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I just had a question about the combatiblity with some fish. I have a large tank (exact volume I'm not sure, but around 50-60 gallon minimun) and would like to put an Oscar (the ones in mind are fairly small 4-5" inchers) with (2-4) pictus cats, (5-6) pearl gourami, and a small pleco.

The pleco is the only fish I have, but my currently running tanks are going to be reorganized and he's gonna stay with me. All these fish are supposed to be combatible (so says this site) with each other, but I'd rather have the word of some one who owns Oscars, as I have the feeling the Oscar would be to cause trouble of the four.

Thanks for any help.

If you can give me the dimensions of the tank, I can figure out the exact volume for you.. The compatibilty thign on this site only goes by water parameters not counting the aggression or sizes, so the Oscar would porbably harass or possibly eat the Gouramis.. Make sure you don't get a common Pleco, as these get 2' in length! A bristlenose gets to be 5". I would either go with an Oscar and BN or the Pictuses.

I couldn't tell you about the compatibility of the fish, but whoa!] A 60 gallon tank is certainly not large enough to handle an oscar and a pleco, once they grow to full size. You might want to reconsider the oscar anyway, because they can be aggressive. There are many other types of cichlids that would work just fine.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I got the measurements (it's in storage, the reason I didn't have an exact) for the tank. I came up with around 55 gallons.

As for the pleco, I'm not terribly sure what species he is. I've had him for couple years and he hasn't grown much. Does anyone know of a site w/ pictures of the various sub-species of pleco so I can ID this guy?

I didn't realize that the size of the two would be such a problem and I had a feeling an Oscar would like the looks a little gourami. Are there any other cichlids that are peaceful, keeping in mind that it would be with the pleco, gourami, and cats.

Fires, severums or keyholes are all possibilities for you to consider.

According to book/site/reference reccomendations, your tank would be overstocked.

Personally, I think the tank would go fine, since the other fish will not take the oscar's territory, with the gouramis just being surface dwellers and pictus/pleco bottom dweller.

As advised, common plecos require a larger tank, usually 100 G +. If your pleco was pretty $$, then the pleco will most likely be a rarer pleco, and would work for the tank (pitbull, spotted, leapord, gold, Lseries, etc).

Be aware that oscars are known to eat gouramis if they can fit in they're mouths, but i am keeping my oscars with gouramis and they are fine.

Its a gamble if you put them together, as with any fish.

edit: by the way, http://www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/compatibility.asp?salinity=Freshwater&sci=Astronotus+ocellatus&action=Show+Compatible+Species is pretty useless unless your using it for water conditions and parameters.


[span class="edited"][Edited by inkodinkomalinko 2004-07-29 18:23][/span]

I did some reasearch and asked around at another forum specifically for Cichlids, and was suggested to get a Severum.

I like the look of it, and just wanted to know if anyone forsees a problem (the tank will not go up for months so this is not a terribly hurried process) with the arrangement.

Also what sort of substrate should I use? Sand or a fine gravel seems to be most suggested, but it could be a problem since I intend on including live plants.

Thanks.