tankmates for oscar ??

[dnb4me_209]

what would make a good addition to this tank, if anything?
currently tank is 60gal, and houses my tiger oscar and a trinidad pleco.
various plastic plants, a home made tunnel, and a few pieces of driftwood making a nice tunnel complex for the pleco. i'll attach a picture for viewing as well. i was thinking of an eel maybe or maybe 3 or so smaller fish (i know knothing smaller than his mouth though, hes a good eater already. any sugestions would be great.

 

[Rocket2001]

I'm new to owning an Oscar...but from all I've read and from what people have told me here on this forum...my tank is too small for my single oscar. I know you said your tank was a 60gal but from the pic it looks like the same 55gal I have...either way five gallons is not much different. I guess the point is, when your Oscar and pleco are full grown your tank will be over crowded as it is..so you don't really have any room for a new tank mate. i know this isn't what you want to hear but it is something you should consider.

 

[wynn]

I'm a new oscar owner too, and I've heard pretty much the same thing. After seeing how nasty these things are, even at 3", I'm not really suprised to here it either. I was planning for mine to be in my 75 gallon living room tank with a green terror, but decided to move him into my 120 gallon tank that I have in my computer room so house guests won't be thoroughly disgusted by all of the huge fish turds/half eaten food floating around in the tank. Be ready to purchase extra filtration for your tank, if you haven't already.

 

[dnb4me_209]

filtration is of no issue for the tank size

im using hang on filters...1x emperor 400 (400gph) and 1x AquaClear50 (200gph) on a 60gal tank. thats 10x turnover per hour. and from what i have heard 10x should be enough.

 

[Rocket2001]

Filtration is only part of the issue...yes you can add filters to make or exceed that "10x" benchmark but the pyhcial size of the fish is where the problem is...my oscar is approaching or has reached 10in in lenght..his 55gal home isn't big enough as he continues to grow. Check out "my gallery" to see a pic

 

[ChileRelleno]

As already advised, more fish in your aquarium would be bad news!
It'll already be overcrowded when both Oscar-n-Plec reach maturity, they need a minimum 75gal preferably 100gal for happy fish.

 

[Concubine]

form what i've heard people have housed piranhas and oscars together successfully.i may be wrong.if you can get a bigger tank and put some piranhas in with him, if he isn't too big to eat them.otherwise i advise no more fish for your current tank.

 

[fishmonger]

piranhas and oscars together is bad news. The pirahnas will eventually attack the oscar and the oscar won't be able to defend itself. Check out any piranha message board.

 

[FishLover14]

I would go buy a 125gal tank and redecorate it and put the oscar and the pleco in it and buy some Tinfin Tetras if the oscar is small enough that he cant fit them in his mouth and buy some dwarf south american cichlids.

JMHO

Happy New Year!

 

[oscarbreeder]

You need a bigger tank for those two fish and I would advise aginst adding more fish.

 

[Mad Mech Master]

Back before I converted my 70 gal over to salt, I kept a large oscar with some other fish similar to what Fishlover14 suggests. I had the oscar, and a large pleco with 3 ADULT tinfoil barbs. Also, I had what could be described as a colony of "Texas convict cichlids". About 3 breeding pairs and their quickest surviving offspring. The Oscar snacked on the slower ones.

I had to clean the filters often and do a weekly 10% water change to keep the water parameters in check.

Your tank seems too shallow to support much activity. At 18" deep, I had water splashing out when the Oscar decided to move after something. Any additional fish might get chased out.