We have a 120 Gal tank with two Rena XP3's. We have one 8" tiger oscar living with a couple of synos. This is our first oscar and we never expected to put another oscar in the tank with it. A friend is moving away and needs to find a home for his 12" fully grown oscar. Neither Oscar has ever lived with another oscar fish but both have lived with other fish. We are looking for advice on if it is smart to try to place the two in the same tank. Our plan would be to partition the tank and allow each oscar to become familiar with the new situation. Any advise would be helpful.
Thanks

Aaron and Amy

It all depends on the temperaments of the Oscars. Might be a good idea to put a partition in. Problem is, what if they don't get on? I don't think leaving a petition in for ever is a very good idea. Even though they wouldn't be able to get to each other, they would be a lot of stress I would imagine.

You can only but try. There isn't any advice anyone can really give you. It'll either work, or it won't

Putting two large Oscars together can be fraught with difficulties especially if they both turn out to be males. Having said that even if they are a male and female they can be really aggressive when they decide they want to spawn. The problem is that your 8 inch Oscar will see the tank as his territory and may be seriously aggressive towards the new Oscar. What i would do is to remove the 8 inch Oscar from its tank before you introduce the 12 inch one. Try to put him in another tank for a day and then put both Oscars in the main tank at the same time that way they will both be new to the tank and cant claim it as their territory. Try rearranging it a bit before you put them in as well.Introduce them on a day that you are going to be around so that you can keep your eye on them. I would keep the divider just in case. If you do end up with two males chances are your going to have to re home the second Oscar though. Good luck

We fully agree that the partition is a short term solution. The people at the local fish store suggested the removal of the smaller Oscar and introducung both a day later to make them think that the tank is new territiry as well. Thanks for your suggestions and advice I think I will put the smaller oscar in a new tank for a day or so and them introduce the two together. Hopefully everything goes well but if not the local fish store owner has already said that she has a home for a fully grown oscar so at least it will have a place to live.

I rescued 2 oscars and had nowhere to put them, so i put them in with my oscars. My biggest oscar was about 10 inches and the rescued oscars were 7 and 9 inches. My biggest oscars took a dislike to them straight away and started having a go at the new ones. So I put a divider in and seperated them. After 5 days I put my oscars into the rescued oscars side of the divider. The aggression was reduced because my oscars were now in the rescued oscar tank and after 2 days I removed the divider. They got on ok for the next few days. I then found a home for the rescued oscars

As your oscar is smaller than the new one, I would put them in together and see what happens. If they get on fine, great. If the new one is the aggressor then you are in trouble(shop for him). If your oscar is the aggressive one then put in the divider and seperate them. Leave for a few days then remove the divider and see if they get on. If they dont get on, separate again for a few days and then put your oscar in the new oscars side. If they get on ok remove the divider after a couple of days. If they dont get on after this then its down the shop with one of them

It can be a bit hit and miss with oscars so nothing is guaranteed. Let us know how you get on

That sounds like good advice. I do have another question. What is the best way to move such a large fish? Can I use a large net or dish or is there an easier way?

People have their own ways of doing this task. I have always found a large net is easier. If you are only moving the fish within one room, you can just net the fish, lift it out of the tank and then go to the new tank. However, you could always have a large bucket of water ready for the Oscar. Some people say they used towels to lift them out. Never tried it myself, I would imagine that that would be a very wet job. Oscars go absolutely mental when you lift them out of the tank so it is often a wet job.

Like I said, a large net is in my opinion the easiest way. Don't chase the fish too much, if you can't catch him in two or three minutes, give it a rest for five minutes and then try again. Normally you can corner them and just net them. When lift the fish out of the tank, try and support the fish. Sometimes they really do wriggle, you don't want them banging themselves.

Its easier with 2 nets. One to guide him into the other.

OFL is right they go mental when netted, they splash loads of water everywhere. Cover any electrical appliances that are near the tank

OK they are in the tank together and it has been two days. The new Oscar is about 14" long and makes my 8" look like a baby again. They thrashed around a little off the bat and seperated to their own sides of the tank. They each claimed around half the tank and when ever one ventures too close to the other side the start posing. They flare their fins and open their mouths as wide as they can. Neither on has backed down yet, so we will wait and see what happens. By the way we used a towel to move the large Oscar into the new tank. We carefully picked him up and he didn't thrash around like when we tried with the net. He was very calm during the transfer. Hopefully they don't start fighting.

Very interesting... maybe I should try moving mine with the towel, but the one is so aggressive that he/she always attacks me when I get my hands in the tank to clean (however, when I feed bloodworm or nice things, he/she takes it out of my hand, very fine and ladylike, without touching me... ) Well, I'll let you know how my shower went as soon as I did it...