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Expert: Ron Coleman - 7/15/2009


Question
QUESTION: i have a convict cichlid and i want to put an oscar fish with it can i have the two together??????????

ANSWER: Hi Yadira,
 I do not recommend putting any fish with an oscar.  Eventually, the oscar will eat any fish you put in with it.  That is what oscars do. They are very good at it.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: well a convict cichlid convict is suposley cousins with an oscar? can i still put them together

Answer
Hi Yadira,
   Oscars and convicts are both species of cichlids. There are over 2300 different species of cichlids in both the old and new worlds.  So I suppose in some sense they are "cousins" in the same way that rabbits and bears are both mammals and therefore "cousins" but I wouldn't put a rabbit and bear in the same room and expect the rabbit to be there in the morning.  Same story with the oscar and convict.  Oscars are wonderfully interesting fish, but they are also highly efficient predators that eat other fish.  That's what they do, and they do it very well.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>

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Ron Coleman

Expertise

I am an expert on cichlid fishes, particularly New World cichlids. My broader expertise includes the behavior, ecology and reproduction of fishes in general. (I am NOT an expert on Goldfish). Please do not use abbreviations, such as "my GT has a swollen eye" because I don't know what a "GT" is. The more clearly you can explain your question, the better chance I have of understanding what it is that you seek. I keep fishes both as a scientist and as a hobbyist and I currently maintain about 140 aquariums.

Experience

I am an Associate Professor at the California State University, Sacramento in the Department of Biological Sciences, and I run a website, called the Cichlid Research Home Page . I also write for many popular aquarist magazines, and I was editor of Cichlid News magazine for several years. I am a scientist and I spend my time teaching fish biology, ecology, behavior and evolution and doing research on the reproductive biology of fishes, particularly cichlids. I do research in the laboratory and in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico. My main interest is understanding the evolution of parental care in fishes. I am interested in encouraging greater public awareness, understanding and participation in science.

Publications
Cichlid News, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, Science, Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, Copeia, Canadian Journal of Zoology, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, AUK, Environmental Biology of Fishes

Education/Credentials
PhD (Toronto, 1993) MSc (Simon Fraser, 1986) BSc (British Columbia, 1983)

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