[jerseydevil609]

So quarantine hit and I had NOTHING to do, so I said "I might as well start a fish tank. Thats an easy inexpensive hobby that could be fun" since I already had a 20 gallon tank. Fast forward and Im standing in the pet store telling the fish lady about my VERY low budget tank set up and started asking what fish I could get. So of course I left the store with 2 oscars, 2 rainbow sharks, and 2 tiger barbs. Me knowing nothing, after about 6 months I was down to just the 2 oscars and 1 rainbow shark. Then I found a better home for 1 of the oscars (now starting to realize how big they get). So I went to a local pet store and told him my situation and told him that I was also starting to think about jumping up to a roughly 45-50 gallon tank, so he decided to sell me a Jack Dempsey and a Yellow Lab. I will not lie, the fish all live together very happily and I did keep up with tank maintenance. So I guess now was the time that my dumba** thought to do my research and figure out what the heck I got myself into. I have now upgraded to a 60 gallon MarineLand tank (thanks Black Friday), 1 filter rated up to 60 gallons, 1 air pump/ air stone, 1 powerhead aquarium pump rated to pump 158 gallons per hour. My Red Oscar is about ~6 inches, my rainbow shark is about ~4 inches, Jack Dempsey about ~3, and my yellow electric ~2.5. WHAT SHOULD I DO? Now that I've done my research obviously I know they shouldn't be living together, but I can't go back in time and stop myself from buying them in the first place. They all coexist very well and my tank is crystal clear. My first thought is to give the Oscar to my local fish store before he gets too big since they agreed to take him. But I think anyone who's ever owned an Oscar knows hard it is to get rid of them lol. Should I try to give them all, or all except one to the local pet store? Or if they are happy should I just leave it alone?

 

[Auballagh]

Oh my.... responses may not be as forthcoming to your post, as you would like? That alone, may help to inform your decisions I suppose..... :roll:
I guess the BIG thing to consider is - just how much do you love that Oscar? I mean really, they ARE super cool fish. And, if you're in to the idea of keeping a so-called 'wet pet'? The personality, owner interaction and all of the intangibles are definitely there with that species of cichlid.
But, and here comes the 'bitter pill'..... That Oscar will eventually need to live ALONE in your 60 gallon tank. That is, kept as a true individual, 'WET PET'.
Or - Mr. Oscar goes and, you keep the CA Jack Dempsey, Asian Rainbow Shark and the African Mbuna together in the 60 gallon tank.
Otherwise,
- the Oscar keeps growing.
- Everyone in there gets more and more stressed.
- Acceptable water quality gets harder and harder to maintain, (low nitrates).
And 'Aquarium-Keeping Weirdness', WILL almost definitely ensue...