small oscars and discus

[endless]

I have two small albino oscars (8cm). I was wondering if its ok to keep them with about 15 discus in an 8 foot tank. Reason being i need the oscar tank to try and pair off some of my adult discus.

[sharn]

no way IMO, oscars are big grunty fish that wont do too well with shy discus. even though theyre young they can still be very boisterous and i would imagine they would hassle your discus a bit, not to mention eat all the food (as im sure you already know, those fish are bottomless bits lol). if i put my oscar (mind you hes full grown) in a tank with discus, i think he would see them as vertical flounder and try make lunch of them :shock:

you could try it out if you wish, would just have to keep a VERY close eye on them, i wouldnt put them in there if your really attatched to them. what about a divider?

[goldenpigeon]

i dont think you should bother mate. with that much space and high protien food they will have grown another inch in 2 weeks. better off getting another tank IMO

[endless]

thanks for the advice but the oscars are already in the tank. they seem to be getting on quite nicely at the moment but ill let u guys know of the progress. fingers crossed

[marg]

Endless,

IMO, no way would I attempt to keep Oscars and Discus in the same tank!!!. Discus are way too precious.,

Regards,

marg.

[endless]

Its true, my discus are very precious to me but i dont know what to do with the oscars. i dont really like them much but what can i do, my wife bought these and so i cant really give them away. anyway shes kinda fond of them and she hates my discus cause they're quite timid in the 8 footer. i think its working out ok cause now with the oscars in the tank the discus seem a lot braver and sometimes follows the oscars around. im still keeping a close eye on them though

[sharn]

how can anyone hate oscars :shock: they are some of the most responsive fish in home aquaria! oh well, personal opinions and all that i suppose :)

i would put in a divider, oscars have been known to snap and kill their best mates for no reason whatsoever, i wouldnt risk it. see if your LFS will take them back, or advertise on ebay or something, alot of people are really into oscars these days once they find out how cool they can be.

if your not allowed to give em away get them at least a 75gal, 90gal is much better and be prepared to put in some hard yards, once oscars hit adolesence at approx 20cm all hell can break lose and they can be really nasty for a bit, alot of people use dividers during those times cause they can cause some damage when they want to!

[marg]

Sharn I don't hate Oscars (as a matter of fact i have seen some really attractive ones, and have been told they have real personalities), but I love Discus and can't imagine giving up a tank for an Oscar when I could put a few Discus in it.

Sorry if I offended you :oops: .,

Regards,

Marg.

[sharn]

oh NO NO NO, you didnt offend me! i can see what you mean, luckily i can have both hehehe


i dont really like them much but what can i do thats the part i was talking about, i didnt mean it in a angry way, its hard to show emotion properly in text aye!

btw endless, hows things going with the two?

[endless]

ok update.. i've got bad news. One of the oscars tried to get a free meal and made jump for the automatic fish feeder. unfortunately for the oscar in question all he did was knock the automatic fish feeder while he plummeted to about 5 foot to my very solid floor board. End result.. no free meal and one dead oscar. i found him in the morning dried up and very dead :(. The other oscar and my discus are doing very well. They have gotten used to each other and so far are minding their own business and living very peacefully with each other.

[Ben]

Sorry to hear about the loss endless.

I was down at mulgrave aquarium yesterday and they had some wild oscars!

yes wild oscars! straight from South America!

They have less red than normal oscars but have excellent natural shape!

cheers
Ben

[sharn]

wow, bet theyre pricy!

sorry to hear bout your oscar, theyre such piggies it doesnt surprise me he caught on where the food was and tryed to get more, smart fish aye. lets hope your other one keeps on being mates and doesnt try the same thing, good luck!

[sammigold]

Endless... I have two oscars that about 12 months ago were about 10cm and now have tripled in size... they were living quite peacefully with a scat, silver dollar and synodontis until about a month ago then they started harrassing the scat big time and having a go at the others as well... we have since had to make big changes... scat and silver dollar in another tank. Oscars and synodontis staying in the other.... they are really outgrowing the tank so big decisions will have to be made shortly,..

basically, I think you may find they get along allright now but as soon as they get any size on them they will start to become quite territorial and also they like to move the decor around in a tank so you might find some of your plants start to get uprooted if they dislike them.... Ours took a dislike to a particular silk plant we had and no matter how much we replanted at the back of the tank within an hour it would be lying at the front of the tank being attacked and pulled around by the oscars... :lol: we gave up and took it out. :P

Try and find them a new home/tank before it is too late or you will definately have some unhappy discus down the track.. JMO :wink:

Good Luck!!!

[endless]

update. the oscar has found a new home at my nephews place. In its place are three little energetic goldfish.

[FishyGal]

update. the oscar has found a new home at my nephews place. In its place are three little energetic goldfish.

Are these in with the discus?? Or have I read it wrong?

Val

[sharn]

they were in with the discus but have moved onto another tank now

[endless]

yeah what sharn said. Now i have goldfish with the discus to help clean the muck off the bottom of the tank

[marg]

Goldfish with Discus - does that really work?

My grandaughter has one lonely Goldfish and she keeps asking if it can live with the Discus but I wasn't sure.

Can someone enlighten me on this?

Regards,

Marg.

[goldenpigeon]

marg u can keep gold fish with discus, the gold fish hate the very warm temp thoagh and would most likely die quite quick.

[marg]

thanks G.P., I just read Goldfish with Discus and thought Huh?.

I also thought that the warm water would not be good for the Goldfish.

I will give you a ring this week to make arrangements with you regarding my new additions to be.,

Regards,

Marg.

[sammigold]

Hi Marg, There is a guy down here in Melbourne who owns a discus shop and keeps goldfish in with his discus and has been for as long as I have known about the shop which is about 5 or 6 years... he said they are fine together and that the goldfish dont mind the warmer temps...(I suppose if you acclimatised your goldie to the temp he would probably do okay)

sorry to disagree with you GP... just have seen the living proof :-)

PS. Endless, glad your oscar got a good home... Im looking for new owners for mine at moment they are just too big!