Oscar tankmates

[DiverDown]

I have an Oscar I've had for 4 years, he's about 10 inches in a 55 gallon tank. Until today he shared the tank with a Jack Dempsey that I'd had for almost as long, but the Jack developed dropsy and unfortunatly died today (I'm a bit heartbroken about that actually). The Oscar is doing fine, but I want to find a new tankmate for him. I'd love to get another JD, but there are no LFS in the area that sell large cichlids.

So, I am asking what a good tankmate for my Oscar would be, and I'm considering all suggestions.

 

[ksfishguy]

How about a catfish or two?

 

[trotty]

What about some silver dollars... scats or something. Aslong as it.s quick and cant fit in the oscars mouth, shoutld be ok.

 

[DiverDown]

How about a catfish or two?

I do have a pleco that's been with the Oscar ever since they were given to me 4 years ago.

Silver dollars is an interesting idea. I was thinking maybe a parrot.

 

[trotty]

Yeah a blood parrot would be ok. I also had some silver sharks, very fast.

How agressive is the oscar. i have had one that wanted to eat 'YOU' on the other side if he tank, and others that you can pat!

 

[JessieVB]

I used to have a tank of 3 oscars, a couple tin foil barbs and a pleco...

Like someone else said I think it depends on the temperament of the oscar. The tank started with the tin foil barbs and the pleco (we had a managuense in there too, but moved him to his own tank because he was too aggressive). The largest one (around 12-14 inches) was really passive with the other fish and so where the smaller ones (8 inches and 5 inches).

I've heard that pacu's do well with oscars but have no experience.

 

[Idealconcepts]

Your tank is fairly well stocked with the Oscar, you might want to keep the addition of any tankmates to a minimum. A large enough Firmouth would work, or maybe 2 pictus cats, a large bircher (Senegalus, SP??? are very active and most common).

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

I'd have to say you're at maximum level with just the one oscar, let alone adding any other fish into the mix.

 

[JustOneMore20]

A 55g tank is the minimum size for one Oscar, so I'd leave just him in the tank. If you happen to upgrade him in the future, then you could add some tankmates.