Hi guys i am new to the oscars but not fish in general and have a question. most fish i have had i never really cylced a tank just kinda threw them in the new tank. With my new found freinds i was looking to cycle the tank before adding them but was wondering what fish you recomend for setting the bio system. The tank my baby ocsars are going into for probaly a year is a 30 gallon tank the fish are less then an inch big 2 of them. i am currently using an auqa clear 50 filter for the tank and a heater keeping temps at 77degrees. picking up a test kit in the next few days for the levels. but i was looking for recomendations of fish to cylce the tank so i dont stress the oscars. Not really worried about keeping the fish i cylce i mean if the oscars eat them i wont be mad as i really only want the oscars in this tank so they dont get stressed out before i get my new place and a nice tank for them. thanks for any help

A 30 gallon tank isn't big enough for one Oscar, let alone two, especially if you are talking about leaving them in there for a year.

Anyway, to answer your question, guppies and tetras are what I normally use to cycle a tank. You might lose a few when you are cycling because they will probably be put under a lot of stress. When you have finished cycling, I would remove them before putting any Oscars in the tank. Because they have been subjected to poor water conditions, you don't know what sort of diseases they might develop so better safe than sorry. Just remember that when the tank is cycled, be careful what you add. You can't just dump a load of fish in because that might be too much for the filter. You have to add fish gradually and if you are talking about Oscars, I would only add little babies.

Having said all of this, let me reiterate what I have already said. A 30 gallon tank is made for keeping small community fish, not large cichlids.

Thank you for the advice I am going to give that a try. Unfortunealy, I know that the 30 gallon is small for them. I am looking to get a 150 gallon tank for them once i move at the end of the year.
Again thank you for your advice.

Black-skirt tetras specificly are very cheap and VERY hardy, so they would make excellent dither fish. Remeber oscars grow and inch a year, and at 2'' they will be 6'' by the end of the year, which is pretty big for a pair in a 30 gallon tank, especially if they're males. I would watch them carefully as November arives, they'll be pretty aggressive even at 4.'' Luckily were talking oscars, not other cichlids, so aggression won't be to big of a problem.

hey guys thanks for all the info on cycling. a buddy of mine had a large tank he was taking down and i used all his media gravel and water to help seed mine. Sadly i coulding get the tank hes "saving it for later use". My levels seem to have spike and setteld rapidly due to the use of an established aquariums setup. SO i have moved the little guys over hope it all goes well. cant find them though. there always in the trees or around the rocks. ocasiaonly i see them in the middle of the tank. These two guys have not seperated since i bought them. They swim allover together. the sleep together its like there a couple, or just best freinds. Only bad thing is there not coming up to the top for there pellets, there staying in the middle to bottom of the tank any ideas?
As i stated i am looking and hopefully after my move in december I can look into a bigger tank for these guys, would hate to do it cause in this tank i cant even see them but i understand they would be happy in a large tank.