so this has been going on about a week now, both my oscars(4 and 5 years old) have been digging this hole in my gravel and hanging around the hole. they run off my blood parrot any time he gets anywhere near their hole. just wondered if this might be a nest? they stay very close to each other for the most part, but i have never dealt with any breedings so i dont know what to watch for, like will one show signs of being with eggs? or are they simply just bored and tearing the tank up? wouldnt be the first time! they have been living together 4 years now, is there a sexual maturity age for oscars? if they were male and female would they have bred by now? i know its pretty much impossible to sex them so any advice/input would be appreciated.
curious Oscar behavior
- Thread starter delbertbiggs
- Start date
Sounds like breeding behavior to me.I believe they are sexually mature around a year
Sent from my VS840 4G
Sent from my VS840 4G
ok, well its been going on about a week now but this also isnt the first time they have acted like this, guess i could have 2 males, dont the males make the nests? i'm assuming so since ive never seen eggs laid in the 5 years ive had them
From what I've heard and seen they wont lay eggs in the substrate. If I were you I would put a big flat rock or slate in there right on top. I had the same situation and that is what it took to get them to start laying.
i have a ton of slate rocks in there as well as driftwood, are you saying i should put the rock over the hole they dug? funny you say that cuz they been trying to move it lately..
I wouldn't cover the whole but just put it near it. They'll probably lay the eggs on the rock and when they hatch move the wrigglers to the nest. They will move the rock and clean it. The only other thing I can think of is that they are trying to lay eggs on the glass bottom of the tank. No matter what you do if they want to lay eggs they will.
Just let them do their thing. This IS breeding behavior, but it could be two females - when they are ready, you will see their breeding tubes (Look up photos) - it will be clear if you have a pair, or two females. Good luck!
