hi guys,

as some of you already know I am new to oscars. I initially had 3 oscars but moved one out due to the size of the tank & aggresion.

now with the current pair of oscars I have they seemed to have bonded well, always swimming together etc..I also recently changed by tank from gravel to sand.

now in the last few days, my oscars have dug up a hole in the sand to revel the bottom of the tank.

I know that odds of these two oscars being a male & female are extremely rare but please have a look at the video & advise:


[video type=youtube][/video]

My Oscars always dig holes in my fish tank. its really annoying lol. But im not sure if there is any sign of em Breeding.

hey angmat, can you check those small particles in the
bottom glass. it looks likes eggs to me....

hi Paul, since i took this video this morning the oscars have covered up most of the hole so I am unable to take a closer look so its failry hard for me to tell. I guess I'll keep an eye on things...

It is really hard to tell if those are eggs or not.

your tiger is a camera hog...lol, mine is too.

all O's dig holes in the substrate when the get to breeding age, it just depends whether u have a m and f or not.

i have a breeding pair that have laid twice and hatched once, they have been digging since around 10 mnths and i have a 1 year old on his own that has just started. (there is no other O with him (or her) so there is definintly no breeding there.

my sister in law has a 2-3 y.o on its own and it has also been digging for a while now

angmat wrote:

no problem. if they are indeed eggs and fertilized, they will hatch in 3 to 5 days. if you find the parents fanning the area using their pectoral fins, then possibly they were eggs. if they don't guard the area anymore, then they are not. just do what you are doing and they will spawn on the proper time.

well they didn't seem to do any fanning in that area but they seem to have dug up another hole in the same area overnight. I guess I'll just keep an eye on things & have my fingers crossed that these guys are indeed a pair.

and thanks for all the other comments...

hi guys, just a quick update. I closed the hole these guys were digging in the corner of the tank & got them a flat rock which they have totally ignored & gone back & dug another hole in the same spot from before.

also the bigger oscar is now giving the smaller one a hard time. he's chasing it around the tank & the smaller one even had one of its fins ripped.

I'm really confused by this behaviour.

angmat wrote:


they will keep digging holes in the substrate.. all O's do, but if they are to lay, they will do so on the rock

biancawinter wrote:


not neccesarily. my breeders have laid on their slate for many consecutive spawns then out of left feild the decided to lay on the aquarium bottom for 2 spawns then back to the slate after that.

they will decide where they want to lay their eggs and it could change from spawn to spawn.

i concur with necro 100%