i have recently brought a albino tiger and and normal tiger, their between 4/5inches long, and get on great...... there in a 20 gallon tank and will be upgrading into a 80 gallon tank within a fornight after the water has settled ect.... but this is not why im posting


they DO NOT fight whatsoever they swim together, feed together and actually seem quite happy with each other theres no occasional nipping, no lip locking, no bumping each other (please see profile pic for a picture of them), like i said im upgrading to a 80 gallon, then eventually will get a 130 gallon within the year........



So advice would be welcome, i would like to know how you know they've paired ect???

please dont ask me water conditions and all that, i am an experienced fish keeper, and my tank is all working in order, with TWO strong filters and a nice array of living plants.... im just not experienced with oscars....

so please any advice about OSCAR behaviour such as pairing and interactions with each other would be amazing.... thanks

you wouldn't know if you have a male or female for about another 9months and even then you may not know. I have had 1 of my Oscars for 7yrs or so and still have no idea if its a he or she. around 1yr old they may become sexually maturer and pair off but if you have 2 males or 2 females they could end up hating each other. its a bit of hit and miss. even if you have a male and female there isn't any guarantee they will pair up. As for your choice to upgrade to 80g for 2 oscars you will need larger. I would forget the 80 and go 130 ASAP if you intend to have any chance of breeding. as you wish I will not preach about water conditions but would say read up as much as possible on the site. oscars are nothing like guppies by far.

You'll know you have a successful breeding pair of Oscars when they lay eggs and then they hatch. In many cases Oscars will lay eggs and go through all the virtual of looking after the eggs but they never hatch. This could be conditions in the tank, Oscars aren't ready to read properly, probably other factors as well.

never known guppies fella, i meant green terrors, so please dont belittle me

marcus wrote:


i agree with marcus. save yourself some money and skip the 80 gallon tank. in another seven month or so your oscar will be full grown and an 80 jsut wont cut it. get the 130 and avoid the upgrade. as for your 2 strong filters, i hope they are. oscars are probably the messiest cichlids out there and filtration is the key to keeping them healthy and happy(along with tank size). a water test kit is also a must but since you are an experienced fish keeper ill assume you already have one.

as for pairing you wont know until they reach sexual maturity and that happens when they are anywhere from 1-1.5 years old. so just because they are playing nice together now doesnt mean they will later. once maturity hits all bets are off. if you are lucky and have a pair things will fine but if you have 2 males then things can get a little tense. oscar are territorial so space is your best defence against aggression but like i said this wont really come into play for about another year so no point in worrying about it now.





toy_soldier wrote:


if you are an experienced saum keeper then you should know that juvies often get along until maturity hits then become aggressive. so from what i gather your really only looking to see if you have a pair of oscars and what size tank they should be kept in and these questions have been addressed.

toy_soldier wrote:

necro wrote
if you are an experienced saum keeper then you should know that juvies often get along until maturity hits then become aggressive. so from what i gather your really only looking to see if you have a pair of oscars and what size tank they should be kept in and these questions have been addressed.[/quote]


you claim to be an experienced fishkeeper but dont want to discuss water parameters ????????? surely you and we alike want to know if your alkalinity or acidity of your water is SUITABLE for keeping oscars in FIRST OF ALL....... most people who get defensive on here about water parameters dont even own a test kit !!!!!!!! not saying for one minuite that you fall into that bracket but you would definately know as an experienced saum keeper that as necro said 80gals is not enough for 2 large fish!!!!!! and i guarantee you that marcus had not and in my honnest opinion never did and never would "try to belittle you" in any way at all so please change your attitude towards members here before you go down that road !!!!!! we are here to help you in any way we can and provide you with a wealth of information that you will not get anywhare else we are glad to have you as a member here and i myself and all the other members here welcome ANY new members with open arms...............so lets get off on the right foot and please post your P.H.readings so we can see what the general suitability is like in your tank for your new oscar



hello toy soildier and welcome to the forum and the crazy wonderfull world of oscars!!!!!!!!!!!!

the PH is 7.5 around that, but as iv added the albino oscar and some new plants, that may be off.... so for now thats all i can give you to work with.... i havn't tested the tap water just yet, but if required i will..... but i do weekly water changes and treat the water weekly with..... aqua plus + stress coat and every other week or so cycle (reduces fish loss) but mainly if i add new plants or fiddle with the tank arrangements.

I have a filter containing carbon and the other thing (i forget off hand) and a slightly smaller filter that is just as efficient.

I do howver plan to have a additional undergravel filter when i set up my new tank...

I know my current tank isnt ideal, but i want to set the new tank up for at least a fortnight before adding ANY fish.

i apologise for my attitude, but im not happy, because i get told one thing then another then another..... i visit 2 aquarist shops, and they both tell me different things, so thats why im on this forum..... after purchasing the second oscar, i was told they might not be compatible ect, so obviousley im worrying slightly....

i agree it would be easier to go straight for the bigger tank! saves the pennies!

I have mainly nipped onto this site out of concern of having a pair, but necro answered that for me, on one hand its nice to know i around a year before i know, but the other is, at this point i could possibley loose one from what has been said.

well enough of me preaching....

thank you for welcoming me

I took the liberty to upload a photographic video for you to have a look at

nice O's!! welcome to ofl

BentBarrel wrote:


Thank You

no problems toy soldier.........LOVE YOUR O,s great pics and fish!!!!!!!!thanks for sharing.......your p.h. is great for the oscars anyway but i strongly advise you to remove the carbon immediately and replace it with ceramic tubes or bioballs as it has conections with hole in the head disease and oscars are quite suceptable to it so any thing to reduce the risk is an absoloute must!!!!!
i would advise you not to bother with a ugf as a sump or adequate external canister would be far better for oscars as they are so messy the ugf would trap all the detritus in the tank and with oscars you want this removed from the tank so the external and regular vacuming is the way to go....you had the answer on 2 O,s from necro and i concur with him on that you realy need a 125gal for them pair and a couple pf tankmates..a fluval fx5 would be an ideal filter for this new tank and would easily cope with the bioload....the tank cycling will take 40 days to complete ,no more no less..i strongly advise you not to add any fish you care about to a new tank untill the 40 days have elapsed as the poor water conditions produced while cycling WILL have a detrimental effect on your fish ..heres a lik to the nitrogen cycle
www.oscarfishlover.com/index.php?option=...atid=53&id=22040
dont worry about conflicting advice from fish stores ..you will get the best most accurite info HERE ..glad to have you as a member and anything you want to ask however big or small please feel free ...as there is years of experience here in all areas of aquatics and someone will help you ALWAYS!!!!!!!!..............the big game hunter

thanks again for the great advice! consider it heeded!

i will defo get the things you recommended! and after ive wrote this the carbon will be removed, thanks for the warning!