Oscar troubles

[FilthyFish]

My pleco can never clean cause every time he moves my oscar goes towards him the my pleco get scared, I got the pleco 2 weeks ago, they are both 7 or 9 inches. Any idea whay I can do.

 

[DutchMuch]

lower your lighting so algae doesn't grow, get a dimmer. Remove the pleco, return it.
Oscars should only be with certain fish.

 

[FilthyFish]

I've seen Oscar's do good with blood parrots, Jack Dempsey, plecos, I guess it just depends on the fish.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

No, Dutchmuch is correct.

Starters, plecos do not clean at all, they won't eat your algae but they will create lots of waste.
Bigger problem, oscars are predatory, he will eat the pleco one day, the plecos have spines that will lodge in the oscars throat and kill both. PLECOS AND OSCARS SHOULD NEVER BE KEPT TOGETHER PERIOD for this reason.
On your second thought, oscars shouldn't be with blood parrots because they have no teeth and cannot protect themselves from the Oscar. And an Oscar and a Jack dempsey in a tank is like locking two fighters in a jail cell for life. They may get by a while but they're going to beat the crap out of one another occasionally and potentially kill one eventually. Hope that helps.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[SherLar]

I've been keeping oscars for about 30 years, and pretty much disagree with about everything TRMC said. No offense. I've never had an oscar try to eat any fish over about 1/3 of it's body size. Small plecos, or any type catfish should not be kept with large oscars because of the issue with spines, true. But a pleco the same size won't get eaten. It may, however, be bullied. Many oscars do very well with a variety of tank mates; some don't do well with any tank mates. I can't say anything about oscars and parrots, but I've kept oscars and JDs together in a 220g indoor water garden for about 5 years now with no issues. I've also had them in shared tanks several times over the years with no more than the occasional routine aggression. I've read stories of oscars being kept with tetras and other small fish with no problems because all fish were introduced together when small, but that isn't something I'd recommend. Oscars are piscivores, after all. I also don't normally recommend SA and CA cichlids being kept together, but in my experience, oscars and JDs can do very well together. Like people though, every fish is different, so there should always be a contingency plan in case they need to be separated.

 

[Brookster123]

Umm..... Oscars will/will not eat anything they can. Fact. Sometimes,.they spare a random goldfish and it becomes a YouTube vid?? Nahh.. they eat everything

 

[flchamp89]

Any oscar I've had is about like any betta ive had. Roll the dice...

Kinda off topic. But there a fishing hole I go to that has a good population. Lots of fun on light tackle by the way lol..anyways I have caught plenty on top water plugs as big as them.

Maybe they cant eat it...but they can kill it if they choose. Predator mentality, boredom, or just for fun.