# Oscar Tank Mates and a couple of other questions...



## dtsmith35 (Feb 10, 2009)

Wow! Great Site!

I am an amatuer, so bear/bare with me. (One is big and hairy - the other describing being without clothes - weird) Anyway...

I have a 9 inch Oscar, a ~4 inch Ram and a Pleco that I am moving from a 29 to a corner 54 in the next couple of weeks (after cycling - Great article!). Although the O and Ram are fine together, I would like to get another companion for the Ram. Suggestions? Also, is there a snail out there that the O will leave alone? Should I even bother with snails? I have long since given up on live plants... Mr. O sure is a character!!

Thanks!


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

I'd say 54gallons is too small for an Oscar. An oscar will eventually get to a size where it would deem the ram to be 'Food sized' and gulp it down.


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## dtsmith35 (Feb 10, 2009)

mok3t said:


> I'd say 54gallons is too small for an Oscar. An oscar will eventually get to a size where it would deem the ram to be 'Food sized' and gulp it down.


I am working my way up to bigger aquariums as I can afford them. I felt a little better about the corner 54 because it has good depth and open space compared to my rect. 29 which is the O's current home.


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

Ah right, as a temporary thing it MIGHT be okay. Not sure on the footprint of bow front tanks. But regardsless, the Ram will become food once this the big guy gets a decent size.


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## jack lover (Aug 12, 2008)

move the ram in the 29g


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## dtsmith35 (Feb 10, 2009)

jack lover said:


> move the ram in the 29g


I thought I would move them all...

So, I am looking at Oscar, Pleco, Ram, and maybe a Yellow Lab in this corner 54...

As for snails - should I not even bother?

Thanks for responses!


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

I never tried snails with my Oscar, he ate anything that i put in the tank so he probably would have at least tried.

don't take this the wrong way mate, but we're advising you to keep the Ram and the Oscar Separate. For yours and the Rams sakes. If you keep them together the likelihood of you losing the ram is around 90% i'd say. Oscars aren't exactly overaggressive but they are hungry hungry cichlids that will try to fit anything in their mouths. If it fits, it get swallowed. Your Ram with easily fit in a grown Oscars mouth 

Just as an example, i kept a fire eel with my Oscar for ages. They didn't really have much interaction as the Oscar would sleep while the eel was active + for the most part the Oscar was too small to pose any real threat. But they grow FAST and i came home one day to see my eels tail hanging out of the Oscars mouth. I lost BOTH fish that evening. He bit off more than he could chew, literally.

Don't let this happen to you!


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## George Walker (Nov 10, 2008)

I have a 55 ga corner tank and I have done oscars, dempseys, red devils, severums, angel fish and now african cichlids . What I have found is that each species outgrows the tank at it's own rate. I will soon purchase a larger tank to truly see how these magnificent fish can truly grow to their perceived environment


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## oscars4me (Feb 22, 2009)

mok3t said:


> I never tried snails with my Oscar, he ate anything that i put in the tank so he probably would have at least tried.
> 
> don't take this the wrong way mate, but we're advising you to keep the Ram and the Oscar Separate. For yours and the Rams sakes. If you keep them together the likelihood of you losing the ram is around 90% i'd say. Oscars aren't exactly overaggressive but they are hungry hungry cichlids that will try to fit anything in their mouths. If it fits, it get swallowed. Your Ram with easily fit in a grown Oscars mouth
> 
> ...


Ditto

Just want to add that the O and pleco are all you want to put in the 54 I wouldn't add any other fish. The Yellow Lab is an African and requires different water conditions.


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

Really though, you're going to be fully stocked just with that oscar in the 54g. Keeping the ram in the 29g is an excellent idea....then you could add another ram of the opposite sex and some other small fish too. Maybe you want to try your hand at a planted tank.....the ram would be a perfect choice for that too.

What kind of pleco do you have? How big is it?

As for snails, the only snail I have found to work (so far) with large cichlids are ramshorn snails. They are pretty tough but if you have live plants they will mow them down.


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