HannahJ
Aquarium Advice Activist
My boyfriend and I are upgrading some of our fish soon, and we've been throwing around the idea of starting an oscar tank in the soon-to-be-vacated digs. We want to get a pair of juvenile oscars (the smallest size at the lfs, so we can "raise" them) and have them grow together, hopefully to form a breeding pair in a year or two.
Anyways, here the issue: since sexing is virtually impossible at that stage, is this very likely to end in failure? It's a 2 out of 4 chance we get different genders, which are pretty good odds to me, but do they stand a good chance of actually "pairing" up provided they are raised together? And if they turn out to both be female, a 1 in 4 chance, will they likely still be good to live together, even when they reach sexual maturity? I understand that two males, another 1 in 4 chance, wouldn't work out once they outgrow the juvie stage, but if the other possibilities work, that's a 75% chance of at least some success, which sounds good to me to try.
Anyways, is there anything wrong with my projections? Are two different gender oscars probably not going to pair up and need to be separated, or are two females likely to turn on each other once they get older?
They would initially be raised in a 35 gallon tank (they'll obviously eventually get upgraded to a 70+ tank as required, but we're looking to buy 2-3" fish right now), already with a sand bottom, that will have a few large rocks in it. There will probably be a pleco in there with them, since my mother keeps buying them for her 15 gallon school tank and then calling me when they outgrow it, and if I'm guessing right, one of those calls is coming soon. (I really need to just buy her a clown pleco, but she always beats me to the punch with whatever pleco catches her eye at petsmart. But that is a rant for another time....) Not planning on any other tankmates (except maybe a tire track or fire eel? Those are pretty sweet), we mainly just want a pair of entertaining oscars to spoil.
On a side note, if we did get two oscars and they did decide to hate each other, could we just put one in the big tank with my ghost knife and pleco (both about a foot long--the pleco is one of those aforementioned rescues from my mother)? Is that a workable combo?
Thanks for any advice! This will be the first time for either of to take a swing at oscars or cichlids of any sort, and we just want to try and do it right.
Anyways, here the issue: since sexing is virtually impossible at that stage, is this very likely to end in failure? It's a 2 out of 4 chance we get different genders, which are pretty good odds to me, but do they stand a good chance of actually "pairing" up provided they are raised together? And if they turn out to both be female, a 1 in 4 chance, will they likely still be good to live together, even when they reach sexual maturity? I understand that two males, another 1 in 4 chance, wouldn't work out once they outgrow the juvie stage, but if the other possibilities work, that's a 75% chance of at least some success, which sounds good to me to try.
Anyways, is there anything wrong with my projections? Are two different gender oscars probably not going to pair up and need to be separated, or are two females likely to turn on each other once they get older?
They would initially be raised in a 35 gallon tank (they'll obviously eventually get upgraded to a 70+ tank as required, but we're looking to buy 2-3" fish right now), already with a sand bottom, that will have a few large rocks in it. There will probably be a pleco in there with them, since my mother keeps buying them for her 15 gallon school tank and then calling me when they outgrow it, and if I'm guessing right, one of those calls is coming soon. (I really need to just buy her a clown pleco, but she always beats me to the punch with whatever pleco catches her eye at petsmart. But that is a rant for another time....) Not planning on any other tankmates (except maybe a tire track or fire eel? Those are pretty sweet), we mainly just want a pair of entertaining oscars to spoil.
On a side note, if we did get two oscars and they did decide to hate each other, could we just put one in the big tank with my ghost knife and pleco (both about a foot long--the pleco is one of those aforementioned rescues from my mother)? Is that a workable combo?
Thanks for any advice! This will be the first time for either of to take a swing at oscars or cichlids of any sort, and we just want to try and do it right.
