cichlids fighting

Question
QUESTION: hi i have a 200+Litre tank and yesterday i bought 2 small albino oscars,2 small firemouths,1 small demon earth eater and some bottom feeders .aka. plecs,loaches i have other fish in the tank (large bala sharks,large angelfish and large gouramis but im going to get rid of them soon before the cichlids get bigger!!) but the problem is my 2 firemouths keep attacking and chasing my demon earth eater away from a certain spot but they don't bother anyone else so i want to keep them all but how do i stop or decrease this behaviour and in about a month i'm going to get 2 more oscars,2 firemouths,2 demon earth eaters,3 festive cichlids and probaly a few more like 1 texas,1 or 2 convicts,1 or 2 blood parrots and 1 blue acara cichlid and by then i would have upgraded my tank size so i was wondering for any advice on how to stop my present and furture cichlids from fighting do i add more ornaments and plants for more terrotries or what?? please help me! thank you very much for your help i mean it thank you=)          from Sam

ANSWER: Hi Sam,
  You have a potential problem looming in your future.  Oscars are wonderfully interesting fish but they don't play well with others.  In fact, an oscar will eat any other fish that it can fit in its mouth.  That is why most people that start out with a bunch of fish and an oscar almost invariably end up with just an oscar.  So, you have to decide to either have just oscars or not have oscars.  They are not a "community" fish in any sense.  

  Once you have solved that, you need to deal with structure.  A cichlid tank needs to have lots of structure to divide up the space. This will allow each fish to have some places to go should it need to, plus it reduces the ability of any one fish to monopolize the tank.   When I say "lots of structure" I don't mean a plant or a piece of wood.  I mean that if you can see the back of the tank from the front, you do not have "lots of structure".  Only if you have lots of structure will you be able to add all those fish successfully to your tank.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi again i think i'll get 1 more oscar and see how 3 will get on with my other fish i'll also get the other fish i said and add more ornaments and/or plants to decrease aggresion i'm doing a water change today so i'll add more structure today while doing that. But won't cichlids all brought up from the same age,time and tank get along with each other instead of having a 5 year old firemouth then adding a 4 month year old oscar cause they will fight. but if brought up along side each other they will learn to respect each others space and boundries? won't they??. the reason why i've got oscars will other cichlids is because i've kept an adult tiger oscar before and he was'nt brought up with other fish and would attack everything and the tank was so boring so i want to bring up 3 baby/young oscars with 3 baby/young firemouths,1 baby/young blood parrot,3 baby/young demon earth eaters,2 baby/young blue acaras,1 baby/young convict cichlid,3-4 baby/young festive cichlids and a few other ones like jewel cichlids and 2 or 3 african or malawi cichlids too so what i'm saying is i'm upgrade my tank from a 200
+litre to a 250-300+litre tank soon with lots more structure to stop fish from fighting over space so there will be lots of space and terrotiy for the fish. And i'll have you know my oscars are getting on fine with my fish now no nipping,no biting !!nothing!! and i have them with (angels,gouramis,plecs,sharks)(they will be gone soon),firemouths,demon earth eaters these 2 types could fit in the oscars mouths but the oscars don't bother because they where brought up together so they know and respect each other so what i'm really saying is that i'll try the oscars and the other cichlids for about a few months and see how thet are getting on and then i'll write to you and i'll prove you wrong or right! then. And the pet shop keep Oscars,firemouths,severums,jewel cichlids,blue acaras,festive cichlids,demon earth eater cichlids,texas cichlids and kribenses all in the same hevily structured tank they are all small and young but they get along fine.?????????????          from Sam.

Answer
Hi Sam,
  All I can say is that your oscars have not eaten their tankmates YET. They will in the future. That is what oscars do.  They take their time and they are very good at it.  It may not be now or tommorrow or even next month but slowly your other fish will disappear.

  Oscars do not "respect" other fish because they were raised together. Oscars eat other fish because they can and do.  If you want to put those other fish in there, that is your choice but I can pretty much guarantee that they will be eaten eventually.

  Keep in mind that an adult oscar, if properly kept is at least 12 inches long and as much as 16 inches long.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>