I have two oscars(one albino and one tiger) that paired off in my 125 gallon tank. I have removed all the other tankmates and moved them to a 265 gallon tank so the oscars can be alone. I have noticed what appears to be sexual organs protruding from the anal opening on both fish and not sure if that is what I am seeing. They have slowed down to almost not eating and hover over this rock all the time. Does anyone know if this is good and what I should expect next???
Info needed on breeding oscars!!
- Thread starter jhutch
- Start date
Make sure you have some slate on the bottom of the tank, bury it in your substrate with some it protruding. Your oscars should dig it out and form a semi-pit with it. They will start cleaning it but they need lots of peace and quiet and feel comfortable. They may also fight more than usual or tail flapping.
The protrusions that you are seeing are indeed their sex organs. On the male it will be more pointed, and on the female it will appear to have a flat bottom, or look more like a tube. The behavior that you're witnessing is perfectly natural, and the O's, given the proper substrate such as the slate that BlueKiller82 mentioned, will clean their spawning spot and get down to business soon. Congrats!
Thanks for the info. I put a large piece of slate in the tank last thursday and they seem to have taken to it pretty good, but if they need peace and quiet should I bother burying it or leave them alone to do their thing? I hate to keep disturbing them with moving stuff around but the slate is just sitting on top of the gravel substrate.
