My oscars have been acting like they were going to breed for a long time. Rearranging the tank, jaw locking, ect. This weekend is the only time we've actually seen eggs. At first I didn't even believe that they were eggs, but my sister said she watched them being laid! I looked them up and they looked like some of the pics I saw. Unfortunately all of the eggs were eaten, either by the oscars or the feeder fish in the tank. Probably both.

But now for my questions:

1. My oscars are about 2.5 years old. Is that a little old for them to be starting to breed?

(they might be getting ready for more eggs! I just saw them lip locking!)

2. If the eggs are brown does that mean they were fertilized?


Thanks!

If the eggs are a light tan, they should be fertilized. If they are white, they are not. When mine lay their eggs, there are always a few that are white, but most are fertilized.

I have had my breeding Oscars for over a year now, in just in the past 2 months have they started breeding. They were about 6 inches or so when I got them. I don't know if 2.5 years old is considered old to start breeding, but they will only breed if they want to, so maybe they just haven't wanted to yet.

I've been trying a lot of things to try and trigger breeding with my pair. Mine seem to bee on a 1.5 - 2 week cycle of laying eggs. When it gets near the cycle time, I do a large water change, and give them more live food than I normaly do, and it seems to trigger a spawn. The batch of eggs They layed the other day, was only a week after the last set, and the morning of the day they spawned, they had a large water change, and they each got 2 earthworms, a few crickets, and their normal pellets. That evening, I had eggs.

Good luck to you.

I really dont think 2 1/2 years is too old Oscars can live for 10 years plus in the right conditions. The eggs are fertile if they are light brown. It is possible to remove the eggs and hatch them artificially but it does take a little bit of nerve as the oscars will attack anything that goes into the water and near their eggs good luck next time.