[Dragoon]

Hello, fantastic site.

I have an Albino (Oscarheart) 8" living with a common pleco (Plinko) 8", they grew up with a silver koi (Silvia)(which has been moved to neighbors koi pond :thumb: ).

I have a 55....I know I should have gotten the 75. I will be getting a 150 in about 6 months to a year. I have a 30 for a grow tank.

I would like to raise some tank mates for him and I am open to suggestions.

I would like to raise a mate for Oscar as well (Is this viable) and yes I have read Oscars 101 and understand the ramifications and am ready to deal with the problems.

Silvia and Oscar lived well together, although the koi was a little clingy sometimes and Oscar would just dart at her and that was that.

Oscar and Plinko like to jack with each other, but nothing dangerous.

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

 

[Dragoon]

Also what kind of 3d background would be ideal for Oscar.....rocks, coral, plants etc. to place on the back of the tank-thanks

 

[fishtycoon11]

*** always had best luck with silver dollars with my oscars. and its not a good idea to randomly introduce a female with a big male... did that once, and the femal died.

 

[Dragoon]

So the only way to get a mated pair is to raise a group together and wait till they pair off?

Is there really no way to introduce a possible mate. I'd hate for Oscar to live 15 years alone.

 

[cichlid_kid96]

I have added tankmates with my 12 inch oscar and they were much smaller than him. Its kind of a trial and error thing, I would try to get maybe a texas cichlid or something more aggressive at a smaller age.
Good luck

 

[fishtycoon11]

well you could also get one of those tank divider things and put the male on one side and the female on the other and see if they get used to each other and then remove the divider and see what they do.

 

[Dragoon]

that brings up an interesting question, how does an oscar choose its mate? Is it sight, smell, some other combo?