# Tale of 2 cichlids and thier future



## dudemac (Jun 25, 2006)

I am sure cichlid man can help me out on this.

Here is the story. i have 2 tanks, 25 and 40 gallon, eclipse. 

In the 25 there is an oscar that I took off a friends hand who was moving. He has since gotten to 10 inch range. 

In the 40 gallon, i have a texas cichlid in the same size range, could be a bit bigger.

These fish have seen to it that they are the only ones in thier respective tanks, except for 2 suck fish (1 in each)

I am moving soon and using this move to get a new tank that i have been planning for a good while. 
150 gallon, xp3, dual heaters 400's, nice light source the works.

Ph in both tanks is near the same, on the high side of 7.2-7.6 range.

Temp in both tanks is almost exactly the same at 77-78.

Is there a way i can set this tank up so that these 2 will live peacefully with each other? Rocks, trees, what ever?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Possible, but I doubt it. I would give one of them away now and keep the one in the 40. The 25 is way to small for either (although the 40 is too small also).


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## dudemac (Jun 25, 2006)

upgrading to a 150 gallon tank. getting rid of 25 and 40.


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## Zoe (Feb 26, 2006)

As Simpte suggested, you should give one away, and stock your new 150gal around your remaining fish - if they will tolerate it.


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## dudemac (Jun 25, 2006)

So just one fish and 2 suckers for the 150 gallon tank?


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## Zoe (Feb 26, 2006)

Well, both those fish are, I believe, pretty agressive. You may be able to put some south or central american cichlids in with the Oscar - that are neither too passizve or too aggro. Although at that size and having been alone thus far, I don't know if he will tolerate.

Same goes for the cichlid - I've heard of people keeping chiclids like jack demspeys, terrors or bala sharks with them but... I wouldn't suggest it. It can go either way, ya know?

Do keep in mind at the size your fish are - and they could get a tad bigger yet - "just one fish" is actually a lot of fishness 

Sorry I can't give you more details here but I'm sure someone else can.


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## dudemac (Jun 25, 2006)

good to know. thanks for the info.


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## Gump (Aug 2, 2006)

dude in a 150 you will have no problem with an oscar and texas. ive kept a lot more centrals in a tank that size. as centrals go oscars are not aggressive, most people think that because they eat community fish but compared to the others i consider them quite peacefull.
the biggest problem i see with that tank is filter size, i use two xb3s on my 135 and two on my 100. I dont think id keep one alone on my 100 let alone a 150.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

Yeah dude. Oscars are mellow. You could have an O and a tex in a 150 no prob, you could even have some other smaller fish, just aquascape it well. and I am really surprised an O made it to 10" i a 25gallon, it would be stunted and thats mean IMO, but now itll have enough room.


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## agfisher02 (Sep 14, 2006)

Now who would give you an Oscar just cause they are moving?

At least he got a larger home when he moved to your tank. When you get the new place let me know so I can swing by and see the Oscar and the new tank!


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## dudemac (Jun 25, 2006)

OK i guess it was a 20 gallon or so agfisher reminded me.

The stand is the cool feet, this thing will hold a truck up.

way over kill but thats what i do best


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

dudemac said:


> I am sure cichlid man can help me out on this.


Well I'll try my best.lol

First of all, for a successful thriving tank without fighting/territorial issues, planning is key.
Another factor is the eventual size of all the fish. I've known people buy 6 small tinfoil barbs and stick them in a 20g tank later to find out they'll need to by a 150g that takes up half the living room space.
It's all very well having two big fish and seeing if they'll live together, but once you've passed that stage it's very temping when you walk into the lfs and see a full grown jack dempsey that someone's bought back and it's been reduced from $20 to $5, or when they've had an order of rare juvenile pea**************** bass, and you know you must just have the one, but if you buy the whole group of 10 if works out half price. Come on, we've all been there.lol

what I'll suggest, is to keep the other smaller tanks, or at least one of them, so that if you have a frackass between the oscar and texas, you've always got a spare tank to split them up if things don't work out.

But the next step is planning. What do you actually want to keep in a 150g tank?
Is it that you want just one big cichlid and a couple of plecs? 
Or would you prefer to have a stunning display of multi colored fish?
My advice would be, if you wanted to keep both big fish in the same tank, introduce them to each other, if they are both at equal stregths and hold their own, then you can be sure they'll both settle down well and have their own territories in a large 150g.
If however one of them dominates the other one, further steps will be need to be taken, for example, giving them a cave each, and dividing the tank in two, once both fish know their cave is all theirs, you can remove the partition. There are lots of different clever things you can do to try and make two unfreindly cichlids live together.
If you find other big cichlids over 10 inches that you wish to keep in your 150g tank along side your oscer and texan then that's fine, however, one point I must stress is DO NOT under any circumstances leave two fish together if one of them is seriously dominating the other unsupervised, don't think _"oh, they'll settle down by tommorow, lets just leave them to it"_
Doing this will bring disasterous results, and will leave one of the fishes dead the following morning.
To stop bullying in a tank, steps must be taken, i.e. moving caves, adding caves with holes just big enough for the smaller weeker fish to squeeze through hence leaving the bully behind.
Once all the fish have set-up their own patches in the tank, don't worry about the occassional tussle even if injury occurs, if both fish have their own territory, it was their own choice to fight, and as long as a fish isn't being chased about a tank with no-where to hide then you needn't worry.

Good luck with setting up a CA/SA cichlid community, and remember, if a fish is being bullied, 1) Change the deccor/ curcumstances in the tank to temporarily destroy the hierarchy in the tank. 2) And if that fails, be ready to move the victim(s) or bully(s) into a seperate tank to try again later.

Peace  CM.


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## mr.dark-saint (Aug 16, 2005)

I for see the Texas beating the bejeesus out of the Oscar. Sell the 25 but keep the 40 it'll come in handy for mending and nursing. At least in the 150 there will be plenty of room to run. Kind a sad to see such a large tank go to pot but the Pleco's will enjoy growing to near tank busting size. I'd invest in "tank deviders" (Egg Crate cut to size) for the new fish after a stint in the 40 gallon trauma ward (if it's not occupied by the Oscar).


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## dudemac (Jun 25, 2006)

Thanks for the advice, I am looking for some tree stumps or what ever you call them for fish this size.

I found a few driftwood items, but how do i know i am not ordering too many to make a cave?


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## bert133 (Sep 21, 2006)

you will have a dead oscar i promise. the oscar will never hold his own to a texas. especially since he has had his own territory for so long. just my experience.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

bert133 said:


> just my experience.


Exactly.(What a ****************ing load of old ****************!)


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## dudemac (Jun 25, 2006)

Well so far so good, its been 5 days, there have been some scuffles here and there and a few bites but either is worse off than the other.

This morning they were both in thier own caves and working ok.


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## judya (Jan 23, 2005)

I would definitely get some egg crate (home Depot, in the lighting area - also know as Diffuser. If you need it, you'd be able to separate them. I'd mount it crosswise in the tank a couple of inches above the sand, so the catfish could swim under it but the fish couldn't.


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## dudemac (Jun 25, 2006)

Everything is good now, they have dug out thier own spots in the caves and even seem to be working together to move gravel around.

The damage each sustained is healing nicely.


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

dudemac said:


> Everything is good now, they have dug out thier own spots in the caves and even seem to be working together to move gravel around.
> 
> The damage each sustained is healing nicely.


thats great! How are they doing now??


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