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Would a oscar be compatible with a koi? I have heard that they should be since both are equally robust.

McCollum

Id say no because of the temparature difference with the koi being more of a pond fish, and ive never heard of a koi being as agressive as oscars can be but the size could deter.

How big would the tank be? It would have to be HUGE! lol

What if I could possibly heat the pond then?


McCollum

They're not compatible, as they're totally different fish. Koi prefer cool/cold water & Oscars are Tropical fish.

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Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

If you consistantly keep koi bred for cooler temperatures in water in the high 70's to mid 80's farenheit as you would for oscars their metabolism will overload, they will be susceptible to disease, especially fungus and finrot, the renal system will be under stress, they may get swimbladder malfunction, and they will certainly experience respiritory difficulties because they are used to the oxygen saturation associated with cooler temperatures with less bacterial activity. Koi that are bred in warmer temperatures like israeli bred koi have had their temperature tolerances changed multigenerationally, dont assume just any koi can take those temperatures.

At high water temps the koi's respiration will chuck out so much ammonia the water quality will probably be to rough for the oscar. Keeping them together would be a hell of constant water changes.

An oscar is territorial and will probably try to beat the hell out of a koi in a confined space.Granted this depends on the individual oscar,but who ever said they were equals was talking out of his rear end , and id gladly tell him that to his face. A koi may be too big to kill, but that wont mean the oscar wont try, and although the oscar wont be able to kill the koi quickly it could slowly succumb to the mutilation an oscar might inflict on it. A koi has nothing to fight off an attacking oscar with, it doesnt have a suitable temperament for fighting, nor is its mouth equipped to bite back with sufficient force. Its scales will not be a defense against an oscars bite if the oscar is committed.

Koi in high temperatures are also compulsive feeders, it could easily become massively obese if it starts eating the higher protien food intended for an oscar. It really wont be able to help itself. Overfeeding is a very easy way to kill a fish.

Koi dont belong in tanks, they are a pondfish. Their growth and size means youd need a tank about 200-300 gallon or greater to keep one appropriately,and thats with some of the biggest and most expensive filtration you can buy. koi are kept in cooler water in ponds so that they can mature properly, grow normally, breathe properly and have an acceptable metabolic rate. A koi should live 30-40 years under suitable conditions, in warm temperatures youll be lucky if it makes five, and thats if it doesnt die of disease first, which in all likelihood, it will.

These are two fish that have nothing in common.Not ph , not hardness, not temperature, not diet, not biotype, not required oxygen, nothing! Mix the two, and one if not both will die eventually, and they will suffer badly in the meantime.

No way, no how,nowhere are they compatible , ever. Not even when hell freezes over.

Want to know how big Koi Carp can grow?

I've seen one that was tipping the scales at 17 lbs in weight. That's a LARGE fish for ANY aquarium.

The details of likely reasons for incompatibility have already been covered above. Even if it were possible for these two fishes to be compatible, the aquarium you would need would start to look like a civil engineering project once you began assembling it. Not least because finding a secure location for an aquarium containing 500 gallons or more of water (which once sited would be an immovable object of around 2.5 tons in weight) would involve [1] setting it on a concrete floor in a basement, or [2] engaging in some serious reinforcing of floor joists to cope with the weight.

I'd file this fish mixture under 'wishful thinking'.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I believe the word pond was used so we aren't talking about a tank. However the temperature issue still stands. Oscars aren't generally considered pond fish since they need tropical temps and even if you heat the pond(pretty difficult considering the size of pond you'd need) then the koi would not be happy. If the koi gets sick there's a chance the oscar will catch it as well and then you'd risk losing all your fish. Just not a good situation no matter how you try to swing it.

Add into that the fact that koi are bred to be viewed in a pond, i.e. top-down. Oscars are best viewed from the side. You'd totally lose the best view of your oscars if you had them in a pond.

The two just really are not meant to be together. Besides the fact that both are large and messy fish, they really don't have a whole lot in common. I'd say keep them separate and give each an environment suited to them individually.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Pardon for being off topic for one part. I wouldn't think the view on how we see it matters than how we take care of it. I do disagree about the fact that they don't have anything in common. They do have something in common as they are messy eaters and they do grow rapidly up to a maximum. With the heat source I have, so far I have not seen any illness.

McCollum

Pardon for being off topic for one part. I wouldn't think the view on how we see it matters than how we take care of it. I do disagree about the fact that they don't have anything in common. They do have something in common as they are messy eaters and they do grow rapidly up to a maximum. With the heat source I have, so far I have not seen any illness.

Well the view matter depends on the person but i can understand where your coming from about putting the fishes health first. Which is admirable but im afraid you are not doing it in this case IMO. They are from entirley different places you can mix different tropical fish from other parts of the world like an angel fish and a gourami but the temparature difference is too much. The fish need the higher or lower temparature for their breathing system to work for them to live the higher temparature will also damage the koi's immune system and judged with the oscars reputation for signs of agression a weak koi could easily be wounded and become infected this could also work in reverse with the oscar in the cooler water though i would put less chance of a koi attacking an oscar than an oscar attacking a koi.

And as for them both growing rapidly there are a lot of other fish that will grow rapidly its what fish do.

And im not suprised you havent seen any illness yet because its been less than a week. But without a doubt you will need to look out for whitespot.

just out of interest though how big is the tank and what kind of filter are you running? Also what is the temparature of the tank?

Having seen a few posts now on a very similar theme, im think that perhaps this young fella is trying to be a bit of a closet frankenstein. Pushing the limits isnt clever, isnt funny, and its certainly not mature. We dont mind discussing theory , but I get a sense that something dreadful may be in the pipeline unless this behaviour is nipped in the bud. You are not a scientist, or even an experienced fishkeeper by the standards of truly experienced fishkeepers, no matter what the old ego tells you.

Asking is for opinion is one thing, especially if working on a paper or assignment we'd be delighted to help, but if youre actually planning to do any of this stuff I feel its only fair to warn you that it puts you in the position of being a fish abuser. That I cannot respect. For god sake dont do any of this stuff for real.

So far, your ideas on fishkeeping have been nothing but dangerous for the fish. Youre trying to run before you can walk, and its often the reason that people abuse fish unintentionally. Theres hundreds of thousands of fish researchers out there, and any one of them will tell you that these ideas are foolish and dangerous to the fish. Try reading their work before you end up another amateur frankenstein. Fish frankensteins number thousands and we all wish they would jump of a cliff. These are not theories that need to be retested .FOR ANY REASON.

I apologise in advance if you are only theorising, but for some reason my alarm bells keep going up whenever I read one of your posts, you seem to have a persistant will to try the impractical and the dangerous.Its not a good place to be if animals are around you. Your theories are all heavily on one theme, and that theme if tested in reality amounts to nothing more than fish abuse. Our fish are pets and a source of biological fascination, and serious subjects for serious scientists. They are not confined prisoners to experimented with at will in a domesticated situation. You will not be listed among the great fishkeepers of the world for retesting tried theory and causing the deaths of fish, in fact quite the reverse, youll probably be reviled as "oh god , another one of those" .

I applaud any effort to make new discoveries and to challenge the establishment of fishkeeping, there are many improvements to be made, and I appreciate the attitude that drives you on with such vigour, just not the subject. Move on dude. Read more scientific data, learn more about fishkeeping and your attitude will completely change for the better, I guarantee it.

Again I must stress im not slamming you for asking, or even for being persistant on a theme, but personally I think its time to move on to the productive aspects of fish care. I recommend fish husbandry, and fishkeeping and animal welfare ethics as an excellent place to start. Seriously.You will find it most helpful , and a lot of glaring fishkeeping mistakes will be nipped in the bud before they ever get a chance to form in the mind.

This is old science- as in positively archaic, its all been done before, and consequently we know not to do it again. The data is convincingly reproved in hundreds of cases every year by fishkeepers without a clue all over the world. Salt with fresh, cold lake fish with tropical cichlids, aggressive cichlids in small tanks - its all blindly obviously a seriously bad idea to anyone who genuinely knows anything about fishkeeping. The ideas are so bad infact, its verging on the ridiculous. Move on fella, move on. Personal education awaits. Any fish book in a shop costing 10 bucks will take you further on in the hobby than you are now. We dont mind passing on our knowledge, but it really will be easier if you just read the books. Quicker too. If you want references , we'll be happy to give them to you.

Pushing the limits in fish keeping is certainly not an option, too much is in stake.

In my premature and on going development as an aquarist I've learned from personal experience that cutting corners or pushing limits is definately not the way to go. Consequences on the long run are very serious. The life of fish being the most expensive loss. Sickness could develop as well, and treatment is very expensive and time consuming and fish may not respond to it at times.

In the country I live in, there are many "bad habits" surrounding the industry, and they are very hard to break, even harder to acknowledge them. But with the aid and support of the people of this site I have learned to balance things.

This is my personal experience and what I have come to know first hand. Take it from someone thats been down the road...It's best to play it safe and conservative when it comes to dealing with living beings.

Closed.

Thank you everyone for responding to a troll in such a civil manner. Through some early morning research (what else is 4:30am for!) it's been discovered that they're on the same IP as a previous member who was banned for similar reasons.

It is sometimes difficult to tell if someone is looking for info or trying to cause discord and dispondency. The posts in this thread prove what great members we have for trying to help rather than just flame when that is what they were looking for.



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