tankmate for our Oscar

Question
"We have a 110 gallon tank and one oscar. He is 3-4'' and we are wanting to add a tankmate. I have been told that snow eels are a good tankmate for an oscar or an cichlid, I happen to love these eels. My first question is the eel needs salt but I am not seeing anything where an oscar needs or flourishes with salt. My second question is very much related in that I am wondering waht you think my best option for adding a tankmate in with an already established oscar."

Answer
Hello Kristi!

First off, I would like to say that I am very pleased to have read your question. So many people are keeping oscars in smaller tanks these days, but you have lots of room to work in there!

Now, on to your question!

No, a snow eel could not be kept with your oscar. Of course, snows are saltwater fish, oscars are freshwater, so you are right, they can never be mixed.

However, with your size tank there are a couple of tank mate options. I would keep no more than 2 large cichlids in there, maybe 3 if they were smaller and you had a good water change schedule and filtration.

You have a couple options. You could choose 1 or 2 of the following, depending on how often you perform water changes, and your filtration.

Jack Dempsey
Green Terror
Blue Acara
A pair of Firemouth Meeki (they are smaller fish, but still big enough to stand up for themselves)
Pleco (if you add a pleco, you could still add another cichlid. They don't take up as much room)
Severum

Make sure that the fish you buy is about the same size as the oscar. Also, if you find there is too much agression (often unavoidable with larger cichlids), you can rearrange the decor in the tank. This messes up the fish's territory, and there won't be much fighting for awhile.