hi everyone! ive just recently bought some black convict cichlids with the intent breeding them and feeding their fry to my oscars. i just bought some small clay pots for them today and put them in their tank and they seem to be doing wht they do and cleaning them out nicely. i havent really paid too much attention to my oscars for the past couple days due to watching the new convicts but earlier i noticed a 7" pit dug in the end of my tank that was about 2 inches deep. i cleaned it just a day ago so i know it wasnt there because i raked the gravel smooth. i read a similar story on here and from it i got the idea to take one of the base plates for the pots i got for the convicts and bury it where the depression was as there were no eggs there that i could see. its been there maybe an hour and a half and i covered it about 2 inches under the gravel actually resting on the glass. and almost immediatly the two oscars went back to work digging gravel off it. they have it nearly have bare. it wont be much longer before its completly cleaned off. does this mean they are likely to spawn? i was under the impression they dont breed till they are 18 months old, and my large one isnt quite that and the other is only about 8-10 months. can they breed yet? they sure look like they are trying to. here i was wanting convicts to breed and now possibly my oscars are!

here is pic i just took.

it is possible you have a pair and they might be starting the breeding ritual. however you may only have 2 females in which case they wont breed successfully even though they go through all the moves.
either way it could still be a long wait until you see something. my breeding pair started their dance months before there was any eggs to see.

be patient and see what develops.......

well my fish tank is alongside my bed, i usually go to sleep watching them lol. its way better than reality tv

Win wrote:



exactly. thats what I do every night

fingers crossed for you.....

no joy. they dug two other pits in the tank, and then had a change of heart i guess. now they are trying to kill each other. the bigger has been beating the living crap out of the smaller one for a couple days. my tanks beside my bed and four nights in a row i have literally had water splashed on me as they are fighting in the night. i turn the light on to see the big one spitting out a mouthful of the smaller ones scales this morning at about 3am. i might have to separate them if they dont give this battling a break. there are no eggs anywhere in the tank. altho... i do have a fresh day old brood of black convict fry. here is pic.