Possible tankmates for Oscars/Sevs?

parrotfish100

parrotfish100

AC Members
Feb 22, 2004
162
0
0
36
California
Alrighty, a customer came to my workplace today (lfs) and asked me about Oscars. He wants to start a 60g tank with some oscars, and other South American cichlids. I told him that the oscars are gonna get big, and aren't very good tankmates for other fish, so I reccommended some Golden Severum. We didn't have any in at the time, so my manager's gonna order some. If he does get the oscars, he claims he will "give them away when they get too big". But thats kinda hard to do...

My question for all you is:

What would make good tankmates for Oscars, as I don't know a whole lot about about them :sad

Also:

What goes well with Severums? I have a few, and they get along fine with my other fish... they are only semi-aggressive, aren't they?
 
Please do your best to talk him out of the Oscars if he is going to "give them away when they get too big". That kind of thing makes me SO mad! It's the same thing as someone getting that cute little baby burmese python or monitor lizard and thinking, "I can just give it to a zoo when it gets too big for me to handle!" Tell him that 55 gallons is the absolute smallest for just ONE Oscar!
As for Severums, I know nothing about them; I am a beginning fish keeper. This guy sounds like bad news, an irresponsible pet owner. I wish you good luck.
 
Sorry I don't know about severums, but I raised Oscars in the past. A 60g tank would not hold more than one Oscar. I wouldn't put an adult in anything less than a 75 maybe even a 90. Tell him if he want "AN" Oscars shell out the extra bucks and get a bigger tank. If he wants two I would say 110-125. Might do more research on those minimums. Mine grew from an inch to 10 inches in a year if I remeber correctly. Not sure it took that long. I had to sell mine to a LFS because I lost my job and had to move around alot. I'm still very sad 1 1/2 years later cause he really knew me and would gently eat from my hand.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, they grow an inch per month... It also bugs me when people say that they will get rid of it if its too big. I am going to let him know that Oscars aren't reccomended, and swing him more towards Severums and Geophagus.

Thanks for your replies!
 
I have a Severum and an Oscar together in a 50gal at the mo (dont worry thay are moving into a 6ft tank shortly). They get on fine as Oscars are quite peacefull. The Severum gets a bit bossy at times normally when it comes to feeding but dosent overly harrass or chase, just likes to assert his authority. also have him with a blue acara and they get on fine too. Do not recomend severums with angels though as the angel was to bossy and to slow so my severum killed him. Problem is is he has a small tank for semi-agressive fish which will struggle to find retreats from each other. Perhaps if its particularly cichlids he likes go for Kribensis, Rams and other smaller types.
If he wants severums I suggest Blue Acaras, Fire mouths, Festives and the like. also get on fine with smaller community fish like mollies although nothing small enough to fit in his mouth!

Hope this helps!
(PS dont let him get the oscar)!!
 
Cat said:
If he wants severums I suggest Blue Acaras, Fire mouths, Festives and the like. also get on fine with smaller community fish like mollies although nothing small enough to fit in his mouth!
Click to expand...
I have two Uaru and a Chocolate cichlid with my two Gold Severums. I also have three Blue Acaras and three Nicaraquense, five Clown Loaches, three Upside Down catfish, and a heard of Tiger Barbs with them in a 180 gallon.

I had Firemouths in there for a while (before the Nics) and the male started to became a real pain once he started pairing off. They are now in a 55 and just laid a ton of eggs.

I have not been able to find Festivums locally, but agree they would go well also.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom