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Can You Put Live Plants with Oscars? (Best Plants for Oscars)

Oscar Fish is very aggressive and you may have heard stories that tell Oscar Fish have destroyed the live plants in the tank. And there is no way you can keep live plants in Oscar fish tank.

Well, it is true up to a certain extent but there are a few tactics you can use to keep some live plants in your Oscar fish tank.

And this is what I’m are going to talk about in this article.

You can put live plants with Oscars. But you have to be very careful while choosing the plants or else they are going to get destroyed by the Oscars.

Also, you have to be very careful while choosing the position to keep them in your Oscar fish tank.

Can You Put Live Plants with Oscars? (Best Plants???) image

Can you put live plants with Oscars?

Oscar fish belongs to the Cichlid family and they are known for their aggressive behavior.

Besides, Oscar Fish are very intelligent and they rearrange their tank according to their taste.

While doing so they move the gravel in the tank and you will also notice them moving rocks in the tank.

While redesigning the tank, Oscar Fish may also uproot the plants while moving gravels in the tank.

Oscar Fish is also very moody fish.

When you introduce the plants into the tank they may not even bother about it.

But later if they decided they don’t like the plants then they will tear it down.

So does that mean there is no way you can keep live plants in Oscar fish tank…?

No, you can still keep live plants in an Oscar fish tank.

But you have to be very careful while choosing the plants and the location to keep the plants in your tank.

Are Oscar Fish Good Pets?

How to keep live plants in Oscar fish tank?

You have to keep in mind a few things while keeping live plants in Oscar fish tank.

  • First of all, you should choose the live plants that require similar water conditions as your Oscar Fish so it can survive in the Oscar fish tank.
  • You should choose hardy plants so that even when your Oscar Fish uproot them they can easily survive in the tank.

To avoid this problem altogether you can go for floating aquarium plants.

  • You should tie the roots of the plants tightly to any large ornament in your tank, that could be a large rock so that Oscar Fish will not be able to uproot it.

You can keep the live plant near the corner and keep some heavy ornaments around the corner so that it will be difficult for your Oscar Fish to uproot it.

If you keep in mind these things while keeping live plants in your Oscar fish tank then your chances of keeping live plants successfully in Oscar tank increase drastically.

13 Types of Oscar Fish For Aquarium (With Images)

Best live plants for Oscars

1. Banana Plant

PARAMETERSVALUES
PLANTBanana Plant
COMMON NAMESBanana Plant
SCIENTIFIC NAMEMusa
FAMILYMenyanthaceae
CARE LEVELEasy
LIGHT REQUIREMENTLow
GROWTH RATEModerate
TEMPERATURE68 - 82°F
pH6.0 – 7.5
HARDNESSKH 3-6
PLACEMENTFore-Mid Ground
MAXIMUM SIZE6 inches
PROPAGATIONAdventitious

The banana plant is also known as Banana Lily or Nyphoides Aquatica.

This plant is quite popular in the aquarium hobby and it is very beginner-friendly as well.

Many people have successfully kept Banana plants in their Oscar fish tank.

Banana plant has moderate growth rate so you don’t have to trim it regularly.

Besides, this plant is very hardy and easy to care for.

How much light does the Banana plant require?

Banana plant is not very demanding when it comes to light.

This plant can survive in low light and you can also keep it under high lighting conditions.

Under high lighting conditions, its growth will be a little bit faster.

You can provide anywhere between 1.5 to 4 Watts of light per gallon to Banana plant.

What’s the best place to keep the Banana plant in the Oscar tank?

Banana plant is a short plant that grows a maximum of 6 inches.

As Oscar fish tanks are usually large, you should keep it in the foreground or midground near the glass of your Oscar fish tank.

While planting this plant in your tank bury its roots into the substrate.

Also, keep other large decorations near the plant so that Oscar Fish will not uproot it.

Ideal water parameters

The ideal temperature range for Banana plant is between 68-82° Fahrenheit and its pH tolerance range is between 6-7.5.

It’s ideal water parameters are similar to that of Oscar Fish so you can easily keep it in an Oscar fish tank.

Fertilization requirements

As mentioned earlier, Banana plant is not very demanding and it can do just fine without any Carbon dioxide injection.

