Keeping 1 Tiger Oscar with Convicts

[Andrew Puhr]

I have a 4ish month old Tiger Oscar. He is probably about 4-5 inches in size. I also have a group of convicts that I have had for about a year. They are both currently in separate 40 gallon breeders. I want to transfer them to my 4 foot 120 gallon tank. I have read online of a bunch of different people having success keeping them together and recommend them as tankmates. I figure the 4' by 2' footprint gives them plenty of space to spread out. I was going to add a lot of rockwork and decorations to allow sight breaks and hiding places but just want to have success. 

I have other tanks in the fish room so if I do this and chaos ensues I can separate them easily. Looking for feedback or advice on successful transitioning. If I should add the Oscar first or convicts first, etc. 

[NOLANANO]

When I was in HS, Petco sold me a Tiger Oscar and 2 convict cichlids for my 29G and the convicts shredded the Oscar apart. Maybe you will have more luck with a much larger tank but it didn't go well for me.  I was also below a Novice as far as knowledge goes so it also could have been user error.

Aquariums source has OScars listed as a suitable tank mate for convicts so maybe it was more to do with the completely unsuitable setup I had them in than the fish themselves.

Convict Cichlid 101: Care, Tank Mates, Size & Breeding (aquariumsource.com)

Edited February 22 by NOLANANO

[Andrew Puhr]

That's my concern. Obviously don't want to create a blood bath and I am hoping the large tank will help with that and create an overall active tank. My other option would be to keep the Convicts where they are and maybe get another similar sized Oscar and have them together in the 120 and look for a compatible dither fish. 

[NOLANANO]

You could try it. In my set up, they picked at the Oscar for like 6 weeks before it died so there would be plenty of time to intervene if it doesn't seem to be going well.

[face]

I’ve never kept convicts but imo 1is an ok tank mate multiple is generally to much an Oscars despite their large size are quite soft for lack of a better word with delicate mouths and fins  not made for fighting at all convicts on the other hand are little bull dogs lol but that’s just my 2 cents 

[Tony s]

John Hudson (kgtropicals) tells a story. A friend of his gifted him a black arowana, it had no place to go. so he puts it in a tank with convict fry. He wakes up to a literal arowana skeleton. 

Just may be one of the pairings that work. right up to the point it doesn't

[Tlindsey]

On 2/22/2024 at 11:43 AM, Andrew Puhr said:

I have a 4ish month old Tiger Oscar. He is probably about 4-5 inches in size. I also have a group of convicts that I have had for about a year. They are both currently in separate 40 gallon breeders. I want to transfer them to my 4 foot 120 gallon tank. I have read online of a bunch of different people having success keeping them together and recommend them as tankmates. I figure the 4' by 2' footprint gives them plenty of space to spread out. I was going to add a lot of rockwork and decorations to allow sight breaks and hiding places but just want to have success. 

I have other tanks in the fish room so if I do this and chaos ensues I can separate them easily. Looking for feedback or advice on successful transitioning. If I should add the Oscar first or convicts first, etc. 

Oscar with a group of most CA cichlids is a recipe for disaster especially Convict's. 

[Biotope Biologist]

It greatly depends on the cichlids in question. 
 

I had a male convict raised him from a fry. He was a puppy. Just followed everyone around and liked being social. Very curious. He was in with gourami, sunfish, a goldfish, a BN pleco and a chinese algae eater.
 

cichlids have a ton of personality so the best answer to their compatibility is that it depends. You have 2 tanks if they fight separate them. If they get along great!