HELP with Oscars

[Toooloud]

i have a 90 gallon tank, With two 5 inch tiger Oscars, have had then sence Birth, they get along great... But latly i have noticed that they are hiding alot.. they are allways in a cave i made and they dont come out execpt to eat?
Is this normal? I allways thought that Oscars where pretty active fish?

Filtration is good my water is perfect im running 2x Penquin 170's with biowheels and a Ehime 2227 Canester filter.

[goldfries]

mine's is always going around the tank on his own agenda.

[O-man21]

they might be pairing or my be guarding eggs in the cave. Is the bottom of the cave flat?

[JacksontoKobe]

What O-man said is a definite possibility. I have owned quite a few Oscars currently have one thats about 10 months old and he is all over the place constantly moving around begging for food whatever. I also have a baby about a month old he is really becoming active also all the oscars I have ever owned have been very active while they were juveniles.

[Toooloud]

Yea the bottom of the cave is flat?

The cave is just made of slate rocks? kinda piled.. and the bottom of it was just substrate witch they have cleared out.. so now the bottom is just glass..

Will they lay eggs on Glass?

As for then pairing up.. how can you tell? I mean one has gotten bigger than the other.. and they are allways togehter.. i mean the smaller one is allways swimming right up side the other .. they could not get any closer.

[JacksontoKobe]

Wow sounds like it could be happening awesome. They will lay eggs on slate rock I no that I have never bred a pair though someone else may have a better idea though.

[Toooloud]

ok, well i have never thougt about breeding, or anything.. Never even researched it..

What are the opitmal water temps for breeding? and will i be able to see the eggs? what about the Fry? I mean will oscars eat there young or anything like that?

[JacksontoKobe]

Alright Tooloud you will see the eggs possibly on top of your slate or even clinging to the side.The mother oscar will eat eggs that arent going to hatch they grow a fungus over them. I believe the mom will gaurd the eggs where the male will circle and guard the territory. I dont know how long it takes with oscars once the eggs are fertilized for them to hatch. I also dont know when they eat there way out of the egg and become free swimming. Ill do some research you do the same.

[JacksontoKobe]

Oh, as for breeding conditions I believe the like a warm temperature around 80 F.

[JacksontoKobe]

One more thing if they have little spots that are all the way down to the glass they might be seeting up a for to kind of contain the little guys while they are very young. This is because they dont want to be constantly chasing them down from floating away and even in the later stages trying to swim.

[fishbrain]

How old are the oscars,usually oscars are around 6 -7 inches long and about 7 months old before they start to lay eggs,but they could be starting to show signs of paring off:) good luck hope you have a mated pair.

[Toooloud]

well they are around 5-6 inches, and they are just about 8 months now, Got them in April, when they where Very very small.. from a friend who had breed them.

[O-man21]

I bet it is breeding. They lay eggs on flat rocks. Might want to get Mojo the help you with teh exact water perimiters, oh wait I have a breeding pair:D What is the water at right now? It's probably already happened and they are already guarding the eggs so the water is not as imprtant right now. Here's a test you can do. it's what I did to tell if I had a pair or not.:
Ok
1. stick your hand in the tank and move it around. Be prepaired to get bit. (You don't have to use your hand but I did for lack of other objects that can go into a fish tank)
2. If the male or female bites you when you get near the cave or the general area, then it probably is a pair with eggs.


Happy for ya:D

[Toooloud]

Well the water right now is at about 81 degrees..

and they where both out of the cave, as soon as stuck my hand into the tank, the smaller one went into the cave an teh larger one.. came at me like a bat out of hell, i have never ever seen my oscars that agressive.. so somthing must be going on..

i hope they Breed, :)

it would be kinda cool! .

I mean now my tanks are going to become over run, I have a breeding pair of Oscars, and i also have a Breeding paid of True Percula Clowns in my reef tank.. lol so now i can pretty much pay for my hobby.. this will be a nice change..

[O-man21]

lfs's usually buy oscar babies, I don't know about yours, but it seems like you'll have some in about 1-2 weeks depending on when they were layed if they are yet. If you can, get a good angle and see what is in the cave.They usually hatch in about 7-10 days I think.


seems like the test worked:D

[laurarichard]

I think they are way to young to be spawning! how old are they?