CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

hey, i jus purchased a new 150 gallon tank for my basment.  I know that i can have a lot of fun with this tank.  i have two oscars that i am planning on putting in it one red and one tiger each about 5 inches.  I would liek to get soem suggestions on some tankmates to put in with them.  Personally i would like somthing more on the odd side like an eel or anything that will contribute to my tank in its appearance.  any suggestions?

Remember the rule about what an Oscar will eat. "anything that fits in its mouth".
That being said, I would avoid any fish that are long and slender. You could put in some JD's, or Silver Dollars. There not exactly odd, but defiantly make for good viewing.

I'm a rather new Oscar owner myself.  I'm no expert, but I can share with you what I've learned.  The PLECO, a type of "sucker" fish are definitely unusual looking.  I see them in tanks with Oscars often.  The drawback is they are very messy and poop ALOT.  Even worse than the O's.  Barb recommended the CORY CATS.  They look like little those little hand held Dirt Devils with whiskers.  They are scavengers, so they help keep the tank clean too.  BE CAREFUL!  You may not be able to add too many more fish because O's require a lot of space.  And be weary about placing expensive fish and some plants in the tank.  My friend's is about 12" and has eaten EVERYTHING she's placed in the tank.  Once I saw him with half a fish sticking out his mouth for quite sometime because it was to big to swallow whole!
Maybe you can add some unusual rocks, caves, and activities to make it more interesting.  May O, Rocky, likes to swim through the sheet of bubbles the air stick makes.  I bought one with suction cups and stuck it to the bottom of the tank, and covered it with gravel, except for the very top, then placed a 14" resin gator in front of it so it looks like a sheet of bubbles rising up behind the gator.  I also have an air hose going to the gator causing his mouth to open and shut every few seconds.  Rocky swims into the air bubbles right above the gator's head, catches the air bubbles and rises above the gators clenches and floats to the top of the tank.  He then catches the current from the waterfall and rides it down.  Then he starts all over again.
They like to show off and play.  IMO O's like to swim a lot too, so make sure they have a main drag, without obstacles somewhere in the tank.  My O loves to swim back and forth across the width of the front and shake like a puppy dog greeting me.  Hope this helps.
HAVE FUN!! 

Hard to predict for sure what fish Oscars will get along with, and vice-versa.  There are different kinds of catfish that will work in that size tank -- various species of Pleco are one choice.  I have a couple of Limas with mine.  Some people have kept bichirs with them with no problem, but others report them having been eaten.  Cory cats IMO aren't a great choice because of their small, snack-like size.  Clown loaches would work, but would need to be large, and they grow much more slowly than Oscars.  The Silver Dollars are a traditional choice.  Gouramis often work out OK -- not dwarf varieties.  Any caves would really be for whatever other fish you have in there.  Oscars don't really do caves -- they like to cruise.  2 main criteria:  Big enough, or shaped in such a way as to be hard to eat (ie silver dollars), or quick and fast enough to avoid being eaten (giant danios, for instance). 

3 Easy fish come to mind (1)AROWANA (2)TIGER SHOVELNOSE (3)PACU 

Ditto on the Tiger Shovelnose and Arowana.  They just get too huge. Cool fish, but...

Apparently, I'm lucky. My Oscar will live with anything. In my 150 I have a 3"channel cat, a 9' pleco, and 5 various S.A. Cichlids, and have no problems. We did have to get rid of a green terror, because at about 2" long, he was chasing the 9" oscar all over the tank and keeping him in corners.