But this plant will definitely appreciate liquid fertilizers.

The liquid fertilizer will help it establish well in the tank and grow faster.

Instead of liquid fertilizer, you can also use root tabs.

Check price of this plant at Amazon here

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2. Java fern

PARAMETERSVALUES
PLANTJava Fern
COMMON NAMESJava Fern
SCIENTIFIC NAMEMicrosorum pteropus
FAMILYPolypodiaceae
CARE LEVELEasy
LIGHT REQUIREMENTLow to Moderate
GROWTH RATELow to Moderate
TEMPERATURE68-82oF
pH6.0-7.5
HARDNESS60-160 ppm
PLACEMENTMid to Background
MAXIMUM SIZE13.5 inches
MINIMUM TANK SIZE5 Gallons

Java fern is one of the most popular plants in the aquarium hobby.

It is also one of the beginner-friendly plants.

This plant is extremely hardy and even when your Oscar Fish uproot it, it can easily survive in the tank.

Besides, this plant is relativity cheap and doesn’t require strict water conditions.

How much light does Java fern require?

Java fern does well under low to moderate lighting conditions.

Under very strong lighting conditions its leaves will start turning brown and transparent.

So you should avoid keeping it under strong lighting conditions.

If its leaves started turning transparent and brown then you should reduce the light and after a few days, it will regain its green color.

Ideally, you should provide it 1.5 to 2 watts of light per gallon.

What’s the best place to keep it in an Oscar fish tank?

In your Oscar fish tank, you can keep it in the middle ground or background of the tank.

I will recommend you to keep it near the corner and arrange a few rocks around it so that it will be difficult for Oscar Fish to reach it and uproot it.

Java fern doesn’t draw nutrients through its roots so the substrate is not necessary for this plant.

You can just keep it floating in your tank.

That’s the reason even when your oscar fish uproot it, it will still survive in the tank.

Ideal water parameters

The ideal temperature range for Java fern is between 68 to 82° Fahrenheit.

Its pH tolerance range is between 6 to 7.5 and the hardness tolerance range is between 3-8 KH.

The ideal water parameters of Java fern overlaps that of Oscar fish so you can easily keep it in an Oscar fish tank.

Fertilization requirements

As mentioned earlier, Java fern is a very hardy plant so it can do well without any fertilizers.

But to encourage faster growth you can supplement it with liquid fertilizers.

Check price of this plant at Amazon here

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3. Java Moss

PARAMETERSVALUES
PLANTJava moss
SCIENTIFIC NAMEVesicularia dubyana
FAMILYHypnaceae
CARE LEVELVery easy
LIGHT REQUIREMENTLow to Bright
GROWTH RATEFast
TEMPERATURE59-86°F
pH5.0 to 8.0
HARDNESS60- 240 ppm
PLACEMENTForeground
MAXIMUM SIZE4 inches
MINIMUM TANK SIZE5 gallon

Java Moss is another plant you can keep in your Oscar fish tank.

This plant is very popular in aquarium hobby especially in aquascaping.

It is commonly used as a carpet plant.

Besides, Java Moss is very easy to care for and it is very hardy.

How much light does Java Moss require?

Java Moss can do well in both high and low lighting conditions.

However, under low lighting conditions, its growth will be slow. And under high lighting conditions, it will grow faster and denser.

However, if you keep it under high lighting conditions, you will also notice algae growth on it.

So Ideally, you should keep it under moderate lighting conditions and provide it light anywhere between 2-3 Watts per gallon.

What’s the best place to keep Java Moss in an Oscar fish tank?

There are a few options available when it comes to keeping Jama Moss in Oscar fish tank.

You can either tie it to any ornament in your tank with a fish line. Or you can use it as a carpet plant.

You can also just let it float in your tank.

Ideal water parameters

Java Moss can tolerate a wide range of water parameters.

That being said, the ideal temperature range for Java Moss is between 59 to 86° Fahrenheit.

Its pH tolerance range is between 5-8 and it does well under soft in soft water.

The ideal water parameters of Java Moss are under the ideal water parameters that Oscar Fish requires so you can easily keep it in an Oscar fish tank.

