Oscar always ends up dead.... Ideas for other fish? (I Choose BEST ANSWER!!)?

Question

Hey there! I have a 20 gallon tank and usually have a few guppies and an oscar + pleco. Since I've had oscars I've had some pretty bad luck I suppose. All my other fish are doing well, I haven't had any deaths, but in 5 months I've gone through 3 oscars. I thought this last one was going to live, but I found him dead this morning. Any ideas on what other type of fish (carnivorous) may do well in the tank, or possibly an idea for why this is happening?

Thanks!!!

Answer 1

A 20 gallon tank is much too small for an oscar, which can get to be a foot long. You might try some danios, rasboras, or tetras.

Answer 2

Your oscars die because your tank is way too small for the fish you are keeping.  Oscars and plecos are both extremely messy.  To keep them properly, you need nothing smaller than a 75 gallon tank with a filter rated for at least  a 150 gallon tank!!  You should also cycle the tank completely before adding fish.

A 20 gallon tank is too small for any carnivorous fish except for dwarf puffers.  DPs are very small and should have 3-5 gallons of water per fish.  In a 20 gal, you could keep up to 5.  Make sure to cycle your tank completely before adding ANY new fish or they'll die again due to new tank syndrome.

Answer 3

get a cory catfish or some type of gourami. they are preety and pretty durable.

Answer 4

I've had the same problem as you but i now have african cichlids and their doing fine

Answer 5

Well since oscars will only do well in at least a 55 gallon tank to start off with and then a 75 gallon when full grown, you are probably losing Oscars due to them being stunted in their growth. Another reason could be if you are only feeding the Oscar feeder guppies. Feeder guppies tend to carry a lot of diseases, external and internal parasites that can infect your Oscar and kill it.

In a 20 gallon tank your options for carnivorous fish are very limited since most carnivorous fish get very large very quickly. Buy a bigger tank, at least a 40 gallon, and then you can have a very colorful and carnivorous cichlid tank.

Answer 6

guppies and oscars in the same tank and the oscar didn't eat them it must be very small and young oscars and I am betting they starved to death flake food is not enough food for an oscar they should be fed larger foods like hakari mini cichlid food they are small floating balls.

if when you select the oscar you are picking the one with the darkest colors you are selecting the worest one the dark colors are a sign of major stress ans should be avoided

the lighter green collored ones are healthier

I would venture to guess you wont have much better luck with any other carnivorous fish if you have this much trouble with oscars also you can feed the young oscars choped up night crawlers and as they get bigger whole night crawlers

the way you will know your oscar is doing good is your guppies will disapear real quick

you may also want to check your water peramters for ammonia