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I know i'll get a good bashing for this, but i just thought i'd tell ya'll, incase you have any imput on which others i could use.


MASTER PLAN: I have an oscar, and he is a bit bored by himself and he doesnt do much. However, when i had my mates two oscars in the tank with him he became REALLY confident because he could beat them up BUT they were too big to eat. So im gonna buy some moon ligh gouramis (sp?) wait utnil they get big and put them in, so my oscar can boss them about, until he is big enough to eat.

Does anyone think that there are other fish, cheaper, that'll do the same thing?

Dave

How big's the tank? Another oscar would be a lot fairer on the gouramis. It will harass them to death and then eat them even before its big enough to eat them whole.

Suprisingly, I have a 2" gourami with three oscars 2 convicts red devil and a parrot, his friend got eaten cause i threw them straight in and they thought they were feeders...so only one is alive..

might or might now work, its 50/50 to me.

I'd try some other things to occupy him first, before you just by 'stress fish'. My boys seem to really love ripping out plants... so now i buy them cheap plants and they happily go about destroying them. If you want him to hunt, then use fast feeders that are hard for him to eat like Comets or something. I did that, and it was the most challenge they had for ages. They didn't last more than a few hours.. and the LFS said they where only 'throw out' fish anyway. Not unhealthy, just deformed, so not very sellable... unless you have some person with hungry Oscars!

I would buy another Oscar or a Cichlid that is the same size or smaller but can take the punishment with no problems. Maybe buy a school of really fast fish so he feels more confident.

Have you tried the ping pong ball thing? They like playing with ping pong balls (or some do anyway) and it will keep them occupied for ages.

You could buy some plants, they will get wrecked but the Oscar will enjoy attacking them.

What size tank is it in? You could buy a Polypterus or some other big and strong bottom feeder to go with it.

he is in a 56 gallon at the moment, he is only 4 inches at the moment, by adding a fish bigger than him but one that he can attack should build up his confidence. Ive tried the ping pong ball, it doesnt make his CONFIDENCE grow. Im not putting stuff in to entertain him for that he has plants and a little rock he likes to pick up and move ( not big enough to smash tank)

[span class="edited"][Edited by garbutt_dave 2004-07-26 06:40][/span]

Add a cichlid which is of simialr size (bit smaller) and will grow up to be a little smaller or buy a Polypterus and I would imagine the Oscar would boss that around as well.

i would try to get him a bigger tank like a 75g.sometime in the future as he will be inactive and moody in a 55g.

ive said on this board like 100000000000 times, that i will upgrade him. There is no point in me upgrading now he is tiny in the tank.i'll be getting a fish on Friday i might be able to get some money off as my mate works at the shop by himself on Friday.

Add a small school of brilliant rasboras. Can be lunch if caught but very fast swimmers, will entertain your oscar and he'll get temper tantrums if he can't catch one.
Or a smaller tankmate such as a firemouth. I wouldn't add a gourami with an oscar. The gourami will get killed and gouramis are pretty cool fish.

The Amazon Nut...

I was actualy thinking of rasboras, but the ones in the shop seem a little small. Im gonna have a look on Friday at what is large, but not too large.

Even the small ones swim very fast, as do the danios.

I bought 6 of em one time and they were entertainment for oscar for over 2 weeks. Choose the healthiest fish you see. There's always the risk of introducing a sick fish. You may be better off finding a tankmate such as a firemouth.

The Amazon Nut...