my mom just rescued an oscar that is about almost 9 inches long. we met this lady at walmart who said that she had just moved in to a new apartment and she found the 9" oscar, a 1.5" african cichlid, and a 10" plecostomus all in a 10 gallon tank. she doesn't know how long they had been there, but their water was absolutely filthy! we moved the oscar in to a 30 gallon aquarium, but we don't have anywhere else to put the african cichlid, so my mo put him in with the oscar until we can find him a good, safe home. we put the plecostomus at home in our 75 gallon tank, with 3 small angel fish, a small clown knife, 3 gouramis, and another plecostomus, this one being 2" long. we know that the oscar will eventually eat the african cichlid, but we need to know what the african cichlid is compatible with so that we can move him hopefully before that happens. we just need to know what he can go with, and what he can't go with.
any links, tips, and suggestions will work. thank you so much
Answers:
I have to say that your intentions are noble. I think that you have bitten off more than you can chew. The picture is of a yellow lab, which is usually a fairly mild mannered mbuna cichlid from Lake Malawi. This is what I would do. Move the angels, clown knife and the gouramis to the 30 gallon. Place the oscar in the 75. You should try to give the yellow lab to a pet store. Use the phone book and tell them that you have a yellow lab ciclid that you need to get rid of and ask them if they will take it. Many will. The reason I told you to put the oscar in the 75 is because the clown knife is going to need to get a little bit of size on him, but he does not need to be with the angels for too much longer. The knife will get huge eventually. It should get along with the oscar in the 75 when it gets around 6-7 inches long. The reason I said you should give the yellow lab away is because it should really be only with other mbuna cichlids, and they would need at least a 55 to 75 gallon tank. Please email me if you have any questions.
Magic,
I'd be happy to help you out, but just african cichild is going to be hit or miss to be honest. Species I assume you don't know but even a pic would help to know what it is and from there could really help. I think you did the right thing for now too and glad you moved them. I don't think the Oscar would eat the African to be honest, right now...but down the road maybe because that African probably is going to have to really fight to get food and if you provide enough hiding space he should be ok for now. See if you can post up a pic of the African please.
If you need better help you can get it at fishless cycling.com, only professional answers given, full service staff on hand to handle all your needs. Just use the link on my profile
JV
FOLLOW UP:
Thank you Magic, I am on it.
actually, the oscar is likely to get beaten up by the african chiclid! (depending on what kind he is) even though the african is small, i believe they have tiny teeth on the outside of their mouths and can jab at the oscars tender flesh (oscars have no such teeth). and most africans are more aggressive than oscars too. although from your description, that oscar should be able to fit the african in his mouth and he should have alreeady been a goner...hmmm... right now though, i think them hurting one another is not likely since they survived together in such a small tank for so long and are used to each other, not to mention stressed by their new surroundings.
also, i know that you had few options, but putting a possibly diseased pleco in your own personal established tank was not the greatest plan. just keep a good eye on your other fish for signs of ich, external parasites, or odd behavour which may signal disease. if everything checks out OK, he may make a nice addition to your tank provided the 75 gal can support the new pleco.
in addition,if you don't want him to be alone, the best tank mate for an african chiclid is more african chiclids! they are generally super aggressive compared to other fish and will munch anything that get in their way. they are beautiful and fun to watch (my mom has a 65 gal african chiclid tank with the addition of one blue spotted pleco) i would recommend getting a 55 gal tank or larger; the shorter the better sinch africans tend to stay low in the tank. get about 6- 10 other assorted africans of the same size (pairs are nice, but no dwarf species!) they will all be super aggressive shortly after being put in the tank as they establish their pecking order (in my mom's tank, a few weak ones even died during this process) make sure there is an abundance of hiding places for each to set up it's territory. if you bought chiclids in pairs of 2, you may fing them breeding in as little a 1 month (our jewel chiclids did). for african chiclids, a ph of 8.0 is optimum, but if yours is lower, do not change it. also another tip, africans will eat most aquatic plants, so research hardy plants before purchasing. also, chiclids eat most all tropical fish foods, but make sure to suppliment their diet with flakes containing spirulina which is required for africans. i have a lot of other information i could give you if you want specific info, but there is so much info on these different fish it's going to turn into a novel if i continue. if you have any more questions, e-mail me. i've gone through a lot of research earlier on when i set up my tanks for my fish.
sorry to be a burden but i see 2 problems heres.
The oscar being stunted and getting beat up by the african cichlid
If you want the clown knife and oscar to be together you will need a 200g+, i keep my clown knife in a 200g and it is way to cramped as im getting a 500g custom one built.
The cichlid looks like a electric yellow http://www.malawimayhem.com/profile_show...
You could keep a group of 1 male and 3-4 females in a 30 gallon tank if you wanted to,or find a pet store or some that already has electric yellows and give him to them.
