how agressive is too agressive?

[7itanium]

I have a tiger oscar, that was a rescue from craigslist...

today I brought home another oscar (confirmed female).. I dunno what sex the one I already had is.. but I have been told he is a male (I dunno how they knew that)

anyway.. my current oscar is not taking very kindly to the new addition.. he is chasing her around, and biting her.. he as left a couple of small marks-- but nothing too severe

how long should I let them work it out before I need to intervene and take her out of his tank??


btw the new female is accutally about 3 inches larger than the current oscar-- and a whole lot wider... but she is the one getting beat up which I thought was strange

 

[7itanium]

BTW they are currently in a 75g tank (maybe part of the issue)... I am cycling a 125g as we speak but I am doing it fishless so its not ready for them yet

 

[GEV83]

The deal is you put her into his territory so he doesnt wanna share. You would need to move the decor around so they have to establish new territories. Just like with humans size doesnt always matter.

 

[7itanium]

The deal is you put her into his territory so he doesnt wanna share. You would need to move the decor around so they have to establish new territories. Just like with humans size doesnt always matter.

wow.. I tried that and it pretty much cut the agression by 90%

thanks!

 

[7itanium]

never mind.. that idea was short lived

this morning they are STILL at it.. my male has quite a few marks and the female seems to be winning now

im gonna give it a little longer and then she is gonna have to be moved out

 

[ibr3ak]

Try a divider for a couple days, see if they'll settle in or not.

 

[GEV83]

Yeah a divider is your next best bet.

 

[laurenrocksth]

Maybe you could get a divider and keep it that way 'til your 125 is ready? That way they'll both be in a new environment which may disperse the aggression.

 

[dent20]

A bigger tank might help, but I would not count on it. Sometimes certain fish are just disagreeable toward other fish. That same Oscar might get along fine with another cichlid. If you want to keep them both just go with a divider. A 75 should be plenty of room for the two of them.