Oscar tank mates

[Terazakki]

Good Day,

I would like some stocking ideas for my aquarium. I have a 60x24x24 inch (150gallon) aquarium. It is currently cycling so fishes have not been added to the tank.

I have 2 Oscars (1 about 5.5inch and the other about 4.5inch) which would be going into the tank.

I would like to know what other fishes I can add to the aquarium and how many of each type of fish. Some fishes I like are silver dollars, severums and firemouths but open to other ideas. What size would these fishes need to be when adding to the tank and should it be added before I put the Oscars in the tank or before?

Thank you.

[charliebankston]

I used to have a severum in with my oscars. They bullied him and he hid all the time. Oscars are bossy but really poor fighters, lol. I moved the severum to my angel fish tank and it's worked out great. I have a firemouth in a tank with 2 oscars now. No issues at all. The fm is tougher. Convicts and jack dempsey are good mates. On those big fish its good to figure about 35 gallons per fish. So, let's say 2 oscars, a jack dempsey, a fire mouth, and 6 silver dollars would be heavy stocked for example. A convict in place of the jd would be a little lighter

[charliebankston]

I keep alot of cichlids, and Ime the statements about them "growing up together" is hogwash. That being said, a cichlid much smaller will get easily dominated and won't show colors, personality or growth very well

[charliebankston]

Also, when putting cichlids together, there's no hard and fast rules. What has worked for one person may not for you, and vice versa. They all have their own personalities. It's always a good thing to have a backup plan