In need of advice with an oscar

[graffito]

I have two 8 in oscars, one red, one tiger in a 55gal that have grown from babies together with no problems. recently the red has been occasionally but very aggressively attacking the glass as if to push it back. It almost appears as if it is hurting itself but im not sure and its jaw line seems fine. This is only happening in one spot of the tank though, at the bottom where it seems like it is trying to form a crater out of the substrate where I have also seen both oscars moving substrate with their mouths to better form this crater. At the point of aggression, I usually just turn their light off and it returns to its passive state long side the tiger. This seems to happen around the same time now for the past couple nights; around 7-8pm, perhaps time related? Im not sure the sex of the two oscars so im curious if this behavior could be due to pregnancy or hormones? or is my tank just too small? or something else all together? I have fairly decent filtration and good water movement/airation and they are fed hikari gold and bio-gold. any tips? thanks!

 

[wanstar]

tank a bit small for 2 fully grown oscars imo. maybe not whats causing the aggression tho normally if tank is 2 small they fight each other. have u got any reflective surfaces near the tank mirrors etc? if they have started cleaning any slate or digging a pit near where the agression is happening then they'll be protecting the nest. how old are they at around 1 year old oscars become sexually mature thats when the fun starts. what temp u runing the tank at as 27oC is the optimum breeding temp so maybe lower water temp to 25oC to chill them out a bit if its high. from what i've read its probably the start of breeding if u want them to breed maintain the water at 27 and sit back and watch.

 

[HarlanAshmore]

sounds like their getting jiggy

 

[graffito]

sounds like good news! just checked the temp. its 1130 at night here in hawaii and with no heater the water is at 30-31 Celsius. should I put a stone or something flat in the crater or just let them figure it out?

 

[Lupin]

30-31 degrees Celsius at night? That's too warm to me. What thermometer do you use? Unless your filter creates vigorous surface movements, then you may need the airpump.

 

[graffito]

I was thinking that my thermometer might be off.. its just one of those crumy cheap ones so the actual markings on the side mite not actually correlate properly to the actual temp..

 

[Blu-ray]

Seems they are getting ready for breeding.
Put a slate beside their crater. if you put it on the crater they spawn on it but they will have to dig another hole to move the fry to it. you don't want to make them tired. lol

the one who attacks the glass is probably the male that wants to protect their nest from his own reflection or something else.

 

[Kcoastsurfguy]

Seems they are getting ready for breeding.
Put a slate beside their crater. if you put it on the crater they spawn on it but they will have to dig another hole to move the fry to it. you don't want to make them tired. lol

the one who attacks the glass is probably the male that wants to protect their nest from his own reflection or something else.

The one attacking the glass is definitly the male, good luck with the new babies. BTW doing tank clean up while Oscars are breeding is fun lol... Just watch your hand

 

[siebertn]

good luck with the baby's

 

[Blu-ray]

BTW doing tank clean up while Oscars are breeding is fun lol... Just watch your hand

lol yeah I used to cover whole the tank with newspapers to prevent the male smashing the glass whenever I wanted to feed the babies or someones passing near the tank.
and I couldn't clean up the tank for more than a month while they were with babies.