Hi. I just got a tiger oscar in Dec 06. He is about 8 inches long. I have 2 fairly large suckers fish in a 30 gal tank with him. The sucker fish were in the tank first, but he still chases them and tries to nip at their fins at times. Why is this?
Also, within the past week he has been moving a spot of rocks to the corner of the tank. very large pile of them. the bottom of the tank is showing. could this be a sign of laying eggs? Is it possible for an oscar to lay eggs without a mate to breed with?
If i was to get another oscar, should it be his size or can it be a small baby? he eats about 20-30 feeder fish with 2 days every 2-3 weeks. So i didnt know if he would possibly eat another small oscar fish.

Welcome to the forum

Unfortunately, "he" won't lay any eggs:lol:

I know that you probably don't know the sex of your Oscar. Yes female Oscars on their own can lay eggs but they won't hatch without a mate.

Moving rocks around is quite common, even for just one solitary fish. I suppose it's just instinct. This is the sort of thing a couple of breeding Oscars would do. They prepare an area and certain location to lay eggs on, this is normally a flat surface such as a rock.

Although Oscars aren't overly aggressive, they can have a go at their fellow tankmates. If no injuries are being caused, don't worry about it too much. Oscars will eat little fish so I wouldn't suggest putting anything less than 4 inches in with your particular fish. You can certainly add another fish depending on your tank size. Remember for two Oscars, you should be looking at just over 100 gallons

ok so if an oscar "she" fish (lol) lays eggs, even with a mate, will the suckers eat them? i mean they do suck up food and gunk. thats what their there for. Or will the oscar be so overly protective that they wouldnt mess with the eggs? And even if the oscar does have a mate, and eggs are laid, do both female and male take care of the young? With many breeds of fish, the young are taken away from the male because of aggresion shown to the young. Is it like that with the male, or are they "good, cooperative dads"?
sorry for all the questions, but im just trying to lay out a good picture of this oscar so i can understand the whole "oscar" thing. esp if i will be having him/her for a long time. thank you for your help.