What will work?

[tramca]

We have 2 oscars, they each had their own tank, but we put them both into a 6ft. Problem is they fight. ones 9 inches and ones 7 inches. The smaller one always ends up worse off. So they guy at the fish store said he would trade them for smaller fish. He had jack dempseys(sp?) and he reckons he's getting blue acaras today. We were thinking of getting 4 cichlids, but wondered if different types will get along.

Thanks.

 

[phOOey]

oscars and jack dempseys normally get on alright. blue acaras might not beable to hold there own, but they might. green terrors are also sometimes recomended...

 

[fishtankmaster5]

in my friends tank he has a school of 4 6" silver dollars and the oscar and them get along great but i dont know if it will work for every body, but phooey said oscars and jack dempseys get along great and they are both Carnivores

 

[Miles44]

I have found with Oscars it's best to introduce other fish from the beginning. Otherwise they will not like thier new tank mates.

 

[radamsk1]

Well if you are getting rid of the oscars for smaller fish, you can try some other sorts of cichlids like Jack Dempseys, which most of them should get along together over the years. Perhaps a Green Terror (most aggressive South American), which should either be by itself when it gets older, or with other more aggressive Central American Cichlids like Midas, Red Devil, Texas, etc. As for mixing Blue Acara with these fish, when young they might work, but the other cichlids will definately surpass the acaras in size and temperament.

So you definitely can try a mix, perhaps 2 Jack Dempseys, a Salvini (or a Mayan), and maybe a Convict or Severum or some sort of mix of these similarly tempered fish.

You can make your choice of Highly Aggressive (often even more aggressive to the same species, like Midas, Red Terror, Green Terror, Red Devil, Jack Dempseys, Wolf, and Managuense, which may result in a death at some point. Or some more moderately aggressive species including Severums, Salvini, Rainbow, Acaras, Texas, Convicts, or maybe a Jewel.