kieley

hey im upgrading my 35 gallon to a 70 and im wondering if a school of tiger barbs that i already have would get along with an oscar? im thinking they may be quick enough to evade him?? thanks in advance for the help!

Shawnie

I think the oscars would have them for a nice snack ...oscars as fast when it comes to live food

J J Indy

I will tell you from my experience that you should never under esimate an oscar if he thinks he can eat it he will. Oscars are also amazingly fast and relentless when they want to eat something. congrats on up grading to a larger tank.

pepetj

Hi Kieley. A 75gal tank will do for one Oscar, and maybe a few but limited tankmates. So instead of upgrading, I guess you entered MTS zone, keep both tanks running!

When it comes to Oscars, I suggest you experiment carefully and have a plan B at hand -another tank allready cycled and ready to recieve fish if things go wrong.

If you want to try the tiger barbs and Oscar combination, it might work if you have full grown tiguer barbs (3 inches long) and a very young Oscar (up to 6 inches maybe). That means that if you get a baby Oscar, in 6 months, this stocking is due.
Once a fish -almost any fish- fits inside the Oscar mouth... it's just dissaster waiting to happen.

If you want a school of fish to go with an Oscar in a 75gal, then maybe four silverdollars will do it.

Keep in mind filtration should be optimal, since Os are very messy fish (when it comes to bio-load, the rule of 1" of adult fish per gallon does not apply here, instead, consider 60gal per Oscar, to be on the safe side). Consider 750gph filtration as a minimun, most filters for up to 100gal will give less than that (e.g. one AquaClear 110 gives 500gph).

Congratulations on your new tank! Glad you are considering going into Oscar fishkeeping!
Amazing fish.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

COBettaCouple

I would put the barbs in with him, they would be tasty snacks.

Shawnie

NAWTY!! I think that deserves some groundation of some kind!

Darlene

I'm no help with the questions, just wanted to say good luck if you get the Oscar. We are having a hard time deciding when we get a bigger tank if we should get an Oscar or a Jack Dempsey.

Shawnie

get both if you have the room! they interact very well together

Darlene

Thanks Shawnie, hubby will love that, do you think if we had a big enough tank, not sure what we are getting yet we could have clown loaches with them, as long as the loaches were big enough, or will they not get along??

Shawnie

your welcome...for one oscar and a jd, 75 gallon would be great...and just remember that they both are live food munchers..so ANYTHING they can fit in their mouths, they will eat...

kieley

hey everyone! thanks for the advice/feedback! i already sold the smaller tank so im going to have to see if full grown tiger barbs can make friends with a baby oscar... unless someone has a better idea for a big fish that might get along with the barbs?

Shawnie

well, dont hope too much...because they will eventually eat them..and so will most big fish that like live food...

Charmaine

Well in my experiance all big fish will eat anything that fits in it's mouth, live or not. Oscars are very smart, and will out smart any fish that it sees as a meal.