as some of you may i know i was recently given a extremely large tank from a family friend which im slowly doing my best to turn into a small eco system.
iv recently had problems with bullying in the tank which was solved by some suggestions from Biggamehunter.
im hoping to have (oscar wise) my current 2 tiger oscars, my current albino oscar and eventually a red oscar. there is definatly enough space etc
which bring me onto my question, as i am currently not able to find a tropical fish dealer in my areas which has red oscars in stock will i have a problem with bullying in the tank if the other fish are able to grow on and thus will be much larger than the fish when it put into the tank after iv managed to locate one?
the only place i can activly find them for sale are internet sites but dont fancy the idea of it being delivered by parcel force!

cheers

Matt

How long is a piece of string? That's like asking if your son will get bullied at school before he's even started there. You'll just have to do try it out and hope for the best

right-o

reason for me asking is that i was told that as the current oscars would be much larger than this fish when added and thus it would be at seriouse risk.

feel pretty stupid for asking now, didnt realise it would have such an easy explanation! lol lol

cheers, ill just have to grit my teeth and hope for the best when the time comes!

Matt

No it's not a stupid question. You may find that everything is tranquil and peaceful once you introduce a new fish. On the other hand, they may ostracise it. It's just trial and error at the end of the day

I wouldnt worry too much, I found recently after adding a fish that was larger than the current that the smaller ones seemed to catch up to the size of the larger. Some sparring incurred but nothing abnormal, go for it get what you want Im sure it will be dicey for a little bit but will probably turn out ok.

It seems that Oscars have gained a reputation for being aggressive. I normally read this on general fish forums. I would say that my blue acara at nearly 4 inches is more aggressive than the Oscars. This little chap will often pick me eartheaters and the other blue acara, you don't see the Oscars doing this, they have a little bit of a kerfuffle between themselves occasionally but they are certainly not aggressive toward the other fish in the tank. Even the two Oscars in my other tank don't really pay much attention to the Crown Loach.

in addition to OFL's comments, introducing new commer in a
establish tank requires some re-arrangement to distort territorial
dominace. it will appear in their mind that they are all new comer
in the same tank. but that is not 100% guaranteed. bullying may still
happens.

thanks for all your responses, like a say, all i was worried about would be the larger o's attacking the smaller until the point of death.

i agree OFL it seems which ever fish dealer or shop i talk to dont touch oscars! everytime i mention them they seem to know little about them and simply say they are very aggressive and will eat everything smaller then them in the tank!

so VERY glad this forum is here to give me the actual facts!!

Matt

it feels good to know that we are of good help to you.
on behalf of OFL and the entire group, Thank You