[Malawidolphin]

I have a Chococlate cichlid and up until now I have mostly kept rift lake cichlids. Would an Oscar be a good tank mate long term? My chocolate is about 4 ish inches and I would like a cichlid that is close in size when grown. Chocolates are rarely seen around here so finding one of opposite sex for this one, when I don't know what it is, will be impossible. This is my first "large" fish.

 

[Bigboystyle]

Originally I thought you meant feeding it chocolte lmao

But as with most fish - its a trial and error situation. Some fish get along while others dont - doesnt always depend on the species either. I would just try it out and see if anyones fins get damaged in the first couple of days.

 

[Burtess]

I just tried out this very thing. About the same size as yours as well... the chocolate beat on the oscar, and after I put in an egg crate divider, proceeded to rip the oscars mouth off through it.
Give it a shot, hopefully your chocolate isn't so aggressive as mine... be ready with another plan of action though..

Burt

 

[BlackShark11k]

Really depends on tank size...

 

[Malawidolphin]

The tank is only a 90 gal 4ft long. My Chocolate was taking a beating from a single firemouth in the tank. The firemouth was relentless so I removed him. The Chocolate is much more confident now and swims around and changes color from the brownish/purple to the greenish sheen with purple-ish fins. I guess I won't know if it works until I try, but if a larger breed fish doesn't work then I have nowhere else to put the new fish if I have to remove it.