Catfish with oscars (other than plecos)
- Thread starter bartier
- Start date
bartier said:
Just about any catfish with an adult size between about 8" and 18" and similar water requirements will go well with oscars. I would avoid the species that are overtly aggressive or territorial. Make sure the cats and oscars are roughly similar in size when you get them (don't put a 2" baby catfish in with an adult oscar or vice versa). I always liked Sorubim lima with my SA cichlids — big but not huge, and so cool to watch. Another good choice would be one of the larger callichthyids, maybe a brown hoplo.
Surgee said:
Channel cats are tank busters for sure. I bought 3 channel cats last year when they were 3 inches long. My Oscars tried to eat them every chance they got. Now, the one surviving CC is over 13 inches long and bullies the 12 inch Oscars!
jagarundi said:
Yeah, you got that right.
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/images/catfishbackgrdcolor.jpg
Only reason they're available is because so many are farm-raised for food.
This is one of my favorite channel cat links on the topic.
http://dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/fishing/stories/channelcat.htm
Back to the question though, as stated previously most mid size cats with sim water requirements will do well. Just remember that in a set up like this the cats are comparable to the oscars in their nutritional needs and waste output, they're really not cleaning up much, but rather adding to the load. A 55 isn't that large so depending on the over-all stocking of the tank, adding a good size cat may be counter productive and stress the load on the tank.
http://dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/fishing/stories/channelcat.htm
Back to the question though, as stated previously most mid size cats with sim water requirements will do well. Just remember that in a set up like this the cats are comparable to the oscars in their nutritional needs and waste output, they're really not cleaning up much, but rather adding to the load. A 55 isn't that large so depending on the over-all stocking of the tank, adding a good size cat may be counter productive and stress the load on the tank.
I have two pictus catfish. They are really nice to look at and very peaceful. I also have a lace catfish. With the lace catfish it is only good to have one. Pictus catfish here in Wisconsin are cheap but they can get really big.
i have 2 Synodontis eupterus (very similar to the lace) and they get along. they are in a 150 and at first there was a little bit of mild chasing, but no big deal.
