Caring for plants with oscar fish

[GenieMe]

I've got a mix of Java Moss, Java Fern, Anubius, and Hygrophila in with my baby oscar. I've heard that floating the Hygrophila and securing the other plants to rocks and driftwood should work out alright. The idea is to let the fish grow up in a planted environment. What's your take on this approach?

[wingbeat]

I think it's definitely worth giving it a shot, some oscars can be pretty chill with plants. That being said, my personal experience with oscars hasn't been great - I've had two of them and they both ended up destroying my plants, but maybe yours will be an exception!

[texano]

Oscars can be pretty rough on plants, they like to play with them and that often means tearing them up. Just something to keep in mind, especially if you're planning on keeping multiple oscars, make sure to watch out for any signs of aggression if they're both males.

[GenieMe]

I've had mixed experiences with oscars and plants. While some oscars are plant-friendly, mine didn't exactly share that trait. I had two oscars in the past, and they both loved to shred plants. I'm curious, did they always have this behavior, or did it develop as they matured?

texano said:
Oscars like to play around with their plants, tearing them up is a way of them playing, just make sure you watch out for fighting if they are both males

I've actually had to deal with that aggression firsthand. I ended up rehoming the more aggressive oscar, and now I'm left with a single oscar and a sailfin pleco. To be honest, I'm considering rehoming the pleco as well.