# Oscars with Catfish?



## Brett (Sep 28, 2004)

Are Oscars too aggressive to keep with Catfish?


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## Joga Bonito (Oct 30, 2004)

i think the catfish might be more aggressive than the oscar :rasp:


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

corydoras? tigrinus? wyckii?

you gotta be a bit specific with that question...


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

lemmywinks said:


> corydoras? tigrinus? wyckii?
> 
> you gotta be a bit specific with that question...
> 
> ...


lol yeah

brett, catfish are the most diverse family of freshwater fishes, your gunna have to be specific, but prolly no, unless you have a monster aggressive oscar(which most arnt) most catfish should be fine, but still thats a huge generalization


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## Brett (Sep 28, 2004)

Well, I need some tankmates for a Tigrinus, but am pretty worried that any tankmates might bite off his streamers or stress him out by picking on him. I heard Oscars could be rough on tankmates? but really dig the yellow Oscars that Pedro is selling.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

Brett said:


> Well, I need some tankmates for a Tigrinus, but am pretty worried that any tankmates might bite off his streamers or stress him out by picking on him. I heard Oscars could be rough on tankmates? but really dig the yellow Oscars that Pedro is selling.
> [snapback]1162625[/snapback]​


well for a tig, i wouldnt be worried one bit

tigs are aggressive, and oscars (IMO) arnt really, infact id be pretty worried about the tig killing the oscar


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

Since when were tigs agressive? Tigs are one of those fish that will just allow itself to get beat on day in and day out until it's over stressed and dies. Do not keep these 2 fish together unless you have a very large aquarium.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

lemmywinks said:


> Since when were tigs agressive? Tigs are one of those fish that will just allow itself to get beat on day in and day out until it's over stressed and dies. Do not keep these 2 fish together unless you have a very large aquarium.
> [snapback]1162627[/snapback]​


isnt this what hes talking about? if so, i would say that an oscar wouldnt be long with one of those before it shows up missing, ive seen full grown tigers myself from what ive heard they eat anything, and with a mouth like that oscar would be bite sized


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## Brett (Sep 28, 2004)

I'm losing my mind. I think I will just buy the catfish and keep him all by himself in the 180. Merodontotus Tigrinus is the fish I'm getting. Every single person on all the different web forums gives me a different answer, I don't know who to believe??? I am setting up a 125 in the same room, I'll make that 125 the Oscar tank, how many Oscars are good in a 125? and what would be a good cat to put in the 125 with them? I may seem to have OCD by posing so many questions like this but risking a $310 Tigrinus is just too much to handle so he gets his own digs


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

sorry for the mis-id :laugh: i always get confused betweeen tigs and tigers, too close in name

still, id say the same thing, an oscar might be a meal, but potentially, it could work, oscars are highly varible in aggression

for tankmates id suggest plecos(royal, sailfin, leos, other larger ones)

125 will hold 3 oscars

there are plenty of good cats for em, raphs, plecos, possibly pictus's, larger callichthyidae's


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

Tibs, dont post stuff about a fish that he isnt even talking about or that you know nothing about....

A 125g is way to small to risk it. And unless it's a 125g wide, the tig will outgrow it in a pretty short amount of time. I wouldnt recomend keeping a full grown tig in anything smaller than a 30" wide tank because they do get quite long trailers on their fins. And a pair of oscars could work in there. It'd be best if they were a pair. Sometimes just 2 seperate oscars fight, but pairs hardly ever fight. good luck.


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## Brett (Sep 28, 2004)

no no no, the Tig is going in the 180, I am setting up a 125 for the Oscars and wondering what cat would be good in a 125 with them?


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

Brett said:


> no no no, the Tig is going in the 180, I am setting up a 125 for the Oscars and wondering what cat would be good in a 125 with them?
> [snapback]1162679[/snapback]​


larger pictus species, larger synodontis species, or raphael cats. there are plenty of cats you could keep with them, those are just a few.


