I have been thinking....

My big "boy" (or what sex it is?) is cleaning his rock every day, he is hunting my smallest oscar, so reading and learning, I think they are lovers or?

Do Oscars clean rocks when they have a mate, or can they clean in hope of getting a mate?

The man hwo had them before me did not know enything about Oscars, he just had them for fun I think, so I don´t realy know if there is a pair among the 3 I have... But I realy hope so, they are beautyfull and have the kindest way about them, so I would love to have baby-oscars like them
(they have never been aggresive towards me, they come up to me like they are tamed, they are so much different then all our other fish).

Any one out there hwo can help?

Warmest Mrs. A

Hummm. oscars are just like people in some ways. a pair of girls will pair off together or 2 males.. they cant breed but do sometimes try. they clean their rock as a place to lay eggs but cleaning can go on and on for wks or months. if you have got a true pair( 1 male & 1 female) you are in luck. the best way to get a true pair is as OFL has done. Buy a few and wait for it to happen. He seems to know more about this than me and i am sure he will add his bit. i have been lucky and have 2 females and 1 male plus 1 that i am not sure about. Mine was just by luck as i took 2 from a bad home and it worked out.

I can half help you with your question. firstly, there are many creatures that will clean an area before laying eggs/giving birth, that is why Oscars clean rocks, to get to as clean as possible before they lay their eggs on it, just in case we have somebody who doesn't actually know why they do it. The problem is, I've never kept one Oscar on its own so I couldn't tell you from experience if they clean rocks a lot on their own. However, I do recall somebody talking about o shoveling gravel when it's all alone in a tank. If indeed you have got two Oscars that are cleaning rocks and shoveling gravel and that is quite a good sign. Don't take it as red though, two female Oscars will go through the exact same procedure as a male and a female, it seems that this is something that many cichlids do, I've got two female severums that behave exactly the same as a mating pair ,they even lay their eggs at the same time and on the same rock, obviously they never hatch because there is no male present.

There are some fish where you cannot tell the difference between a male and a female, Oscars are in this category. You will only know you've got a breeding pair when you actually see them laying eggs and they hatch.

You may well have a male and female that will lay eggs, sometimes the eggs never hatch. I couldn't tell you why this is, the male goes through the procedure of fertilizing them, but nothing ever happens. It could well be water conditions that stop them from hatching, it could be something wrong with the male, who knows?

Fish are born to eat and breed and carry their genes on. fish will start behaving strangely as they approach maturity, most of this strange behavior is linked to them breeding. I think even fish on their own will start displaying this behavior, after all, they aren't really meant to be kept in aquariums where they cannot get to the opposite sex, they will still have those urges, if that's the right way to put it.

Ok. thank you...

Hmmmmm I don´t know what to think now.... But I´ll wait and see and I´ll hope with all my heart that I have a pair and that my fish are not gay

But thank you anyway, it´s good to have a place to find answers.

WR Mrs. A

sorry, maybe I just got a little bit carried away with my answer. Enjoy this strange behavior, It is fun to watch.

Don´t be sorry, maybe I got a little carried away with hoping my oscars would mate But hey maybe I´m lucky maybe I´m not... I still Enjoy my fish no matter what they do..
And maybe you safed me from having to bye another tank for the babies


WR Mrs. A