Oscar Fight!

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MistirE

MistirE

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jan 28, 2007
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Hawaii
I came home yesterday and saw my oscar's acting normal all always. About a half hour later I saw that my two "O"s that grew up together were definately going to kill each other. Lip biting, scales flying etc. not good! Anyhow I introduced a third one in the tank recently and its been the one they always mess with....I'm thinking this was the root of the problem but...it seems when I took out the big on that my red ( red and big tiger were fighting gladiator style) was fighting my white. Not challenging but lip locking hard core!...Well they are all seperated in 20 gallon tanks for now getting treated with aloe, melafix, salt and clean water at 84 degrees. Problem is, what do I do from here? :nilly:HELP, need idea's ASAP. Thanks Again for taking the time to read this!:D
 
evilxyardxgnome;755753; said:
How big is the tank they are in normally? I hope atleast 150 gallons for the 3 it sounds like you have.
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Currently in a 75 gallon, but it's not for life though. They are still pretty small and I am building a 180 gallon tank. Anyhow they are in quarintine tanks and healing. not really too bad in injuries but, still....ger, they're being punks. I think I might pair up the original 2 and see how they react.
 
i couldn'treally make sence of that one post. have you tried putting the smaller with the new one?
but in the long run.... build that tank a little faster. hehe
 
yeah my two oscars began to blew, after bout 5 inches! keep there bellies full, i found that my oscars wouldnt fight if they weren't hungry...i started mine on BW,BH, then straight to feeders! all the problems went away....but it does depend on the individual fish!
 
hmmm....well I also did start to cut the amout of food intake....geez those guys eat alot! Makes sense.:D
 
Even with a 150g tank you will probably experiance the same aggresion issues. In the wild, an oscar's territory probably takes up more surface area then even a 150g can provide. Once oscars decide they don't like eatchother there is little you can do. There are tricks you can try but even still eventually they will probably go at it again. Three oscars is a bad number that most people would advice against. Two normally join together and pick on a third. The best solution is to get more oscars...something you are not equipped to do or get rid of the odd man out. Pick out the two oscars that seem to get along and find a home for the remaining fish.
Also, just because they grow up togehter does not mean they will continue to like eatchother. Once sexual maturity hits in an oscars personality will change a lot.
 
sandtiger;756863; said:
Even with a 150g tank you will probably experiance the same aggresion issues. In the wild, an oscar's territory probably takes up more surface area then even a 150g can provide. Once oscars decide they don't like eatchother there is little you can do. There are tricks you can try but even still eventually they will probably go at it again. Three oscars is a bad number that most people would advice against. Two normally join together and pick on a third. The best solution is to get more oscars...something you are not equipped to do or get rid of the odd man out. Pick out the two oscars that seem to get along and find a home for the remaining fish.
Also, just because they grow up togehter does not mean they will continue to like eatchother. Once sexual maturity hits in an oscars personality will change a lot.
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:iagree: Well said :clap
 
Agree w/sandtiger. Oscars are funny that way, because they really aren't downright mean like some cichlids are, aggressive eaters yeah but not real destroyers...but they will get it in their heads to beat somebody up now and then, and when they do they're pretty persistent. I pretty much gave up trying to keep more than a pair (never had the space for a school) because of that. Was there any other fish in the tank or just the oscars?

I've also heard that the white ones are less aggressive than commons, reds, and tigers, but I've never kept a white so I can't vouch for that. If it's true you might be better off separating the white...maybe someone with more experience w/whites can help there.
 
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