Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Does anyone know if i can use oscar fish for a plant setup i am knowledgable with fish but very new to aquaponics thanks.

Macb2hard,
Absolutely! They eat, they crap, they make ammonia... Nitrogen production is the name of the game!

BTW, Welcome to the BYAP forum...

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Sam

Welcome to the forum Mac .

Sam beat me to it

I haven't seen anyone do this here but as long as you can keep them fed and the water temps are high enough they should work well. I know they were used in an Aquaculture setup along with Tilapia back in the seventies and apparently taste pretty good if you intend to eat them. This was a polyculture setup in a good sized solar greenhouse tank (going by memory - the tanks were around 10 by 20 ft I think and the Oscars were used to control the number of Tilapia). They did grow plants in the filter of their tank but they didn't call it aquaponics back then.

I also had a neighbor that used to grow them and sell them to pet stores so that's another option. Watch your fingers when you feed them

I have seen it done with a small setup through an indoor aquarium with one or two plants and an Oscar. The plant and the fish thrived, at least for the few months I was around the setup. As Sam said, the fish will provide what is needed for the aquaponics. You just need to make sure the fish is tended to properly.

oscars would be a great choice if you can keep the water warm enough they are nitrate factorys.

Is it true that Oscars will become less aggressive/territorial if kept in high numbers?