Hey there,
I have 2 Oscars in my 140 gal tank.
One of them is a red Oscar that I obtained probably around a year (or so, maybe 7”) old three years ago, making it roughly 4 years old.
The other is a tiger Oscar that I bought as a baby 2.5 years ago.
The red Oscar was pretty sweet, as it would protect the small tiger Oscar from the other larger fish when she was young. About a year and a half ago, I came home to the red Oscar laying motionless on the bottom of the tank, with its face pulverized. I’m really not sure what happened, and I thought it was dead, however when I went to get the body out of the tank, it moved a little. I removed him from the tank to heal without the other fish bothering him, and then the tiger Oscar threw a fit and pouted. About a week or two went by and the red Oscar gathered some strength, so I put him back in the tank. The tiger Oscar was elated, and guarded the injured fish like he had done for her when she was small.
The red Oscar survived, but appears to have lost all of the vision in one eye, and 60-80% vision in the other eye. He’s got a system where he knows it’s feeding time and waits right at the surface of the water, so I can drop handfuls of pellets into his mouth (the other fish get what he doesn’t lol), or I’ll feed him larger items by hand or with tongs.
The two of them are thick as thieves, and they are constantly hanging out in “their” sand spot, touching each other, and following the other around. Sometimes when I move the decorations around, the red Oscar gets lost, and the tiger guides him back to their spot.
A while ago, while treating Ich, I bumped the temperature up to 84-86F, and the tiger Oscar (who is without a doubt female, I watched her) started to lay eggs. I left her alone and I’m pretty sure she ate them afterwards. I have read this can happen with new moms, and also if the eggs aren’t viable. Both were very aggressive with other fish, and with me, during this time haha.
Would the behavior indicate that the red Oscar is a male?? Or could they just be BFF’s? The tiger Oscar never backed the red one away, even while laying eggs.
If the red Oscar is a male, could he still figure out how to “do the deed” if he’s mostly blind?
I got a new heater and the water is about 82F, and they’ve started escavating a hole in the sand. Earlier this evening, the female actually jumped out of the water and bit my finger to get some pellets T_T
I have 2 Oscars in my 140 gal tank.
One of them is a red Oscar that I obtained probably around a year (or so, maybe 7”) old three years ago, making it roughly 4 years old.
The other is a tiger Oscar that I bought as a baby 2.5 years ago.
The red Oscar was pretty sweet, as it would protect the small tiger Oscar from the other larger fish when she was young. About a year and a half ago, I came home to the red Oscar laying motionless on the bottom of the tank, with its face pulverized. I’m really not sure what happened, and I thought it was dead, however when I went to get the body out of the tank, it moved a little. I removed him from the tank to heal without the other fish bothering him, and then the tiger Oscar threw a fit and pouted. About a week or two went by and the red Oscar gathered some strength, so I put him back in the tank. The tiger Oscar was elated, and guarded the injured fish like he had done for her when she was small.
The red Oscar survived, but appears to have lost all of the vision in one eye, and 60-80% vision in the other eye. He’s got a system where he knows it’s feeding time and waits right at the surface of the water, so I can drop handfuls of pellets into his mouth (the other fish get what he doesn’t lol), or I’ll feed him larger items by hand or with tongs.
The two of them are thick as thieves, and they are constantly hanging out in “their” sand spot, touching each other, and following the other around. Sometimes when I move the decorations around, the red Oscar gets lost, and the tiger guides him back to their spot.
A while ago, while treating Ich, I bumped the temperature up to 84-86F, and the tiger Oscar (who is without a doubt female, I watched her) started to lay eggs. I left her alone and I’m pretty sure she ate them afterwards. I have read this can happen with new moms, and also if the eggs aren’t viable. Both were very aggressive with other fish, and with me, during this time haha.
Would the behavior indicate that the red Oscar is a male?? Or could they just be BFF’s? The tiger Oscar never backed the red one away, even while laying eggs.
If the red Oscar is a male, could he still figure out how to “do the deed” if he’s mostly blind?
I got a new heater and the water is about 82F, and they’ve started escavating a hole in the sand. Earlier this evening, the female actually jumped out of the water and bit my finger to get some pellets T_T
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