A Jack, Terror, and Oscar

[j_randall1702]

How would a Jack Dempsey, Green Terror, and an Oscar do in a 75 gallon tank? I plan on keeping the three together but dont know how big of a tank to get. The largest tank I can find is a 75 gallon at petsmart.

[cougaran]

Depends on what size the fish are now. It also depends on the aggressive nature of jack and the green terror. In my opinion i would go with a slightly larger oscar as there not one for batttling it out with other cichlids of the same size. Every oscar I had eventually died in an aggresive cichlid tank. However, most of the jack dempsey's i have had have been more docile than say the REd Devils or manguenas(sorry about spelling). I have read green terrors as being very aggressive, but they too never seem to be tough enough to survive in any of my agrressive cichlid tank. SO the three might work out in a big tank, then again they may not. If you start them out smaller they would be more use to their fellow tank mates when they got bigger.
Jack dempsy gets to about 9 to 10" , green terrors 7 to 8" , oscars get real big-13" to 14" ..I've seen guys keep 2 or 3 oscars in a 90 gallon, but the water always looked cloudy and dirty. You could always buy a 75 gallon and wait it out, its going to take you quite awhile for them to get to their maximum size. Then buy a bigger tank later and do something else with the 75.

[severum mama]

I wouldn't try it. Jack Dempseys can grow up to 12", Green terrors up to 12-14" (I think), and oscars up to 14". Green terrors can be extremely aggressive and I've heard lots of people say that they do better in a species tank. Dempseys can range from moderately peaceful to very aggressive as well. [acronym:7aeaa9b289="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:7aeaa9b289] a 75 gallon tank would be the minimum size for any ONE of these fish when they are grown.

[malkore]

agree with Severum here. those are large fish, and each would need a minimum 75gallon tank to itself after a couple of years.
If they are all added to the same tank at the same time as juveniles, they could grow up and learn to live peacefully enough with one another...but the size of tank you'd need for 3 adult fish...yikes!

[j_randall1702]

Right now the Jack is 1 1/2 in, the green terror is 1 1/2 in and the Oscar is 3 1/2...

I was eventually wanting to get three large cichlid tanks going. I am gonna try it for now. Hopefully they can wait six or seven months. I am planning on getting 2 75s and a 120 for my oscar. I guess I will put one in each and then find some tankmates for them.

[cougaran]

A 75 [acronym:08b586d156="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:08b586d156] will be fine for those size fish for 6 months, probably alot longer. Better yet if you got the 120 [acronym:08b586d156="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:08b586d156] for all three you can wait it out and see what you will need in the future. Your talking quite awhile before they get adult size. You also are putting all your eggs in one basket, you really dont know what will happen to the fish in the future, you can lose one. [acronym:08b586d156="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:08b586d156] start with one large tank at a time and work your way up to more tanks.

[oscarbreeder]

The 75 gallon will do for a short period of time but like others have said just one of those fish should be in a 75 by itself when full grown.

All of them(when full grown) in a 120-125 would be fine.

[j_randall1702]

Thanks I appreciate the help. I picked up a 75 gallon tank tonight and decided to put my oscar in it. What would be good tankmates for him. I was thinking about a convict, or firemouth.

[RoK]

Is it full grown? If not, it will need the whole tank to itself when adult anyway.

[cougaran]

More oscars. If you go with firemouth or convict they can be more aggressive if not more than a jack dempsey. If you do decide make absolutely sure that the firemouth or convict are much smaller than your Oscar. Oscars are slow moving and just dont chase well by other cichlids, which usual result in their premature death. Also if u go with more oscars you increase your odds of having a successful adult sized oscar for the future. I've been keeping cichlids for 20 years, they are great fish once you get to know some of their quirks.