Fertilization requirements

Java Moss can do just fine without any fertilizers.

But if you want to encourage faster growth then you can supplement it with some liquid fertilizers.

Check price of this plant at Amazon here

6 Tips to Take Care of Live Plants in Aquarium


4. Salvinia Natans

Salvinia Natans

Photo by Le.Loup.Gris under CC BY-SA 3.0

PARAMETERSVALUES
PLANTSalvinia Natans
COMMON NAMESFloating Moss, Floating Fern, Floating Watermoss, Water Butterfly Moss
SCIENTIFIC NAMESalvinia Natans
FAMILYSalviniaceae
CARE LEVELEasy
LIGHT REQUIREMENTModerate to High
GROWTH RATEFast
TEMPERATURE54 – 86° F
pH6-8
PLACEMENTFloating
MAXIMUM SIZE2-3 inches
MINIMUM TANK SIZE10 gallon

Salvinia Natans is one of the floating plants you can easily keep in your Oscar fish tank.

This plant is known by many different names such as Floating moss, Floating water moss, Floating water butterfly, etc.

It can tolerate a wide range of water parameters and it is a very hardy plant. So you can easily keep it even if you have don’t have any experience with aquarium plants.

How much light does Salvinia Natans require?

Salvinia natans do well under moderate to high lighting conditions.

The more the light you provide it the faster it will grow.

You should provide it light anywhere between 2 to 4 watts per gallon.

What’s the best place to keep it in an Oscar fish tank?

As Salvinia natans is a floating aquarium plant, you should just let it float it on the surface of the water of your Oscar fish tank.

As it is a floating plant there is no way Oscar Fish will damage it.

Ideal water parameters

As mentioned earlier, Salvinia natans can tolerate a wide range of water parameters.

That being said, the ideal temperature range for Salvinia natans is between 54 to 86° Fahrenheit and its pH tolerance range is between 6 to 8.

These water parameters are well within the ideal water parameters range Oscar Fish so you can easily keep it in an Oscar fish tank.

Fertilization requirements

Salvinia natans don’t require any fertilizers you just have to provide it light and it will do just fine.

best plants for oscars infographic

Are Oscar Fish Jumpers?

What do Oscars like in their tank?

Oscar Fish likes to hide behind objects especially when they are young.

So if you have young Oscars in your tank then you should definitely provide it hiding places.

To provide hiding places, you can introduce some ornaments such as stone caves, PVC pipes, rocks, etc in your tank.

You can also add some tankmates to keep your Oscars engaged.

As Oscar Fish is very aggressive, you have to be very careful while choosing tankmates for them.

How to choose tank mates for Oscar fish?

There are a couple of things you should keep in mind while choosing tankmates for Oscar Fish.

  • First of all, you should not choose the fish that are too small in size like Guppies because they are most likely going to get eaten by the Oscar Fish. A good rule of thumb to follow is to choose the fish that are larger than the mouth of your Oscar Fish.
  • Secondly, you should choose the fish that grow similar or larger than your Oscar Fish and can hold their own against it.

When it comes to tankmates for Oscar Fish, you can easily keep other cichlids like Jaguar cichlid, Convict cichlid, Firemouth cichlids with your Oscar Fish.

But there are some other species of fish as well like Pleco, silver dollar, etc you can keep with your Oscars.

You can check out my detailed article on best tank mates for Oscar Fish here.

20 Tips to Maintain a Healthy Aquarium

Conclusion

Oscar Fish are very aggressive fish and they like to rearrange their tank.

That’s why it is very difficult to keep live plants in their tank.

But if you choose the plants carefully and put it in your tank in such a way that it will be difficult for your Oscars to uproot it then you can easily keep some live plants in your Oscar fish tank.

I hope you found this article helpful.

If you do, please share it.

Happy fishkeeping!

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Author
Prathmesh Gawai
He is the main author and editor at Aquagoodness.com. And he loves to share helpful information on aquarium and/or fishkeeping hobby. Prathmesh has over five years of aquarium and/or fishkeeping experience. Currently, he has a Betta fish tank. He has written hundreds of articles on various aquarium fish species and on fish tank maintenance over the last five years. Connect with him on YouTube here. Learn more about him here.

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