Okay to house Oscar Cichlid & Needlenose gar together?

[Cookie]

Ok, I saw this 6 in Needlenose Gar (Xenetodon Cancila) at PetsMart,
and wondered if it would be compatible with my 4 in Tiger Oscar, 4
giant danios, and 1 plec. I have the 50 gallon tank at 75 F and am
currently feeding freeze dried krill, bloodworms, tubifex, and
tropical flakes (not all at once though
:-) I haven't found much info on the web or in fish books. I
understand that they will eat fish (but so does Oscar :)and can be fed
krill and pellets. How big do they get? Will they quarrel?

[NetMax]

"Cookie" > wrote in message
om...
> Ok, I saw this 6 in Needlenose Gar (Xenetodon Cancila) at PetsMart,
> and wondered if it would be compatible with my 4 in Tiger Oscar, 4
> giant danios, and 1 plec. I have the 50 gallon tank at 75 F and am
> currently feeding freeze dried krill, bloodworms, tubifex, and
> tropical flakes (not all at once though
> :-) I haven't found much info on the web or in fish books. I
> understand that they will eat fish (but so does Oscar :)and can be fed
> krill and pellets. How big do they get? Will they quarrel?

I think the spelling is Xenentodon cancila (watch the word-wrap on the
links).
http://fish.mongabay.com/belonidae.htm
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/stats/misc_stats/stats_misc5d.html
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Xenentodon&speciesname=cancila
http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=165598
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0392&view_records=1
or if your not convinced of the ID
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/FamilySummary.cfm?ID=207

These fish are quite interesting, but they are not low maintenance fish.
A four foot tank is the minimum to raise them and it will outgrow the
tank. You can't exactly keep a 16" long fish in an 18" wide tank. My
limited experience with a couple of them was that they had to be kept on
a live Rosy barb diet, and they were somewhat shy. An Oscar would be a
good match in many ways, except perhaps for feeding. Gars quickly &
quietly slide up to their prey, bend themselves into an S shape and
spring to capture their prey. I can't picture an Oscar quietly waiting
on the sidelines thinking "I've had enough, I'll let my Gar tankmate have
this one ;~). Gars are snipers, while Oscars are bulls in a china shop.
As adults, I don't think it could be made to work very well in anything
less than a well planted 250g tank.

NetMax

[CanadianCray]

Well that depends on what size the oscar is vs. the gar!! I had a gar once
in a seperate tank when I got tired of having to buy live fish all the time
I put it in the tank with the oscar. Within minutes it was in the oscars
mouth sticking out. Kept him busy for the better part of a day though.

"Cookie" > wrote in message
om...
> Ok, I saw this 6 in Needlenose Gar (Xenetodon Cancila) at PetsMart,
> and wondered if it would be compatible with my 4 in Tiger Oscar, 4
> giant danios, and 1 plec. I have the 50 gallon tank at 75 F and am
> currently feeding freeze dried krill, bloodworms, tubifex, and
> tropical flakes (not all at once though
> :-) I haven't found much info on the web or in fish books. I
> understand that they will eat fish (but so does Oscar :)and can be fed
> krill and pellets. How big do they get? Will they quarrel?

[T]

"CanadianCray" > wrote in message
...
> Well that depends on what size the oscar is vs. the gar!! I had a gar once
> in a seperate tank when I got tired of having to buy live fish all the
time
> I put it in the tank with the oscar. Within minutes it was in the oscars
> mouth sticking out. Kept him busy for the better part of a day though.
>
> "Cookie" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Ok, I saw this 6 in Needlenose Gar (Xenetodon Cancila) at PetsMart,
> > and wondered if it would be compatible with my 4 in Tiger Oscar, 4
> > giant danios, and 1 plec. I have the 50 gallon tank at 75 F and am
> > currently feeding freeze dried krill, bloodworms, tubifex, and
> > tropical flakes (not all at once though
> > :-) I haven't found much info on the web or in fish books. I
> > understand that they will eat fish (but so does Oscar :)and can be fed
> > krill and pellets. How big do they get? Will they quarrel?
>
>

I don't think tubifex worms are good to give to Oscars.. Don't know about
the Gar.. Although a really intresting fish... Seen a 12 inch Gar recently
housed with a couple of 10 inch Pacu's.. Talk about contrast...

Tim...

[Cookie]

"T" > wrote in message .net>...
> "CanadianCray" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Well that depends on what size the oscar is vs. the gar!! I had a gar once
> > in a seperate tank when I got tired of having to buy live fish all the
> time
> > I put it in the tank with the oscar. Within minutes it was in the oscars
> > mouth sticking out. Kept him busy for the better part of a day though.
> >
> > "Cookie" > wrote in message
> > om...
> > > Ok, I saw this 6 in Needlenose Gar (Xenetodon Cancila) at PetsMart,
> > > and wondered if it would be compatible with my 4 in Tiger Oscar, 4
> > > giant danios, and 1 plec. I have the 50 gallon tank at 75 F and am
> > > currently feeding freeze dried krill, bloodworms, tubifex, and
> > > tropical flakes (not all at once though
> > > :-) I haven't found much info on the web or in fish books. I
> > > understand that they will eat fish (but so does Oscar :)and can be fed
> > > krill and pellets. How big do they get? Will they quarrel?
> >
> >
>
> I don't think tubifex worms are good to give to Oscars.. Don't know about
> the Gar.. Although a really intresting fish... Seen a 12 inch Gar recently
> housed with a couple of 10 inch Pacu's.. Talk about contrast...
>
> Tim...


Tim:

What aren't tubifex worms good to give to Oscars?

[Kodiak]

That was mean... ...:(
....Kodiak

"CanadianCray" > wrote in message
...
> Well that depends on what size the oscar is vs. the gar!! I had a gar once
> in a seperate tank when I got tired of having to buy live fish all the
time
> I put it in the tank with the oscar. Within minutes it was in the oscars
> mouth sticking out. Kept him busy for the better part of a day though.
>
> "Cookie" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Ok, I saw this 6 in Needlenose Gar (Xenetodon Cancila) at PetsMart,
> > and wondered if it would be compatible with my 4 in Tiger Oscar, 4
> > giant danios, and 1 plec. I have the 50 gallon tank at 75 F and am
> > currently feeding freeze dried krill, bloodworms, tubifex, and
> > tropical flakes (not all at once though
> > :-) I haven't found much info on the web or in fish books. I
> > understand that they will eat fish (but so does Oscar :)and can be fed
> > krill and pellets. How big do they get? Will they quarrel?
>
>

[NetMax]

"Cookie" > wrote in message
om...
> "T" > wrote in message
.net>...
> > "CanadianCray" > wrote in message
> > ...
<snip>
> > > "Cookie" > wrote in message
> > > om...
> > > > Ok, I saw this 6 in Needlenose Gar (Xenetodon Cancila) at
PetsMart,
> > > > and wondered if it would be compatible with my 4 in Tiger Oscar,
4
> > > > giant danios, and 1 plec. I have the 50 gallon tank at 75 F and
am
> > > > currently feeding freeze dried krill, bloodworms, tubifex, and
> > > > tropical flakes (not all at once though
> > > > :-) I haven't found much info on the web or in fish books. I
> > > > understand that they will eat fish (but so does Oscar :)and can
be fed
> > > > krill and pellets. How big do they get? Will they quarrel?
> > >
> > >
> >
> > I don't think tubifex worms are good to give to Oscars.. Don't know
about
> > the Gar.. Although a really intresting fish... Seen a 12 inch Gar
recently
> > housed with a couple of 10 inch Pacu's.. Talk about contrast...
> >
> > Tim...
>
>
> Tim:
>
> What aren't tubifex worms good to give to Oscars?

