oscars and jack dempseys?

silentskream

silentskream

AC Members
May 16, 2004
1,860
0
36
Florida
can they be together?
do they grow about the same rate?
could i have one of each? if i have one male of each will they fight? or do they only fight with males of their own species?
thanks!!
 
It depends on the size of the tank, I think you would need a min. of 125g tank.
Oscars grow much quicker than dempseys, but if you get a 4" dempsey and a 2" oscar to compensate the dempsey may kill the oscar.
 
I keep a Jack Dempsey that is currently about 5" long with a couple of 10" oscars. I have always kept JDs with oscars in the past, too. I have never had any problems. I'd put my money on the JD if things got rough, though. Luckily, it's a very mellow tank.
 
anything i can do to keep it "more mellow"?
or is just the luck of the draw?
 
all fish will have their own personality so if you get a really mean one there could be problems. but generally having sufficient space (125g minimum like scott-kim said) and hiding areas like caves so they can have their territories should be good. maybe some dither fish to keep them distracted if your tank can handle it as well.

hope this helps :)
 
it does, thank you.

is there any type of pleco that would work with an oscar and a JD?
i was hoping liveaquaria would have some common plecs for sale, because the ones at my LFS are really tiny.. and i was thinking a bigger one would have a better chance.
 
i have a just a common pleco with my JD, and there's no problems. I don't think you have to worry about size too much as the plecos tend to stay out of trouble.
 
Thanks for asking this question. We are about to get a larger tank for our oscar (5.5") and want to add a tankmate. We are going back and forth between a JD or a green terror. We have been reading alot online, but everything seems to contradict each other...some resources say its okay, others say no. It looks like it's hit or miss and depends on individual personalities. It looks like what is important is to make sure you have enough space for them both and a LFS that will take/trade back the fish if it doesn't work out...
 
well i'm glad i'm not the only one!
i really love oscars, and my boyfriend really loves JDs.. and we have a 250gallon tank that we're thinking about redoing (right now it just looks like a hodgepodge of random fish groups)
we've never had a tank this big, and we're really leaning towards large fish because it's an opportunity that we'd otherwise never have.. and that most people don't have.
thank you all for your help!
 
It depends on who has established their territory in the tank first. In my tank, the Tiger Oscar runs the show. Oscar generally grow larger than Jack Dempseys but it wouldn't matter if the Dempsey was more aggressive. As for tank size, for two 10 -12 inch Oscars and a 7 - 8 inch Jack Dempsey, you should be able to get away with a 75 - 90 gallon tank with VERY STRONG filtration.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom