i bought two baby tiger oscars about 3 wks ago. they are in a 53gallon tank. i feed them three times a day until they lose interest which normally takes about a minute. the water temp is 26 celcius.
they were living happily together then a few days ago i noticed there is an obvious difference in their growth rate. Now the bigger one has sent the smaller one into hiding. the bigger one is about 3 inches and the smaller one would be about 2.
do you think this will resolve when the other grows, i don't know what to do. The fish has been hiding for a day and a half.

this can happen sometimes as one fish tries to dominate the other i doubt whether the other one will catch up again this happens even when you get a group of 4-6 there is always one that is at the bottom of the pecking order you may fins that it catches up when they are full grown but i dont think that it will at the moment

does this mean i will have to split them up? And is there any way i can find a mate for one of them as i have to buy a bigger tank anyway so i could keep one in the current tank and a pair in the bigger one. had my heart set on a pair.
Did i do anything wrong that they are growing uneven?

Don't think you did anything wrong, it is often with fish that one is more of a voracious eater and will grow faster therefore, or the dominant one will just get more of the food, and may be as well genetic. You could try to divide the tank into several territories with the help of rocks or bogwood but might as well be the dominant one still claims the whole tank.

If you're sure you will buy a bigger tank I'd think why not try adding another and see if it gets along with one of them so you might get a pair. Would of course be very bad luck if none got along then.

You did nothing wrong this is not unusual with Oscars the problem with trying to get a pair is that you cant sex them until they have begun to spawn, so its impossible to choose a pair as youngsters the best way to get a pair is to grow on a group of 4-6 juveniles and wait for them to pair off

this is normal for one oscar to grow fast and others to stay behind try and make sure that the dominant one leaves some food for the smaller one at least.

all animals do this,with birds they kick the weakest one out of the nest and with ducks you will see them all walking in a single file and theres always one that walks a few meters behind almost like they dont want to be seen with him(the ugly duckling)and with people when a group of friends sit in the pub i garentee you that their is one mate in the group that gets rated as "The dumb ass"(lol)

ive got 7 juvies and the nicest oscar of the bunch is the one growing the slowest bassicly i just ensure that they all get some food as the dominant ones can be very greedy and eat more than their fare share.

When feeding scatter the food all over the tank rather than dropping it in one place, this way they will all get some food. Also before feeding try tapping the top of the tank. The fish will then associate this will feeding and all will come out to feed. The larger one probably will not have a go at the little one as he will be too busy worrying about getting food