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## PiranhaOscar (Aug 11, 2005)

Tibs said:


> Brett said:
> 
> 
> > Well, I need some tankmates for a Tigrinus, but am pretty worried that any tankmates might bite off his streamers or stress him out by picking on him. I heard Oscars could be rough on tankmates? but really dig the yellow Oscars that Pedro is selling.
> ...


Oscars not aggresive?? My oscar is much more aggressive than my red belly piranhas even... If I put a feeder in my tank it swims in the tank 10 seconds MAX then it is eaten by the oscar...I am not too sure about catfish, but oscars definately are on the aggressive side...


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

piranhaoscar, hunger and agression are two completly diffrent things.....

just wanted to point that out to you


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## King Oscar (Apr 5, 2005)

if the catfish is peaceful and cant fit in the oscars mouth, then u can keep them 2gether


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## PiranhaOscar (Aug 11, 2005)

lemmywinks said:


> piranhaoscar, hunger and agression are two completly diffrent things.....
> 
> just wanted to point that out to you
> 
> ...


Well hunger also drives aggression imo...and it is near impossible to make an oscar full lol so I would say he is aggressive just my opinion...Either way, like KingOscar said if he will fit into the Oscars mouth he will be food lol call it aggression or call it hunger either way the cat dead lol..


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

tigs are not a ggressive, they just eat any thing that fits in there mouth, like pratically all of the other predatory, and scavenging cat fish, whic is the majority of the species. i think some of the less common pelcos, would be cool.


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

aggression is not in any way related to hunger. oscars are not aggressive, if you put a fish in there that is similar to there size in the tank they wil just leave it alone at least most of the time, there are acceptions. how ever if you do this with a dovii or midas, or any truly AGGRESSIVE fish it's gonna beat on the newcommer regaurdless of wheather it's hungry or not. put your hand in the tank, and see what the o does, if he's aggressive he'll probably bite it but i bet you hw'll just look at your hand like what???


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## PiranhaOscar (Aug 11, 2005)

rbp 4 135 said:


> aggression is not in any way related to hunger. oscars are not aggressive, if you put a fish in there that is similar to there size in the tank they wil just leave it alone at least most of the time, there are acceptions. how ever if you do this with a dovii or midas, or any truly AGGRESSIVE fish it's gonna beat on the newcommer regaurdless of wheather it's hungry or not. put your hand in the tank, and see what the o does, if he's aggressive he'll probably bite it but i bet you hw'll just look at your hand like what???
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Actually my oscar will even jump up to bite my finger... and from what I hear this is VERY common with oscars...


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

PiranhaOscar said:


> rbp 4 135 said:
> 
> 
> > aggression is not in any way related to hunger. oscars are not aggressive, if you put a fish in there that is similar to there size in the tank they wil just leave it alone at least most of the time, there are acceptions. how ever if you do this with a dovii or midas, or any truly AGGRESSIVE fish it's gonna beat on the newcommer regaurdless of wheather it's hungry or not. put your hand in the tank, and see what the o does, if he's aggressive he'll probably bite it but i bet you hw'll just look at your hand like what???
> ...


thats because he sees your hand feed him often, therefore, he thinks your hand has food or is food


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## PiranhaOscar (Aug 11, 2005)

Tibs said:


> PiranhaOscar said:
> 
> 
> > rbp 4 135 said:
> ...


even so, am I misinformed or what then, if you kill for your food is that not aggression, Piranha will not even always attack when not hungry...Oscars will always kill the feeder even if full lol may spit it out but he will still kill it







I have also seen these fish kill their own that were in their tanks...all in all I think it all goes back to how you choose to define aggression...


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## micus (Jan 7, 2004)

my oscar ( when i owned it ) ate 2 pictus catfish when i put them in his tank for cleaners, make sure it cant fit in the oscars mouth


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## air*force*one (Mar 5, 2004)

your a liar mike


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## King Oscar (Apr 5, 2005)

air*force*one said:


> your a liar mike
> [snapback]1167844[/snapback]​


no hes not it is possible for an oscar to eat a pictus, any fish that fits in an oscars mouth in the tank has a 1% chance of survival


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## Bluegill (Nov 28, 2003)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Yeah what he said.


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