Hello. My Red is doing some strange things and would like to know if its the norm ? He has cleared a large area under an arch of bogwood, so he is down to the glass and every now and then he will lay on his side and stay there almost looking at his reflection and all of a sudden he will have a huge quiver and then he is back to normal!! Whats he upto ?

Many Thanks.

who really knows why these fish do these strange things? I would imagine it has something to do with breeding instinct. When the eggs hatch, the Fry are transferred into pits that have been excavated out of the substrate, the Oscars will dig large pits when they breed. However, I think they have some kind of instinct within them that makes them do this whether they are going to start breeding or not, that's why people often see their Oscars doing strange things.

You got to remember that an aquarium is not a natural place for fish to live, I think that fish will act differently in captivity than they probably would do in the wild. if a fish can see its reflections somehow, it may well think that it is looking at another fish, this is the reason why it may start acting strangely as well.