Oscars and Red Devils

[Kodiak]

Can i have Oscars and Red Devils in the same tank?
Will they eat the same food?
....Kodiak

[Mark Stone]

"Kodiak" > wrote in message >...
> Can i have Oscars and Red Devils in the same tank?
> Will they eat the same food?
> ...Kodiak

Yes to both questions, if your aquarium is at least a 75 and is
heavily decorated with unmoveable items (rocks, overturned flowerpots,
etc.) Also, you won't be able to use live plants and *probably* will
not be able to use plastic ones either. The purpose for the heavy
decoration is to give the high-strung RD places to hide.

Additionally, both specimens need to be juvi when you start. An adult
Oscar will munch on a baby RD, and an adult Red Devil will kill a baby
Oscar. If both are adults when you start, they will likely be
aggressive towards each other; at the least, the RD will be aggresive
towards the Oscar. So start with babies.

Finally, don't add any other fish to this aquarium except a large (6"
or so) pl*co. The interaction between the Oscar and the RD prohibits
tankmates.

And also, do this ONLY if you are an experienced aquarist, and I would
suggest only doing it if you are an experienced Oscar keeper.

Good luck with your setup!

--Mark


Mark Stone tractorlegs at msn dot kom
OSCAR Lovers! http://www.geocities.com/cichlidiot_2000/oscar.html
The ".Edu" meens i are smart.

[D. J]

"Kodiak" > wrote in message
. ..
> Can i have Oscars and Red Devils in the same tank?
> Will they eat the same food?
> ...Kodiak
>
Yes, you can try it in your 240G, but the risk is high that your Oscars will
be tortured by Red Devils, once RDs realize they are much more powerful than
Os.

RDs are evils as most of central American Cichlids, in an engaged fight, Os
stand no chance against RDs, there are two ways you can keep tankmates with
RDs in a limited space (<200-300G): 1.Their tankmates are significant
smaller than them, so they don't feel threatened, they have to be fast and
tough, like a few convicts or Salvinis. 2. Their tankmates are significantly
bigger and powerful than them, so they don't even dream of controlling the
whole tank, at the same time, the larger tankmate won't treat RDs as a
threat, like usually a large Jaguar cichlid does.

Obviously Os can't fit into the first scenario, when not dealing with food,
they are passive and slow compared to the RDs and they can grow even bigger
than RD, however they can be reluctantly fitted into the 2nd scenario, get a
large Oscar say 2" larger, but not too large to swallow RDs, Oscars grow
even faster than RDs, they can maintain that size difference for life, your
chance is better that RDs never gather the guts and offend Os, you will
still need good lucks for it to work. (I lost my O to stress related disease
in a 180G, it was because of a RD).

I wouldn't suggest keeping only two individuals in the same tank, as that
will make each other the sole target for the aggression, it can be
unbearable.

Good luck

[Kodiak]

You think a bunch of Jag's will be better off with the RD's?
I have juvenile 6 RD's, how many Jag's would I need minimum?
Thanks for all the tips gents...
....Kodiak

"D. J" > wrote in message
.cable.rogers.com...
> "Kodiak" > wrote in message
> . ..
> > Can i have Oscars and Red Devils in the same tank?
> > Will they eat the same food?
> > ...Kodiak
> >
> Yes, you can try it in your 240G, but the risk is high that your Oscars
will
> be tortured by Red Devils, once RDs realize they are much more powerful
than
> Os.
>
> RDs are evils as most of central American Cichlids, in an engaged fight,
Os
> stand no chance against RDs, there are two ways you can keep tankmates
with
> RDs in a limited space (<200-300G): 1.Their tankmates are significant
> smaller than them, so they don't feel threatened, they have to be fast and
> tough, like a few convicts or Salvinis. 2. Their tankmates are
significantly
> bigger and powerful than them, so they don't even dream of controlling the
> whole tank, at the same time, the larger tankmate won't treat RDs as a
> threat, like usually a large Jaguar cichlid does.
>
> Obviously Os can't fit into the first scenario, when not dealing with
food,
> they are passive and slow compared to the RDs and they can grow even
bigger
> than RD, however they can be reluctantly fitted into the 2nd scenario, get
a
> large Oscar say 2" larger, but not too large to swallow RDs, Oscars grow
> even faster than RDs, they can maintain that size difference for life,
your
> chance is better that RDs never gather the guts and offend Os, you will
> still need good lucks for it to work. (I lost my O to stress related
disease
> in a 180G, it was because of a RD).
>
> I wouldn't suggest keeping only two individuals in the same tank, as that
> will make each other the sole target for the aggression, it can be
> unbearable.
>
> Good luck
>
>
>

[D. J]

"Kodiak" > wrote in message
.. .
> You think a bunch of Jag's will be better off with the RD's?
> I have juvenile 6 RD's, how many Jag's would I need minimum?
> Thanks for all the tips gents...
> ...Kodiak
>
You can keep only 1 adult Jaguar Cichlid, as highly piscivorous Guapote
family has the tradition of conspecies hatred. Make sure Jag is significant
larger than the largest RD because juvenile Jag is usually not as aggressive
as RD.

I would also suggest to keep a school of active Tin Foil Barbs as
dither&target fish, your cichlids will feel more secure when kept with them,
plus even the one at the bottom of the pecking order will have something to
release its aggression.

[Kodiak]

Can the tin foil barbs survive in such an environment?
How many would i need?

My RD's don't seem to be very happy in my new tank.
They are not really eating. Once in a while they gobble up a
tropical sinking fish stick, but then they spit it out. ARe they
fussy eaters? They are very scared when i get near the tank.
And they are always in the bottom haldf of the tank. I have never
seen one go to the top, is that normal?
....Kodiak

"D. J" > wrote in message
le.rogers.com...
>
> "Kodiak" > wrote in message
> .. .
> > You think a bunch of Jag's will be better off with the RD's?
> > I have juvenile 6 RD's, how many Jag's would I need minimum?
> > Thanks for all the tips gents...
> > ...Kodiak
> >
> You can keep only 1 adult Jaguar Cichlid, as highly piscivorous Guapote
> family has the tradition of conspecies hatred. Make sure Jag is
significant
> larger than the largest RD because juvenile Jag is usually not as
aggressive
> as RD.
>
> I would also suggest to keep a school of active Tin Foil Barbs as
> dither&target fish, your cichlids will feel more secure when kept with
them,
> plus even the one at the bottom of the pecking order will have something
to
> release its aggression.
>
>
>
>

[D. J]

"Kodiak" > wrote in message
. ..
> Can the tin foil barbs survive in such an environment?
> How many would i need?
>

They will survive, at least some of them, however don't feel guilty if you
see some missing scles or even missing chunk of flesh, that's the routine of
the cichlid community. Keep at least 4.

> My RD's don't seem to be very happy in my new tank.
> They are not really eating. Once in a while they gobble up a
> tropical sinking fish stick, but then they spit it out. ARe they
> fussy eaters? They are very scared when i get near the tank.
> And they are always in the bottom haldf of the tank. I have never
> seen one go to the top, is that normal?
> ...Kodiak
>

RDs eat anything and everything, your cichlids feel insecure that's why you
need active dither fish to comfort them, also do you have any landscaping in
your 240G? unlike gold fish, a lot of cichlids like to occupy caves and
claim as their shelters, most of their activities are around the base, they
will feel insecure in open water(except some open water swimmers), large
drift wood/rock, fake plastic plant, even clay flower pots will do the job.

[T]

Toss in half a dozen TFB's.. They will probably outgrow the RD's initially,
big enough they willl survive being chased around a bit.. Had a half a dozen
in m 55usg with Malawi's...

Timmer...


"D. J" > wrote in message
.cable.rogers.com...
>
> "Kodiak" > wrote in message
> . ..
> > Can the tin foil barbs survive in such an environment?
> > How many would i need?
> >
>
> They will survive, at least some of them, however don't feel guilty if you
> see some missing scles or even missing chunk of flesh, that's the routine
of
> the cichlid community. Keep at least 4.
>
> > My RD's don't seem to be very happy in my new tank.
> > They are not really eating. Once in a while they gobble up a
> > tropical sinking fish stick, but then they spit it out. ARe they
> > fussy eaters? They are very scared when i get near the tank.
> > And they are always in the bottom haldf of the tank. I have never
> > seen one go to the top, is that normal?
> > ...Kodiak
> >
>
> RDs eat anything and everything, your cichlids feel insecure that's why
you
> need active dither fish to comfort them, also do you have any landscaping
in
> your 240G? unlike gold fish, a lot of cichlids like to occupy caves and
> claim as their shelters, most of their activities are around the base,
they
> will feel insecure in open water(except some open water swimmers), large
> drift wood/rock, fake plastic plant, even clay flower pots will do the
job.
>
>
>