I have had my tiger (Tzu) for about 2/12 going on three years. I introduced it into a 220lt tank as a 2inch w/ another tiger the same size. Tzu became aggressive and dominant very quickly and harassed the other daily. After a few weeks I donated the victim to the LFS to avoid a beating to death.

Tzu has had the tank to 'itself' since. Aggression levels were normal for an Oscar for the most part unless he was hunting some feeders. I feed him a few very infrequently (twice a year).

Tzu has always been a pain in the proverbial as far as tank cleanliness goes - shovels gravel around spitting it at the front window, pulling up plants, etc. However it has realised that if it digs enough it finds another fish ! - the reflection from the glass tank bottom causing a mirror effect as it is flush up against a black cabinet lol.

It will literally dig and then hang out down there, twisting and turning and trying to snipe its reflection.

Now, very recently its aggression level has raised - started attacking me when I'm cleaning, reacting quick and sharp to any traffic near its tank (usual biting at the front window but much more fierce than normal), etc. It has also had a color change - well not so much 'change' but blacks are "blacker' and markings are sharper, etc. It is also hanging at one of its 'digging spots" a lot. Even during feeding.

Sorry for the long post - my question is, do you think it may be a female and be laying eggs? I have read that oscars will clear an area to lay them. I obviously have no idea regarding breeding, sexes, etc.

Or would you just put this down to normal behavior? It has always been a fast 'color changer' but generally not this striking and usual fades if stressed for some reason.

Open to any suggestions

My Red Oscar took 15 months to grow up, and now he totally considers the tank his property!
He attacks my cleaning equipment, the hose, my fingers if i move rocks around.
If it were to be egg laying you'd see that soon enough, and indeed O's will become quite aggressive then.
btw Welcome to OFL!

Yep me to, i get bitten by my fish. feeding feeders dose make things a little worst than normal. most of us just put up with it as part of the job of cleaning. sometimes brings a smile to my face to think a small fish will take on us.

it could well be that your fish is digging for the clean flat glass. it might still lay eggs on its own to. they have very strong survival instincts

Thanks for the response guys - Tzu is still hanging around at it's reflection in the bottom glass.

Excuse the ignorance, but do you think it could be longing for a tank mate? lol - and also, will I see eggs if it lays them? how small are these things?

Again, excuse the ignorance - I have only had flower horns before and they were easy to understand; eat, crap, attack, eat, attack, attack, eat again, more crap, sleep, attack, sleep lol

I would love to add a tank mate but dont want to add anything that will trouble Tzu or that will alternatively get killed by him.

Thoughts?

ohh, and Marcus - makes me laugh my ass off as well (when I get attacked).

I'm 110kgs and wouldn't dream of taking on something 100 times bigger than me lol

well they like to dig so that is not uncommon, but how she is reacting to you approaching the tank sounds much like how my GT acts when she is protecting eggs. NOrmally, she can be aggressive, but when she lays eggs, or is about to, she attacks the glass if we come up to it, and any fish in her range. She digs a hole next to the rock she lays her eggs on. They are very small and hard to see, my rock is tan, and so are her eggs. They are the size of..hmmmm ever seen fish eggs on sushi? Or lets see about the size of 3 or 4 grains of salt.

My GT is the smallest in the tank, 3 inches, and puts my 7 inch tiger in a corner defending her eggs. They turn white after a few days and then she eats them cause they arent fertilized.

Pretty funny when they attack!

do you ever see him look like he is attacking a rock or the glass below? Usually thats a sign of cleaning the area for egg laying. Most cichlids are GREAT parents and will become super crazy when eggs are involved.

you could try a GT as a tank mate if you really wanted to get a mate, cause whatever fish you get will need to be able to defend itself, that way he knows he cant just punk them to death. DO you have lots of hiding spots and plants in your tank? Jacks can be quite aggressive as well, and normally are considered worse than Os, but your O sounds like one of those hyper aggressive ones like my Lutino O is towards my tiger.

Hi Mylutino,

From what you said, the eggs will be reasonably obvious - I havent seen any yet. Unless they are white, in that case there is a small change they might be masked by my substrate (black and white crushed rock / gravel).

Yeah, I cant help but laugh when it attacks my arm in the tank - I think I'm laughing at the fact that I pull out and it realises it has me on the back foot and then keeps putting the heat on me lol

Regarding your question - thats a HUGE YES: It attacks the glass bottom and has tonight graduated to a demolition worked and is attacking everything in the tank lol

In relation to the Tank Mate, no I dont have hiding places and I keep my tank reasonably minimalistic because it was worrying me having rocks in there (again, the demolition worker in there will go buck wild and crack my glass). I post a couple of pics so you can see what I mean.

Excuse the quality; I don't think I missed any calling to be a photographer lol

great o with good spot huh! congrats!
i did some editing to show the pictures...

mylutino wrote:


Dont get a GT(green terror) as it will batter your oscar when it gets bigger. You hear from people who have a GT in with an oscar and they get on fine but most of the time this is when the GT is small. Once the GT is nearing maturity it will start getting really aggressive

Good oscar tankmates are severum, blue acara, firemouth, salvini and silver dollars to name a few

xray88 wrote:
[quote]Hi Mylutino,

From what you said, the eggs will be reasonably obvious - I havent seen any yet. Unless they are white, in that case there is a small change they might be masked by my substrate (black and white crushed rock / gravel).
quote]

yes how wonderful it is to have fish that want to eat something that is 50 times thier size! The eggs can be white, Im not sure how Oscar eggs start out, but my GTs eggs turn white after they have not been fertilized.

And as far as the GT in the tank with the O, I know that GTs can be pretty intense, but you never know who will work with who until you try it and see. Chances are always a little better if you start from the juvenile age, as sexual maturity cause big problems, but they have their own special personality and you never knwo til yo try!

You can see some very odd tankmates together, like for example I heard of several RDs and JDs in one tank and guess what, they got along! ANd if you have ever come across a really tempermental O, they may be able to hold their own with another fish, granted space is good.