i have a proven pair of albino oscars. i bought them from a friend that and i no that he breed them and had successful hatches out of them. they go through all the standard routines like lip locking,moving gravel,cleaning slate etc. the females tube comes down and is huge they both go over the slate for around 8 hours but i havent seen any eggs yet. This has happened like clock work 4 times every two weeks. the first two times i just thought maybe i was missing them laid the eggs(like in the middle of the night) and then they were eating them. but the last two times i when i notice that she is ready to laid the eggs i have kept checking on them thoughout the nt but still nothing. it is like she is laying the eggs but nothing comes out. it is very strange. anyone have any other ideas. the only other thing i could think of is setting up a video camera all night to tape them but i dont really think i am missing them lay the eggs every time. any help would be great. thanks

maybe your ascar is just sleeping, they do sleep at
night especially when light is off. spawning have many
activity, moving substrate, cleaning slate, and driving
away all intruders. oscars never eat their eggs immediately
after laying. they protect it and eat later if not fertilized.
it will take a day or two before taking them all

The eggs should turn brown within 12 hours if they are fertilised. If they stay white then the chances are you haven't got a male that is fertilising them properly, or you haven't got a male oscar.

i breed other fish (angelfish) so i know what the eggs look like. i am just stumped as to why they would go through all the motions but no eggs. like i said her tube is huge when they are doing this and they both rub their tubes on the slate just no eggs. i just thought maybe someone else has had the same problems. thanks

It certainly sounds like the female. What about the other Oscar, doses his sexual organ like a little spike? Does the female look slightly swollen when she is going through the motions? It seems strange that has sexual organ is protruding that she is not producing eggs. This may sound like a stupid question but I sure that you are not missing the actual laying? Sometimes they will leave their eggs quite quickly after laying. This may be down to the eggs not being fertile, while sometimes if they are disturbed. However, I've got a pair of Oscars there are definitely male and female, they haven't laid eggs for a couple of months, but when they do, they tend them for up to three days but they haven't hatched up to yet. Obviously this could be down to bad eggs, or an infertile male.

just keep an eye for them. sometimes, spawning take 2 to
3 days before actual laying. i wouldn't be surprised if
one morning, there are load of eggs in your slate.