mixing

Question
my question to you is..can you put a oscar and a red-devil fish in the same tank

Answer
Hi chkalte
I saw your question in our question pool.

The answer....it depends.....  Generally, oscars get a bad rap as being really mean, but they're really more peaceful.  They just have a tendency to eat anything that can fit in it's mouth.  Now red devil's on the other hand, are very aggressive and usually won't tolerate anything else in it's tank with them, not a pleco, not other red devils, nothing.  Here's a quick story, about my experience with the 2....
I got a juvenile oscar and a juvenile midas/red devil-both about 3 inches when I got them.  Had them together in a 55 gallon tank(with excellent filtration and lots of water changes done weekly).  They were fine together, no problems at all, both were eating and growing well.  After a few months, had to upgrade to a larger tank, went with a 75 gallon for them.  The minute I added them to the new tank, the red devil/midas started beating up the oscar, and I ended up having to make a tank divider for them, and eventually separating them.  The red devil/midas has been in his own tank ever since.  

So, if you start them out together when they're small/young in a large tank(75+ gallons-though I recommend larger), you have a much better chance of them getting along ok.  I think what happened with mine, the red devil/midas was asserting itself and taking over all the territory in the new tank.  But you'd have to keep a close eye on them for aggression, especially from the red devil, because it doesn't take long for them to do damage.  

So, I wouldn't recommend doing it, but it "may" be do-able, just depends on a lot of factors.  

Good luck!

Christy