I don't know why Tim would advise against feeding tubifex worms, but it
probably has something to do with HITH (hole in the head) which is a
disease which more commonly affects large fish like Oscars. The
conclusive cause for HITH had not been determined, with the evidence
pointing to poor diet (vitamin/mineral deficiencies), and/or parasites
and/or water quality, and more probably, some combination of the three.
Tubifex worms naturally exist in a very dirty environment (mostly
bacterially), so there is reasonable concern that they might be a carrier
for HITH. I think Hikari irradiates their tubifex worms, and
freeze-dried worms might not present a problem (I don't know). In any
case, tubifex worms quickly become too small to be of interest to large
carnivores. hth

NetMax

[Mark Stone]

"NetMax" > wrote in message >...

> I don't know why Tim would advise against feeding tubifex worms, but it
> probably has something to do with HITH (hole in the head) which is a
> disease which more commonly affects large fish like Oscars. The
> conclusive cause for HITH had not been determined, with the evidence
> pointing to poor diet (vitamin/mineral deficiencies), and/or parasites
> and/or water quality, and more probably, some combination of the three.
> Tubifex worms naturally exist in a very dirty environment (mostly
> bacterially), so there is reasonable concern that they might be a carrier
> for HITH. I think Hikari irradiates their tubifex worms, and
> freeze-dried worms might not present a problem (I don't know). In any
> case, tubifex worms quickly become too small to be of interest to large
> carnivores. hth
>
> NetMax

My Oscars, even the large fellers, haven't lost interest in the
tubifex cubes! I haven't seen an Oscar that has lost interest in ANY
edible item, regardless of size! :-)

I feed tubifex to Oscars as a treat and they seem to love the cubes.
My only concern is that quite a lot of the worms come back out through
the gills, so if there is not a good schedule of aquarium maintenance
in place the water could foul up -- so I would advise a newbie to the
world of Oscars to avoid it until he or she has mastered the extra
work involved in keeping Oscars. However, in my experience, there's
nothing wrong in regards quality or cleanliness with the cubes that
are out on the market. --Mark

[NetMax]

"Mark Stone" > wrote in message
om...
> "NetMax" > wrote in message
>...
>
> > I don't know why Tim would advise against feeding tubifex worms, but
it
> > probably has something to do with HITH (hole in the head) which is a
> > disease which more commonly affects large fish like Oscars. The
> > conclusive cause for HITH had not been determined, with the evidence
> > pointing to poor diet (vitamin/mineral deficiencies), and/or
parasites
> > and/or water quality, and more probably, some combination of the
three.
> > Tubifex worms naturally exist in a very dirty environment (mostly
> > bacterially), so there is reasonable concern that they might be a
carrier
> > for HITH. I think Hikari irradiates their tubifex worms, and
> > freeze-dried worms might not present a problem (I don't know). In
any
> > case, tubifex worms quickly become too small to be of interest to
large
> > carnivores. hth
> >
> > NetMax
>
> My Oscars, even the large fellers, haven't lost interest in the
> tubifex cubes! I haven't seen an Oscar that has lost interest in ANY
> edible item, regardless of size! :-)

I knew I could count on you to provide Oscar feedback, and with a bit of
humour too. Note that I said 'worms' and not 'cubes' ;~)

> I feed tubifex to Oscars as a treat and they seem to love the cubes.
> My only concern is that quite a lot of the worms come back out through
> the gills, so if there is not a good schedule of aquarium maintenance
> in place the water could foul up -- so I would advise a newbie to the
> world of Oscars to avoid it until he or she has mastered the extra
> work involved in keeping Oscars. However, in my experience, there's
> nothing wrong in regards quality or cleanliness with the cubes that
> are out on the market. --Mark

Someone should market Oscar 'hamburgers', about 1.5 cu.in. squares of a
variety of raw meats with extra vitamins and fibre (which would not come
apart until well down their gut).

NetMax