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Loading ...Can African Cichlids and Red Oscar Cichlids Live Together And How Long?
Well, our fish tank has about 5 (2 1/2'' -4'') cichlids and a 4'' common pleco. My family are planning on getting maybe a small red oscar cichlid. We have a 40 gallon tank and will get a bigger one in a few months. Is it a good idea to put a red oscar with the cichlids we have currently?
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4 Responses to “Can African Cichlids and Red Oscar Cichlids Live Together And How Long?”
Usually no, it's not a good idea to mix South American with Africans. If you put an Oscar in now, while small, you have a better chance of no issues. Oscars are not the killers the other poster is making them out to be, they are just advantageous eaters is all, but if they grow up with Africans, they certainly are not going to go and target them as a food source as they will know this isn't a new fish tossed into the fray.
The problems you're going to face is one of water chemistry mostly. South Americans thrive much better in acidic PH waters and lower hardness levels that Africans. Every time I've tried adding South Americans, no matter how aggressive or mild, they never seem to make it in my African community. Even my Arowana which are South American fish don't do quite as well as they should.
You can do it, but I don't recommend it due to water chemistry. I don't see any issues getting along if all are small at this point. The Africans are liable to challenge him early, but a good sized baby should be able to fend for itself, and if you witness excessive aggression, you can always change up the tank layout and/or isolate it. I still say no based on water chemistry, and not compatibility. It would help assess this better if I knew just what exactly you have for Africans.
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I would not put the fish together. They will fight to death. If the african cichlids dont kill the oscar when it is a baby then when the oscar gets older it will probably kill all ur fish except the pleco. The plecos are a fish that will get along with almost any fish.
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oscars and african cichlids can usually go together fine ( i have a lot of oscars and cichlids together). as long as the oscar does not fit in the cichlids' mouth (meaning: around 1.5" to 2") you should try putting them together for a lil bit and see if anything happens. the cichlids might chase the oscar a bit and even nip its fins a bit but if he doesn't get beat up after about 3 to 4 hours, they should be fine together. (* i have a 5" flowerhorn and tons of parrot fishes over 4" with about 2" small severums, for about half a year… none has even had a small scale missing or been chased around
All fish are unpredictable as they can become friends with their enemies and become enemies with their friends.
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i have a new tank with 13 africans one bristlenose and 1 oscar all were bought at the same time and there has been no problems with the africans attacking the oscar i was more worried about the water conditions as the oscars like more neutral water than the africans
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