# Adding oscar to an establsihed SA/CA tank.



## dcorolla05 (Aug 12, 2006)

I have a 135gal with the following fish in the tank..

1) Midas Cichlid (female 8inches)
1) Texas Cichlid (6in)
1) Green terror (5in)
1) False Red Terror (5in)
1) Jack Dempsey (5in)
3) Pink convicts (3in)

I'm considering taking out the Texas cichlid and putting in an oscar or two in the tank. Would this be a bad idea? As it stands now the Midas is not very aggressive. She will chase some of the other fish but for the most part doesnt do any damage to any fish. I have several terra cota pots and driftwood for hiding spots.

I know that full grown these fish would not do well in a 135g tank but once that time comes I'll thin out the crowd.

just looking for advice from oscar keepers.


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## shef (Oct 3, 2004)

I think it will greatly depend on the oscar. Mine is a terror but that being said I think his bark is worse than his bite. For the most part oscars aren't that aggressive and a few of the fish you have listed can be very aggressive (midas, red terror, texas, green terror). Hopefully someone else can offer some better advise.


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## oscarlover43055 (Jun 7, 2008)

The most aggressive fish I have ever had is a Jack Dempsey. They get bigger than O's and have sharp little teeth. I guess that is why they are named after a prize fighter...?


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

I don't agree that Jack Dempsy's get bigger than Oscars, but they are more aggressive. A trick someone taught me hear for integrating someone new is to take out all tank mates and put them in a big rubbermaid for a few hours. Meanwhile rearrange the tank and add your new fish. When you re-introduce your new fish they don't feel like someone came into 'their' tank but rather they got added to a new tank with some others.


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## oscarlover43055 (Jun 7, 2008)

I seen this one at Jack's that I kid you not was pushing 17 inches. It was fat, and drab. It looked as if someone scraped all his spangles off. The person who was trading him in says she got him at wal-mart in 99'. I would have bought if I had a big tank just for it and nursed him back. She has him in a 55 with 2 pacu's she was trading to that tore him up. I may be able to get a pic since he is still there.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

If it was 17" it was not a jack dempsey. It was more than likely a hybrid.

I, personally in the past 20 years or so, have never owned an aggressive jack dempsey. Had a few brute force oscars though....

As for adding the oscar to that 135... you might be pushing the limit for long term stocking.... But the advice given about adding a cichlid to an established hiarchy is the best way to attempt it. In your tank you'd need to be adding atleast a six inch oscar or better. Any smaller and you risk losing it.


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## oscarlover43055 (Jun 7, 2008)

It could have been a hybrid. It was really really dark color. With few spangles. It didn't know there were hybrids...


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

There's tons of hybrids out there like blood parrots, flowerhorns and texacons to name a few popular ones...


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