Oscars paired up but wont lay

[Jarden P]

Hi, as states, my oscars have been paired up for months now, have cleaned areas etc but the bigger one trys to encourage the other one but it just goes and solks.
i got them about a year ago when they were 2 inches and have been together since now they're about 8-10 inches.

Could it be the slightly smaller one is not sexually mature enough yet or something else.

they swim side by side, shake at each other take turns digging and cleaning and occasionly lock lips.

any suggestions?

They are in a 90 gal (400l) tank with a medium size pleco and 2 jewel cichlids.

Thanks

 

[Kaosu]

welcome to MFK

i have no clue about breeding Os

but i would say our tank is a bit over stocked

8-10 inches is a little small for a year old O but again im no expert^_^

90g with 2 Os would be over stocked alone, let alone with a pleco and two jewels.

that being said

even if they were to lay eggs your pleco would make a nice snack out of those eggs,

what is your cleaning schedule on the tank and what is your filtration?

 

[twilight zone]

They should be able to lay eggs at about a year old or 7". Changing water frequently and raising the temperature up to about 82 degrees F will help. I was able to breed them a while ago but most of the males from imported fishes are sterile. I also had 2 females that paired off. Locally raised fishes are usually easier to bred. Good Luck.

 

[David R]

Hi Jarden.

You must have your account set so I can't reply to your message about the festae by email or PM. Don't know of anyone breeding them sorry, I got a few fry from mine before the male killed the female, and there are a couple of adults I know of, hopefully someone else will have better luck than me breeding them. They are super aggressive fish though, completely different kettle of fish to any other cichlids we get here [excuse the pun], I would be reluctant to try keep them with anything else in a 400L tank, and certainly wouldn't try keeping a pair in a tank that size. Mine were in an 800L and still wasn't big enough to give them enough distance between them...

Sorry for the off-topic, maybe change your account settings and PM me if you have any more questions about them.