compatibility of oscar with auratus

9 posts

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


dinarian
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2008 4:05 pm

compatibility of oscar with auratus

by dinarian

am having 2 auratus and 4 tiger barbs in my tank is it ok to add oscars!! recently i saw few tiger oscars they were amazing is it ok to add them to the tank!! if yes is it ok to add 2 of them!!

my tank is not big and got good filtration


bigwillcast
 
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:41 pm

by bigwillcast

no, I'm new to this. but the oscars will eat them most likely. and from what I know, oscars need big tanks.


a1k8t31524
 
Posts: 939
Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 5:10 am

by a1k8t31524

yes oscars het huge..... you need a min of 70 gal


dinarian
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2008 4:05 pm

by dinarian

when they grow big am ready to change the tank!!

are they compatible with auratus


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

No, you can't mix them. You are tryint to mix an African cichlid with a New World cichlid. These types of cichlids have very different requirements (diet, water parameters, etc.). Plus the oscar will grow much faster and soon make himself a little snack. If you are really going to upgrade your tank then make the new tank for an oscar and leave your current tank alone.

As a side note, how big are your auratus currently? Those are some mean fish (even when compared to other Africans - they can beat the crap out of alot of mbunas) so I can't imagine your barbs will last very long once the auratus reach sexual maturity. Just keep an eye on it.

Also having only 2 auratus is bad. One of two things will happen:

1) They are both male so the dominant one will just kill off the sub eventually.

2) One is a male and one is a female. In this case the male will chase the female until she is exhausted and dies.

You need to keep these aggressive African cichlids in ratios of one male per every 3-4 female so his chasing is spread out. Also, since you say your tank is small, the problem will be even worse. Please read the article I wrote in the articles section of this website about controlling cichlid aggression. It is a good intro to African cichlids.

I'm not trying to make you feel bad or anything, but you really have to know what you're doing with Africans so alot of research is necessary. The auratus is one of the bad boys of this club. They can get very nasty. If you have a male, has he changed colors yet?

Good luck and ask if you have any follow-up questions.

Oh, and thanks for asking before adding the oscar. This is way better than 95% of the people who would just do it and then get frustrated when it didn't work out. I commend you on that.


dinarian
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2008 4:05 pm

by dinarian

thanks mate for the info!!

btw one of my auratus has changed its color!! and im having them for the past six months!! the auratus was with barbs, mollies and tetras, i've given away my tetras and mollies to my cousin!! and this tank just has 4 tiger barbs and two auratus!! these guys are so much fun , once in a while they chase each other thats it!! i feed them about 3 times a day! one of the auratus is about 2 and the other 2.5 inches.

btw tank size 18*12*12


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

Yeah, the one that changed colors is a male. You are only seeing a little bit of chasing because he is not fully grown yet and had just barely reach sexual maturity. Wait and see. You'll see soon enough what I'm talking about. If you leave them in there with the barbs and with just two of them, you'll be left with a single male here in a little bit because he would have killed everything off.

I know cichlids are cool, but you really need to provide specialized conditions for them. Putting two of them in a 10 gallon tank is suicide and is very irresponsible. If they are already 2.5" or so they need to be moved to a larger tank right now and you need to either keep a single auratus along with other fish that can survive with him (example: other mbunas) or you need to keep 5-6 of them.

I can't stress enough that these are not 10 gallon type community fish. I sincerely, hope you listen to my advice. If not, you'll be very sad when your whole tank is gone over the span of a couple of days. It's the equivalent of me locking you in a closet with a pitbull. The pitbull may put up with you for a little while when he is young, but eventually you are toast.


BurgerKing7704
 
Posts: 106
Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2008 9:03 pm

by BurgerKing7704

Pitbulls arent that bad, but that is a good way of describing it(a lion would be better, lol)

IMO none of your fish should be kept in a 10g tank unless they are babies(not trying to be mean). Mbuna are really aggressive, territorial, and are really strong swimmers. So they will chase the crap out of fish in their territory, even after its left. Barbs are schooling fish, they like lots of open water and large groups. Keeping small groups isnt too big a deal, but keeping them in small quarters isnt good.

The only type of African Cichlid i would keep in a small tank would be a shell dweller from lake Tanganyika. They stay small and have more personality than any other fish i've owned(SA/CA cichlids, mbuna, peacocks, frogs etc... they're the coolest).

I recomend doing a lot of research to see if you really want to keep mbuna, also look into Lamprologus species(shell dwellers that i described).


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

Yeah the shell dwellers are a good choice for that size tank. Nice recommendation BK.

compatibility of oscar with auratus

9 posts

Display posts from previous: Sort by: