Oscar behavor

[Iffrat]

Ok so i have 2 O's that have been together for there whole life..

been housed in a 150 gal tank with 2 silvers and a royal clown knife ..

one of them is bigger then the other .. im thinking large one male and small one female .. but im not 100% sure of this ..

for a while the large one has been kinda picking on the smaller one but its not really like he is trying to hurt the smaller one ..

so today i was sitting and watching them and the large one was opening its mouth all the way and kinda acting like he was biting the smaller one in the side of them body .. the smaller one would not swim away .. just take it .. then puff up its gills so they looked really large .. and the large one would start shaking .. like vibrating or something .. it was wild ..

now the smaller one has been hanging out in one part of the take for the last week or so .. which is not typical so it makes me think it might be mating actions .. but would like to get some input from you guys about these actions

thank you in advance

 

[LemonHead]

The notorious O's.. Yes it could be a mating dance. If there's no blood shed I wouldn't worry about it. Just cause they have eggs don't mean it'll be fertilized either. Just keep a close watch on them for scale lost or frayed fins. As long as both are eating, you should be ok. Congrats by the way, keep us posted.

 

[Iffrat]

ehh i was never worried about it .. both have nicks in the fins.. but so do the red hooks .. nothing that makes me think anything is wrong .. but i do love it when there fins are perfect .. they have a little overlapping so there fins look REALLY full .. love it ..

and i have yet to see eggs .. so i dont know whats going on .. and breeding albino tigers is anything but profitable so i dont think i will do anything with them if they do .. let them eat em i guess ..

i just love my O's .. best personality .. most active .. and just all around good looking fish .. and reaching about 10" they are really starting to look good

 

[danitolaboy]

I love my O's. Only had them for a few days now and we are all hooked here.

 

[ibz_rg]

Mine do the same thing. It's a possibility we'll both see babies here soon. Haha.

 

[xEchOx]

Doesn't really mean anything... the actions of the smaller fish is similar to a former tankmate of my big fella. I had to sell the little fella. I still don't know if they were male or female but it became to aggressive too often.

With O's its usually not quick snap over night like with Devils or Trimacs. Its just repetitive bullying/aggression. Eventually one will just give up, and you'll have to separate them.

I've had three oscars, and none of them could live with each other. My opinion is that if you end up with a breeding pair, or a pair that just coexists peacefully, you are a lucky guy.