I think a couple of my red Oscars may have paired off. I noticed them both vigorously cleaning the flat rock and not letting anyone else anywhere near it. I took a few photos and then went to get my video camera. Because I had already turned the lights out, I'm not sure if you could see anything on the video so I turn the lights back on may stop doing it. Will post the video tomorrow if you can say anything. Hopefully the photos came out,

Every time my O's have actually layed eggs they attacked my hand when I put it near their spawning site. On no other occasion have they done this. The first time I stuck my hand in there and my O's attacked it, I flicked them between the eyes just like do with my Red Devil. That usually backs them off. But when my O's layed eggs that didn't make a difference. Try putting your hand in there. Being paired off doesn't mean they will breed. But foresaking the hand that feeds them, in my experience, probably does.

Yes it sounds like you have a pair getting ready to spawn can you see any spawning tubes appearing?

To be quite honest, I didn't get close enough to have a look to see if their breeding organs were out. And the lights were not on at the time, I didn't want to disturb them. I've got my video camera all setup ready for if they start doing it again this evening. I noticed that one of them did have a little girl at the flat rock so hopefully, they will do something later on I will get some nice video footage. This is quite interesting, from my experience before, they didn't start this kind of behaviour until a little later. If you read various books, they will contradict themselves. Some books say that Oscars aren't sexually mature until they are a year old, others say they are sexually mature at 5 inches. I suppose they could start at different times depending on the conditions. I'm just wondering if it's got something to do with my pH. My pH was a little higher than the last time around, this time, it's a little closer to what it would be like in their natural environment, just wondering if this is why they are starting early. Not really sure to be quite honest. I'm quite sure that fish would be more happy breeding in conditions that mimic what it would be like in the wild, rather than something completely different in captivity. Will just have to wait and see

Oscars are funny fish some will go hammer and tongs at each other fighting before spawning others will just settle down and get on with it without any fuss. Dont worry about the camera just set it up on a tripod if you have one they will get used to it. Oscars arent normally camera shy. May just just have been a water change that did it or have these recently been transferred into your large tank. I have a few pairs that people have said that they have never spawned and then changed into one of my tanks and have spawned within a couple of weeks.I used to encourage mine to spawn by a large change of cool water so that the temperature drops like it would in the rainy season.

my oscars i thought were spawning,
they were lip locking and
cleaned my flat rock (maybe the pleco did,or another cichlid
like my jackdempsey) i didnt actually see them do this...
but they only did this for bout a week then they quit...
could they have laid the eggs which right away got weaten without me seein it or....
i really need help, the onlyfish i have ever bred is a swordtail,(2 batches)((((only 4 survived of the 30 in total)))
can someone please help me for **** sakes

How old are you Oscars? Just because they carry out this behaviour, doesn't mean they will lay eggs. I have got some fairly young Oscars that are approaching maturity. In the last week, they have started to clean rock and shovel sand. I hope that I will find a breeding pair, you will only know when they may eggs. However, I think it's going to be a while before anything happens. Yesterday, I am pretty sure the female had her sexual organ out slightly.

Its possible that if your oscars have laid eggs then they have been eaten by the Oscars or the plec. when breeding Oscars it is best for them to have the tank to themselves. If you have other fish in with the Oscars then they may see them as a threat to the eggs and eat them themselves. When they look like they are going to spawn again then you need to check out there spawning tubes which will protrude down form thew anal area, if these arnt visible then they aint gonna spawn. Invariabley Oscars will spawn between 1 and 6 pm i have never had a pair of Oscars spawn outside these times.

hey Penn . this is rick that is nice to here about your pair. oscars. i would like to see video. my oscars do same about cleaning rock moouthing moving stuff but not consistantley. is this breeding habits or oscar behavior in genral??????????? curious.

could someone show me a pic of the organs cuz i dont really know what to look for... i also dont have another place for the other fish to go too....(im not trying tyo get rid of them)

gekhuus wrote:


You won't see their sexual organs unless you have a pair that are about to spawn. They don't normally protrude from their bodies unless they are doing this. The two photos below show the female and the male. Female sexual organ is quite visible, the male sexual organ isn't that brilliant. It's not easy taking photos of these parts. I'm hoping in the next few months to get some really good footage of breeding Oscars and some good photos as well. Who organs are quite different. The mail's organ looks like a spiky. The female's organ is oval in shape, slightly sharper than the end of an egg I suppose. My red Oscars sexual organ was a white creamy colour.

www.oscarfishlover.com/component/option,...ageNo,1/key,7/hit,1/

www.oscarfishlover.com/component/option,...catid,1/key,6/hit,1/

rwood wrote:


Maybe someone who has kept one Oscar on its own will tell you whether they performed us kind of behaviour. I've always had more than one Oscar. Oscars are funny fish, two females will pair up, well, not really pair up properly, hang around with each other making you think you've got a pair. They make even start laying eggs between each other. Of course they would never hatch. Unfortunately, the only way you will ever know you've got a breeding pair is when you actually observed the female laying eggs, and the male swimming over the top and fertilising them. If you really wanted to know the sex of your Oscars, you would have to find someone who could vent them. This would mean removing the Oscars from the tank and examining them very closely.