# 120 Gallon Oscar Set Up Stocking Help



## EricaD (Nov 8, 2010)

Hi all!

I just picked up a great 120 gallon on CL, with a 4 x 2 x 2 footprint. I will get it set up and cycled over Christmas (I have 2 other established tanks, so cycling will be quick) and need stocking ideas!

I currently have a 46 gallon bowfront with 2 juvie EBJDs and 2 juvie regular JD's, of which the 2 regulars are going back to the LFS today. I had assumed my EBJDs were both male, and thought a breeding pair would form with one of the regulars. Lo and behold, my two EBJDs are showing pairing behavior (fin slapping and rubbing all over each other) so I think I must have gotten lucky and picked up a male and female  I realize I won't have viable offspring, and that's ok. They really dig each other and the 2 regulars are buttheads anyway (the blues are far more mellow) 

So on to the 120!

I know I want a baby oscar. What else? I've read that firemouths can go in with oscars, but I like odd numbers - what is a 3rd single cichlid I could add to this tank?

I also really want a group of 5 silver dollars and some bottom dwellers, like clown loaches or pictus cats. I know the oscar might grow up to swallow them, which would make me sad, lol, so how do I avoid that? I know clown loaches grow slow and oscars grow fast...there's a LFS who might have larger clown loaches...how big should they start out and how many?

So I'm open to suggestions! For the tank, I'm planning to use black tahitian moon sand as substrate, and to pick up a slimline 3D background (to keep as much depth as possible for oscar to have lots of room). For decor, just a nice piece of driftwood (probably will get a fake one because the tannins are a pain and I don't like the stained water) and a few smooth river rocks for the fish to hide behind. I want to keep it clean and simple.

Would also love some filtration recommendations. I was thinking of a fluval fx5, but then I thought of redundancy and maybe I should get a couple of eheims or renas or something? I know I want to aim for 6x or more. I also want something that's really simple to set up (I relatively new to the hobby and not really mechanically inclined...at all) and also quiet, since the big tank is going into our office.

For my 46, I have a Marineland Emperor 400 HOB, and find it quite noisy, though it works really well. I might want to explore cannister options to replace it with too, so any suggestions for something quiet?

Thanks!


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## adam79 (Jun 27, 2007)

Are you planning on putting the JD's in the 120 or was that just a side comment?

I love tanks with a lot of front-to-back depth. The right aquascape can look really amazing. Unfortunatly, when it comes to cichlids, a 6 foot 120 would be better.

In regaurds to bottom dwellers: Clown loaches may not be the best option in the long run, because the do get big. If you have an option of a larger tank down the road, you could make it work, but I would suggest buying them at a size that your oscar couldn't eat when your oscar is at adult size, which is a matter of a few months. The pictus cats may be alright at max size, but if the oscar does eat one, it will likely kill the oscar as well. Most people keep plecos with oscars. There are some slight larger (than pictus) pimelodidae sp., but aren't very common in the trade. I have kept larger rapheal cats and hoplo cats, and some larger african cats with O's.

I have stated before that I don't like SD's in anythig less than a six foot tank, because they are fairly large, active, startel easy, and are better served in groups. However; the extra depth may compensate enough to make it work. There aren't a lot of options for schooling species that oscars won't eat.

Firemouths can work oscars, just make sure they have enough time to grow enough to stay out of the oscars mouth. Convicts, a severum,... There aren't many more option than you would have with a 75 gallon.


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## widdaldemma (Oct 29, 2010)

hi buddy i have a 120 g 5ft same as urs well i ave 2 actually lol in my oscar tank i have 
oscar 
aquedins diadema 
ebjd
severum 
pleco

in the other 
firemouth
convict 
blue acara
silver dollors 
clown loaches

also as for compatiblity with an oscar 
i would say it depens on what sort of tank u want 
firemouth/convict/severum/ work well jst these need to be big at first as the oscar will grow quite quickly i think about an inch a month depending on how much u feed and water quality

u can also go a diff more aggressive route as long as ur oscar is 6 to 7 inch meaning u could stock with 
green terror 
salvini 
jack dempsey 
etc

as long as the tank is bigger u can get the like of jags/midas/red devil etc but thses tanks need keeping an eye on as trouble can arise so back up plans are needed lol

as for filteration i run 2x aquaone cf1250 on my 120 one each end i would recomend having a filter each end as oscars are extreamly messy fish and heavy on the bio load but again as long as u over filter (u can never filter too much) ur tank and do regular water changes all should be fine

in respect of decor oscars love to rearrange there tanks alot when bigger all i use are some rocks and a large piece of bogwood tanin stained water can be removed with carbon and the bog wood will only leach for while anyways in my opinion the fake bogwood does not look good and looks very un natural but thats just my opinion u can soak ur bogwood to remove the leach in the tank while it is cycling

hope i have helped a bit bud happy fish keeping :thumb:


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## kris10 (Feb 13, 2011)

I have a 120 gal tank 6 feet long. At the moment I have 1 large oscar about 9-10 inches long and three eartheaters. I am looking to get an electric blue jack but am unsure if everything will work out. My eartheaters are only between about 2 and 5 inches, the oscar shows no intrest in eating them and really dosent seem to care about them at all. I need advice, what does anyone think about adding a blue jack, I dont want anyone going missing or being injured.


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## scarhbar (Feb 17, 2011)

Hey! I haven't kept a tank that big, but if I were to stock it, I would probably do either 2 Oscars, and just hope to God, that they aren't too aggressive later on. With those two, I'd add a pleco, or another large cat fish. However, if you are looking for cichlids, the severum seems to work pretty well for some reason. Maybe try 2 convicts, (not necessarily a pair, because two females look pretty beautiful together) because they can withstand the aggressive tendencies of the Oscar.

But just a warning overall, generally most larger south/central American cichlids are bad choices for Oscar tank mates (with a few exceptions like Severums). Convicts, firemouths, geophagus and other medium sized cichlids can stand their ground against an Oscar, but the Oscar doesn't see them as another male that they HAVE to eliminate.

I saw this was posted months ago, so tell me what you got!


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