I have a 380litre tank. app 3 weeks ago i bought three 8inch oscars. two of which have paired and i ahve set up another tank (for eggs) and have put a piece of slate in the tank for them. in the tank i have a severum, three plecs, two catfish, a couple of guramis and ......eight three inch parrot fish.....should i leave the oscars in the tank???.....will the other fish eat the eggs etc????? please help

Thank you

Not sure on this one mate sounds like alot of fish ..catfish love eggs lol but then so do all fish..wait and see what the other guys say

Welcome to OFL

Welcome to the site. Staff is correct, you have lots of fish, far too many for the size of tank you are keeping them in. Anyway, to get to your question, if they are growing properly they really don't sound big enough to actually be sexually mature. Oscars will often choose another Oscar to hang around with, however this does not mean they are pairing off to start breeding. It can be months, sometimes years before Oscars will actually decide they are going to start laying eggs. If indeed your fish did decide to start breeding then I suspect there would be a lot of aggression because of the amount of fish you are keeping. I also think that the other fish would eat the eggs at the first opportunity that came along .

okay, the females productive organs have started to pertrude and they have become very prtective of their area that they have dug to the bottom of the tank, which is why i put the slate in. What do you suggest???? take them out etc???

What about the male, have you seen any signs of a little spike?

Are you really serious about wanting to breed and save all the young? Remember that if they do breed successfully you may get several hundred little Oscars. What are you going to do with them? You're going to need another tank to rear the young.

If you keep all those fish in your tank you will run into water quality problems

If get a breeding pair of oscars you will have loads of aggresion problems. The pair will defend the eggs and you will find the pair and eggs and one side of the tank and the others at the other end. The eggs may get eaten but if they survive and hatch then the other fish will eat the babies

cillitbang1990 wrote:

if you are seriously considering the breeding, there should be no other fish in
the tank except the pair for they will eat the egg (other fish including the oscar
parents) and i you keep those stock in your tank, no fry will survive at all...

Welcome to OFL

The male does have a little spike! Also would moving the two paired oscars into another tank disrupt them too much??

I have no problem in setting up another large tank i just wondered if it would stop them from breeeding if i moved the pair into a new tank but filled with the same tank water???

p.s. thank you very much for all of your help with this!

i had done transferring my breeding pair from one tank to another and they
didn't stop laying eggs.... if you had seen them laid the eggs, you can move
them to your preferred tank provided it is cycled and they will continue
breeding.....

they havent laid any eggs yet but the males spike is pertruding and so is the females reproductive organs. I believe they are going to lay eggs soon. so would it be okay to put them in a new tank witht he same water soon so that they are on their own even though i am moving the slate where they have picked to lay their eggs.???

thanks