like an oscar

Question
hello again karen,
thanks for your reply, well after much consideration i have decided on keeping a jack dempsey, they seem like such interesting fish.
i have a question though, after some research on the webb some sites suggest adding salt to the water of a jack? is this true? and they also say the water should be medium hard to hard, what exactly does this mean? thanks.steve.
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Followup To

Question -
Hello karen,
ive just purchased a 50gal tank(going through its cycle at the moment)and im having problems deciding what fish i would like to keep, ill be moving my pleco in when everything is ready so they will need to get along. ive read a lot about oscars and would love to keep them but i know 50gal is just too small, do you have any suggestions on similar fish. thanks.........steve

Answer -
Dear Steve, congrats on the new 50gal!
Well, fortunately lots of large fish are suitable for your size aquarium. Actually, many people keep oscars in aquariums of 50-55gallons. But oscars can and certainly do grow the width (front to back) length of a 55gal and really do much better in aquariums at least 75 gallons.

How about a Jack Dempsey cichlid? These are extremely colorful but temperamental cichlids which grow to about 8 inches, but are fine in your aquarium and should certainly do fine with your pleco. Jack dempseys are best in an species tank or with just a pleco. They tend to be intolerant of any other fish in their range.Jack dempseys have little "jewel" like specs all over their body even before they are two inches. And well cared for Dempseys are like a mosiac of jewels. They can truly become a water pet and can be hand-tamed enough to feed from your hand even when young. Dempseys grow quite fast when well-fed with good quality cichlid pellets (like omega one) supplemented with vegetables like zuchinni, peas, romain lettuce, and freeze dried and frozen foods of all kinds. Jack dempseys are an easy to care for fish that are truly well worth devoting an aquarium just to them.

Or what about Severum cichlids? These are medium/large sized cichlids which grow to about as big as Jack Dempseys but are very different in personality and color. Tending to be greenish in coloration when young babies (about half a dollar size) severums grow reasonably fast into  gorgeous boldly banded adults. What's facinating about severums is they change color (like a chameleon) depending upon their mold. Shyness may prompt bold black stripes and a calm mood will cause their stripes to fade. Sometimes severums can go almost black and sometimes they are very pale. With patience, severums can be tamed and are not very aggressive and live quite a long time--I have known an aquarist whom had a 10 inch severum live for 14 years.
Severums should also get a diet very similar to the Jack Dempseys.
There is also a solid gold variety of the severum that is exceptionally beautiful and one of my favorite fish. Gold severums are also more docile than the green Severums.

Well, I hope this has given you some insight to some of my favorite "species" tank cichlids which would all do excellent in your 50gal.

Whichever cichlid you decide on, with patience you can certainly tame your little fish and really turn him into a handtamed pet that you could enjoy for years to come.

Best wishes and Best of luck!
Karen~

Answer
You're welcome!
Jack dempseys do just excellent without aquarium salt. Most aquarists claim to add aquarium salt to all aquarium water. But I don't do it simply because I find my fish thrive and spawn in complete freshwater. All Jack dempseys ask for is as cleanest water as possible (water changes).

The definition of hard water is simple-
GH is the term typically used for "General Hardness" and is basically the amount of dissolved minerals in your water
Soft water is one with a very low dissolved mineral amount, hard water is with a high mineral content.
KH or sometimes called (Carbonate Hardness) is your Alkalinity or 'buffering capacity' is a compound that depending on its level-- keeps your pH from dropping and keeps it consistant. A good KH is best to keep pH level.
A specific chemistry is not too important as long as it's stable.

Jack dempseys can live in a wide range of pH and hardness levels and as long as extremes are avoided, they do wonderful. They do in fact prefer somewhat harder water.

I hope this clears some things up for you!
Hope you find a Jack dempsey as enjoyable as all devoted Dempsey owners (like me) do!
Best wishes,
Karen~