ok guys i need 2 or 3 fish as tank mates with my O
somthing that will grow as quick but be able to bail
if my O trys to chase it any ideas?

Yeah get a larger tank then worry about tankmates. I have had success with Convicts, Severum, Silver Dollars and Plecos so far.

I had a Blue Acara in with them when they were all small, the Os killed it.
I had a H.Carpintis Green Texas in there and he got bashed and killed.

i know i need a larger tank but my o has a good year untill to big for tank i was
thinking get a couple of mates then upgrade maybe in 6 months i am good with
water changes and my filtration is good atm if need be i will do 2 water changes a
week i just hate seeing an empty tank jst him swimming by himself maybe 2 or 3 sd's
and 2 or 3 W/C a week ? as long as my levels are fine right? my O is only small and wanted
mates with him befor he gets to big to have anything in tank with him

Fair enough I see your point, you don't a single big O then drop intruders aka tank mates into his home. I forgot to mention Geophagus Brasiliensis in my last post.

Heres a couple I would like to try but haven't yet(these are not all together in one tank):
Chocolate Cichlid
Uaru
Jack Dempsey
Firemouth
Gold Saum
Managuense

It really depends on the final size of your new tank.

i might try a JD and a chocolate
any where from 6 to 8 ft
i have laybuyed a fx5 so will have in
5-6weeks

I think if you had a 6x2x2 or over that could work. Never say it will work when you are dealing with Cichlids.

Id like to have a Choccie one day, you don't see or hear much of them (I don't anyway) I think they look great almost 'Oscar-ish' in terms of personality.


Their large forehead reminds me of some sort of cargo plane like an A300 airbus

you might also think of other species besides cichlids for mate. maybe something like catfish. in a 6x2 tank you could get something like a lima shovelnose or tigrinus......

aus-car's list would be fine except for Managuense cichlid, they get extremely mean as they mature
blood parrots and jewel cichlids would be fine too

I have used convicts, green terror, firemouths, with success. they are usually quick enough to avoid the gulp.

My 2 "short bodied" convicts are only about 2.5" long and they actually stand up to my Red Oscar. As my Oscar got bigger I thought they would back off. but if the my 8" Red Oscar tries to go at them, they pair up and get aggresssive with the Oscar. It is really funny to watch.

Gotta love those Convicts, they are great as long as you keep them single sex

aus-car wrote:

very true. I have had these convicts for about 3 years. The fish store where I bought them had them listed as red devils. they had a tank full of them for cheap. I knew they weren't RD's, but decided to give them a try any way. It turns out they are short bodied convicts. kind of look like a smaller white parrot fish. but from my research they are just a natural mutation and not a pink convict mixed with a parrot. these 2 have been super hardy and i think they may be opposite sex but because of the mutation are infertile.

anyway, if you've never seen these "SB Cons". they are pretty funny looking.

cant say i have seen them =]
but i am thinking 2 or 3 sd's?