# Can I mix these?



## Derickdub (Oct 24, 2017)

hi,
i have a _150 gallon_ aquarium (_72"L x 18"W x 28"H_). Sand substrate, a few lava rock, a couple fake plants, (2) sunsun hw404b filters {I also have a penguin 350 and emporer 400 if I need them}, and lots of bubbles 
All that aside. Is it possible to have all these fishies together....
*(1)* Jack Dempsey
*(1)* Green Terror
*(1)* Tiger Oscar
*(1)* Firemouth
*(1)*Red Spotted Severum
*(1)* Blue Acara


----------



## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I would say that it might work but then fish do vary as much as people at times. Some thugs turn out to be nice guys but some don't. You have the start of sa group of real rowdies so it may tank some effort/luck to get it to work. Part of that is how young the fish are too start, how they are "trained" as well as knowing that there are differing grades of aggressive behavior. With knowledge, one can set a tank, add young fish and more or less train some of the aggressive behavior to control it better. Getting the tank set right when the fish are young tends to make them grow up together finding they are not able to do the chasing and catching that they may feel as part of their genes. 
Thinking of fish as we might humans, even the dumbest thug will stop chasing if he never gets to catch anybody! So setting the tank for that is a big start. Lots of varied sizes of hiding will help if the victim is able to duck out of sight into a space that the larger can't get into is critical. This space needs to be one where the victim can be totally out of sight and reach, not just something to hide behind until the thug comes after him. Setting the tank with lots of obvious spaces for the big guys and then putting things to "divide" the place is step two for me. Think of it as fences, perhaps? You can coexist with a bad neighbor if there is a good fence in the way. Keep in mind the acara and severum are two who may be victims so be ready with a plan in case things need to be changed up.


----------



## Derickdub (Oct 24, 2017)

Thanks for the response. I'm more than willing to rearrange the tank if i need to help the smaller guys with hiding places. I was looking to get all these fish while they were all small and I'm aware that some of these fish grow much faster than the others. I may actually remove some of the lava rock so that i can add in additional hiding places (caves and such)


----------



## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

You have a mixture of South American and Central American species, and it is hard to predict their interactions. Personally, I would give it about a 15% chance of working out.


----------



## Derickdub (Oct 24, 2017)

Mr Chromedome said:


> You have a mixture of South American and Central American species, and it is hard to predict their interactions. Personally, I would give it about a 15% chance of working out.


Thank you for your input. I will keep this in mind.


----------



## Derickdub (Oct 24, 2017)

What is instead I do oscar, jack dempsey, green terror, texas cichlid


----------



## thornsja19 (Feb 4, 2017)

That's still a mix of Central and South Americans. If you remove the Oscar and replace it with another Central or 2 like maybe a convict and firemouth that would probably be better


----------



## Derickdub (Oct 24, 2017)

thornsja19 said:


> That's still a mix of Central and South Americans. If you remove the Oscar and replace it with another Central or 2 like maybe a convict and firemouth that would probably be better


I will definitely keep this in mind. That's a great mix of fish also.


----------



## Sherbert20968 (Nov 27, 2017)

I have 2 jack dempseys, 2 oscars, 1 firemouth, severum, 2 convicts and lots of others all together. They were in 75G but just went to 125G.


----------

