Hi all - loving this forum, fantastic resource.

I'm looking for advice on Tankmates. I have a 3y.o (Likely to be female) Tiger Oscar which is approx. 6.5-7 Inches and has lived solo most of its life after it battered a TO I bought it with when at around 3 months old.

I have a 56g tank which we all know is the minimum vol for an Oscar of this size. For info I am running a reasonably strong filtration set-up w/ a Aquaone CF700 (turning over 700litres an hour through three stages of medium including bio); this is suitable for up to 180-190litres so I feed it back into the Wet and dry trickle system integrated into the hood of my Aquaone tank. Combined I'm turning the water in my tank over some 1400times an hour both biologically and mechanically. In conjunction I am giving the tank a lot of air - three inlets spread throughout the tank.

Canister Filter:
www.thereefshop.com.au/index.php?main_pa...&products_id=578

Tank: Mine is all black but you get the idea
www.aquaone.co.uk/images/14_Page_1_Image_0001.jpg

With all this in mind, I am hoping that the addition of a tank mate MAY be possible. I obviously cant add anything that would survive in a school because I dont have the room for numbers and I obviously cant add anything too big for the same reason.

I'm looking for advice on something small I can add that will live (lol - not get eaten) first and foremost and add a little extra movement to tank.

Any ideas?

Paul

That is not very big for a three-year-old Oscar, you did say 6 1/2 to 7 inches? 55 gallons is really only big enough for one adult Oscar. What does your water test for nitrates at the end of one week?

hey man,

maybe somthing like an electric blue jack dempsey? (gotta b one of the best looking fish in the world!)

pictus catfish r very active too and r good 4 yr tank aswell

sorry 4got 2 add ud need to upgrade, however.

HI lads,

OFL - Ammonia 0mg/l, Nitrite 0mg/l and Nitrate around 17-20mg/l. All readings are about 7 days since the last water change.

Ham - I just looked them up - beautiful looking fish but I'm not upgrading bro. I'm happy with the size I have - perfect for my lifestyle and available time I have for maintenance and up-keep.

In My Opinion, if those are your water readings after 7 days you could add a couple pictus cats and be ok.
They have a small bio load and are VERY active.
They also clean up after the Oscar.

Nick, you think Tzu will kill them?

Something to clean up after her would be great - seriously craps like a small dog lol

I have 2 in with my 2 O's and they are fine. I would add a couple hiding places, and get bigger ones. They are small as babies. But Mine are about 6 inches long and they're are just fine.

Several other members have them too and they are great fun!

Not easy keeping water displacement in mind and creating hiding places in a 55gal Nic. I have a bunch of small pieces of driftwood - perhaps stack them in a way it provides a hiding place (?).

Considering Tzu is around 6.5-7in - what size Pictus would you recommend? And is one ok on it's own?

BTW all, OFL's comment got me thinking and I just measured Tzu as best as I could. I seem to have the measurement out by a bit to say the least lol.

He is around 25cm head to tail give or take. Around 9.5inch. I never realised it was so big until I just sat down with a measuring tape and waited and waited and waited until he swam by it.

Thats still small for an oscar, at 3 years old it seems stunted. This points to too many fish or not enough maintainence. Given this, if i were you i wouldnt add any more fish

How big would you expect delboy?

It doesn't seem unhealthy in any way - perhaps it's just genetically small (?)

Here are some pics if you want to take a look.

picasaweb.google.com.au/1063308720899885...eTzu?feat=directlink