Will they get munched?

[Ian]

Hi. I am interested in adding a pair of oscars 2 my setup... i am just concerned, as i have heard they have vicscious tendencies? a friend of mine just recently bought a young pair, an they are happily living in harmony with a pearl gourami, bala shark, synodontis petricola, pepper catfish, african knife and a plecostomus.

Now... my setup consists of a pearl and moonliht gourami, rainbow shark, plecostomus, elephant nose and a synodontis petricola. As you can see, the setups are quiet similar...

DO you think the oscars will live happily with my current community

Thanks...
Ian

 

[rich311k]

How large a tank is it? Oscar are not viscous they are territorial however. How large are your friends? Id be interested to know what happens when they get over a foot. I had an oscar kill an 8 inch pleco in a matter of 24 hours.

 

[SeymourFRESH]

they could possibly. they are vicious fish, but i don't think they could eat any of your fish if they can't fit in their mouths. i could see them getting along with anything except maybe the rainbowshark and the gourami (not too sure)...as far as the elephant nose, i don't know anything about those

 

[toddnbecka]

The african knife and petricola in your friend's tank will be lunch when the oscars grow a bit more. They are called floating pigs for several reasons, one of which is their tendency to eat fish larger than you would expect them to. Even if they can't swallow the whole thing at once, they will swim around with it hanging out of their mouth until part is digested, then finish swallowing the rest. The only smaller fish I have seen oscars avoid was an electric catfish. After a couple jolts, they learned to stay clear.