscars will give it right back.

To the OP, eventually you will wanna look at a larger tank. That in itself will help aggression as it allows more space for each fish. One option in the mean time is dividing the tank with an egg crate divider for a time. Allow each fish the opportunity to stake out it's territory. Make sure ya have a piece of driftwood, a clay pot or other decor on each side for each fish to claim as it's own. This may or may not help, I've had mixed success in the past. If the two fish start ignoring each other, ya can try removing the egg crate and see how it goes. Good luck!

WYite
 

Rbishop

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LOL...must be the Mid-West Oscars that ya keep! :)
 
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