# Oscar, Jack dempsey, Green terror, with cloun loaches?



## RallyNovaRon (May 9, 2007)

I have seen oscars living with cloun loaches comfortably but i have never seen JD or GT. Does any one have experiance? They would be rather large CL.


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## welsher7 (Jul 29, 2005)

It all depends on the fish but, I think the JD would do better with the clown loaches.


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## maddyfish (Sep 16, 2006)

If way to big to eat, and with alot of space, and some luck. A clown loach might do ok with a JD, and maybe a GT.

I would think the clown loach would need to be as big as the JD/GT


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## igotaweinerdog (Jul 16, 2007)

I have seen a JD with clown loaches with no problem. The JD was about 6 inches and the loaches about 3 and never seemed to have any problems


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

The biggest thing is that the loaches cannot fit into the mouthes of the cichlids. Also remember that the cichlids you mentioned will grow a LOT faster than the clown loaches. So keep that in mind if we're talking about cichlids that aren't full grown yet.

I had my flowerhorn with clown loaches when he was tiny. But he grew and they didn't keep up. Then he ate a couple and I gave them to my mom for her goldfish tank, heh.

Size is going to be the biggest issue... I find a lot of cichlids won't care too much about things like clown loaches unless they're on the more aggressive side.


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## RallyNovaRon (May 9, 2007)

well right now i have a 4 1/2 inch oscar, JD, and a 3 inch GT, 3-4 inch red tail black shark. they are in a 75. I was thinking of adding about 3 rather large cloun loaches. Do you think this will work?


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## Thislilfishy (Jul 4, 2007)

You should be thinking about saving up for a bigger tank. The fish you have will get a little over crowded in that 75 in short order.

Ian


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## GN121406 (Jul 28, 2007)

I had an oscar with JD and GTs they did great together


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

For how long? I've seen that mix blow up on a lot of people.

Clowns are probably only slightly equipped to handle such a boisterous tank...and, if they don't grow fast enough, they could be Oscar food.


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## polomax24 (Jun 14, 2005)

I keep all kind of cichlids with clown loaches. I never had any problem with the mix.


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## RallyNovaRon (May 9, 2007)

Do you think the cloun loaches will have any problems with the red tail black shark? he has already killed my first oscar and GT. They were both bigger than him so he is kind of a mean fish.


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Then undoubtedly yes. If the RTBS did that to fishes that don't always come into its territory, then Clowns might be at risk.


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

If your RTBS killed off larger cichlids with streaks of aggression then it will likely pick off the loaches. They will compete for territory and the RTBS will kill them off one by one.

I don't think it's a good idea, all around. And like someone already said your tank is going to be way over stocked and you should think about thinning it out - not adding to it.


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## RallyNovaRon (May 9, 2007)

Mettle said:


> And like someone already said your tank is going to be way over stocked and you should think about thinning it out - not adding to it.


 So if i get rid of the shark then i will just have the oscar,JD,and GT....do you think this is still over stocked for the 75?


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Considering an O could have a 75 comfortably to itself and the tank wouldn't seem understocked, yes, I would go with it being OS'd. GTs can be bitches and will often take out their Oscar tankmates, so that is another strike against this combination.


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Yeah. The mix you have there is one that _could possibly maybe_ work in the right tank - but yours is not big enough. As mentioned, a 75 gal tank is a good size for a single oscar. Or a single green terror, for that matter.

The problem is that gt's often will kill oscars. I had this cohab for a while - two oscars and a gt. It wasn't the best and the tank wasn't big enough so I eventually gave them to people I knew who could properly house them. At first the oscar will likely 'outgrow' the gt, but when it catches up, it could be bad. Not saying it won't ever work out. I've heard of it happening. It's just more likely not to happen.

The jack dempsey is a wild card. Sometimes these guys are complete push overs who hide in a cave all day. Other times they can be mean as hell. If he's a docile one he's likely to get pushed around by the gt if its aggressive. If it's an aggressive jd then it'll likely spar with the gt and also take to beating on the oscar. The jd/oscar cohab is more likely. But again, I'd personally recommend a bigger tank if you could. Just out of everything I think it's the most likely to succeed.


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## RallyNovaRon (May 9, 2007)

Well my red tail shark killed my second oscar to day. the shark is 3 iinches and the O was almost 6...... So i am going to keep the GT and the JD. the JD is a dick and the GT keeps up so we will se what happens. if another dies then i will leave what ever is left to have the tank to them selfs.


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