Second time oscars have laid eggs. The first time my convicts in the tank ate the eggs. This time the oscars seem to be guarding them fine but when i feed the fish the oscars are eating and the convicts sneak to the eggs and begin eating them. I have moved the fertilized eggs into a hatchery net placed on the side of the tank. I need advice on how to have healthy fry. Not sure what I need to do with the eggs or if I should even worry about saving them. I didn't get the fish to breed they just began laying eggs. Help!!!

Welcome to the site

I suppose the first question should be is what color are the eggs?

a tan color i have pictures on my profile

Sounds like they could well be fertilized. How long is it since you put them in the net?

I put them in there about midnight so 14 hours ago. The fish laid them close to the heater, do the eggs need to be kept fairly warmer than the rest of the tank i placed the heater close to the net just in case. I read up on it and i saw that i need to have oxygen close to it do you think that's correct? Do you think i need to add that blue chemical to the water or wait to see if they start moving. I think the eggs are about 3 days old. I am confused on if I should have them in a hatching net and what i should do since they are in there. I think the female fish realizes the eggs are there. She is staying close to the hatchery. They have begun locking jaws again, does this mean they will possibly have more eggs? Sorry so many questions...Just wondering what to do and whats going on.

The temperature of the tank water will be okay. Yes, the eggs need to be oxygenated. Naturally, the Oscar will fan the eggs with their pectoral fins, artificially you use an air stone placed just under the rock that the eggs are on.

When hatching the eggs artificially you would use methylene blue to stop fungus forming on the eggs. However, methylene blue can damage your biological filter so do not put in your tank with the fish. If they are three days old, I would expect you would see signs of them hatching, like little tails starting to poke out.

I don't think they will lay again quite this quickly after doing it's a few days ago. However, they might well do it in a couple of weeks time.

the eggs are not on a rock anymore. like i had said before i moved them into a hatching net on the side of the tank. I placed an air stone under the net to allow oxygen, should the oxygen hit the eggs directly or will it be ok if the eggs are just close to it? The eggs are still round and i haven't noticed any tails.

if you really intend to breed oscar, i suggest you removed tank mate
and let the parents do their job. hatching under the care of the parent
is the best thing that could happen to your breeding.

anyway, good luck to those eggs in the net...

X2 I'm with Paul. having predators in the tank will endanger your chance of success. the oscars may eat the eggs them self if the convicts don't, to stop the convicts getting them. I wouldn't add met blue unless you remove the eggs to a another tank. this will need some thought and preparation cos if they hatch you will need a spare tank if you do remove from the parents. i would think more about the future and what you hope to achieve, breeding or fish keeping. if its breeding keep just 2 oscars.

X3

Remove the tankmates or put the oscars in their own tank. Even if they hatched and grew in you main tank, once they start to swim around you convicts will eat them. The parents wont protect them forever

Also have you thought about what you are going to do with all the babies when they get bigger.

I have some eggs that have hatched today!!! I didn't get the oscars to breed they just started it. I wasn't really worried with the eggs to begin with but since they keep trying and something keeps eating them I only felt it was right to try and keep the eggs safe to even see if they would turn into fry. I haven't prepared myself yet on what to do since I didn't even expect these fish to have eggs again. My convicts are also babies that I have raised. I have had some crazy luck in buying random fish and they end up pairing up and having babies. The convicts in this tank are babies that have grown from eggs to large adults. The fry would get big but the oscars would eat them. The convicts just kept protecting them until they could defend themselves, and now they are big fish in my tank. So I only feel obligated to help out. If the eggs die that will be fine, I didn't intend on this to begin with. I hope I can help the eggs to mature if not oh well. There is a pet store here that you can bring in your fish and trade them for other things or they will buy your fish from you. So if these tend to grow big enough to sell then that is my plan. I only have a 75 gallon tank and feel that it would be too over crowded if any other big oscars were to live in it. I will keep you posted on how they are doing!!!

i know what you mean. i have a pair who used to spawned and i never give
full attention of raising the offspring. they ended up to be snack of my
angel fish. accidentally, there is one who survive the ordeal and turn out
to be a beautiful lutino. when i lost the female first last june 2009,
i feel sorry... and few weeks ago, the male one jump-off my tank.

i never felt guilty since i have no intention of breeding, but i miss
the opportunity to let them multiply. in the future, i will have to re-think
what shall i do if my two pairs decided to spawn also.