HELP!! Tank Mate Fights! JD vs Tiger Oscar

[johnlarson66]

JDs are definitely more aggressive fish than the Oscar. But, if you put the Oscar in the tank first, and let him get bigger before you put in a JD, you'd have better luck. In a 130G I think it is definitely possible to house these 2 fish together, if possible I would get rid of the JD (back to LFS), put the Oscar back in his tank, let him grow a few more inches, and then get a baby JD.

If you don't have any way of getting rid of the JD, I think it would be better to put the Oscar back in the main tank and the JD in QT -- no matter how big you let the Oscar grow, if the JD is the only fish in the main tank for awhile, he will claim it all as his territory and might never let the Oscar be in there. Let the Oscar grow a bit in the main tank and then put the JD back in....might have better luck.

I think this got lost in the shuffle. I would put the Oscar back in the main tank and put your JD in your QT or the 30 gallon you are setting up. The Oscar will grow faster. I have never tried a tank divider, but I think that could be a good idea. I would however get the Oscar back in his home. A convict could be a good one to add to the mix, might keep the JD busy. I am not sure about adding more than one, they tend to multiply and get very territorial when breeding.

 

[wataugachicken]

Avoid petsmart and support your local fish store. Petsmart stocks diseased fish.
Plus your local fish stores will at least accept a fish from you after warranty if it will not work in your tanks. Petsmart will not.(company policy)
Your lfs can order any fish you see at petsmart if they don't stock it.

Petsmart is not a "LFS" they are a chain like walmart.

no need to bash on petsmart. every store is different, even within the chains themselves. i bought my otos (claimed to be one of the more sensitive and 'likely to die' fish out there) from my local petsmart and only lost 3 out of 9, which is absolutely great based on other experiences i have read. i also have a bgk from there which is now hitting 9" long. as far as local stores and warranties - all the indy stores i've visited in my area (well, anywhere i've lived since i've been in the hobby) have a warranty of 72 hours or less, with a water sample needed. petsmart is no questions asked.

 

[terror spawnin]

But what if his LFS is like mine, and 10x worse than any petsmart/petco I've ever seen?? You probably want to ask what the local specialty shops in his area are like before recommending them - for example, in my area, the mom and pop specialty shop is horrific, almost every single tank has several dead fish, many being eaten by their tankmates. Algae is so thick on many of the tanks that you literally cannot see what fish may be inside. There are balls of black moldy-looking stuff all over the substrate in the tanks.

However, at the local petsmart/petco, I won't say that there advice is always correct, but I can say that their tanks always look clean, their stock looks pretty healthy, it is very rare to see even one dead fish in a tank, much less all over the place like at my LFS.

Personally, I skip them both and buy online rather than drive 2 hours to the nearest really good LFS. However, in my local area, Petsmart has a far, far better kept fish section than my LFS, and it could possibly be the same in the OP's area, so I'd again avoid recommending a LFS when you don't know what the OP's LFS is like.

Maybe the lfs you are speaking of had to cut back on staff due to a chain taking over in the area.
Whatever the reason...JUST SAY SOMETHING when you are in there. Trust me, lazy lfs's shape up quick when customers start mocking their dirty practices. I've done it, and have had more respect from the owners ever since.

When they know a critic is coming they maintain better presentation.

 

[Coler]

As already pointed out by wchicken and rbishop, tank divider here would seem a good option.

I agree don't remove the Oscar if you are removing one to house temporarily - that will just reinforce the JD's belief that all of that 130G is his exclusively and he will never accept a tank mate. As a rule of thumb remove the aggressor for a while - couple of months even - and try again.

 

[Lady Ns]

JDs are not always aggressive fish, but compared to an Oscar, I would believe they are a very tempermental fish to handle. Remove the JD from the larger tank and place him in the 30gal. The Oscar should have the 130gal, as it is the bigger fish.
When you add a JD to a tank, you should always make sure it is one of the smallest fish in there and that the main fish are all very much bigger than the JD, otherwise, things mightn't work out.
As for other fish to go in the 130gal, try some other smaller and less aggressive cichlids, possibly Kribs, but I've only ever had them with a large female JD.

Just keep in mind, different areas behold different fish. My area, the JDs are quite placid easy going, and not at all aggressive fish and do well in community tanks. The Oscars are quite active and will attack certain other fish, but they're not all that bad really. Still better off on in their own tanks however. Personally though, I wouldn't put either with a Convict, as the ones here are nightmares. But, like I said, different areas, different fish.

I hope your Oscar does okay and that things work out for you.

 

[Lady G]

Hey guys

After some review on this forum Im gonna try and add a couple Green Terrors (between 2 to 4 of them), or a Jaguar, or a Dovii

What do you think? Tank is 130G's

Get a Jag...I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!! I want one so bad, but I have to get another big tank before I can do that, which also means I need a another house LMAO!

 

[BigZed]

So just an update, I added 4 convicts to the main tank (the one with the JD in it) and everything seems fine. I remember reading on this thread that with a few more fish the aggression might be spread around which seems to be working. The convicts are much smaller then the JD (i would say half the size) yet there hasnt been any extreme aggression from the JD this time around.

With this situation would I be able to reintroduce the Oscar? that would make 6 fish total in a 130G tank...to me it seems a little crowded. Any thoughts on this?

also as a sidenote: seems like I have two females and two males of convicts and they have paired up between them. One pair has recently found a nice spot where they seem to be protecting it. I dont see any eggs or anything and im not sure if they can even breed at this point in time. Im not sure on the breeding cycle of this fish and they do seem premature (if possible) to beed, due to their size (about an inch and a half).

Just though I'd update you guys on the situation.

 

[jagarundi]

Do you have caves or hiding places in your tank? I just lost my female JD after 4 years but she was a big ball of calm and didn't bother the other fish in the tank. Make sure you provide plenty of hiding places in the tank so that the Oscar can get away when needed. When she gets bigger in size, you'll see a big change in behaviour.