Oscarfishlover.com

Hi All,

I have 1 12 inch Tiger Oscar, Being new to fish tanks when we bought our Oscar, we were un-aware of them needing to be a pair. So it was suggested by an aquarium shop owner to get our Oscar a partner, which we did, so the two grew larger together,
but the one was slightly smaller than the other, and was eventually Bullied to death
We do however now know that Oscars need to find their own partner.

Having said that, is it possible to at this late stage allow our Oscar to find himself/herself a partner ?
The reason we ask, is that our current Oscar has begun demonstrating courtship behavior, by No.1)Attacking the glass more aggressively than before, No.2) becoming more Territorial with one particular part of the Tank, No.3) He/She has begun clearing the spot he/she is protecting ?

Thanks alot!

firstly, this is yet again another example of a fish store giving out erroneous advice. Oscars don't need to have a mate, they can live perfectly okay on their own, many many people keep one Oscar and it lives for many years without any problems. But you've got to remember is two Oscars require an absolute minimum of 100 gallons, the majority of people just haven't got a tank that size.

Oscars will indeed choose a mate if need be. After all, like any creature, breeding is extremely important. if you haven't got a big enough tank, don't buy another Oscar. If you have got large enough tank, then you just have t take the chance that your existing o accepts it. You must also remember that Oscars produce many hundreds of eggs, sometimes well over a thousand. The chances are, if you don't feed the fry properly, they will all probably die. However, if you end up with a hundred baby Oscars that do survive, you've got to have a plan what you're going to do with them.

Excellent, Thank you for the advise. We were just worried that our fishy felt lonely, and his/her apparent courtship habits of late, would have maybe been bad for him/her, since he/she does not have a partner.

We do have a 100 gallon corner Tank, and will perhaps in the future see if we can find another Oscar of the same size.

Thanks again!

just remember that tank sized isn't the only thing you have to worry about. Your tank coupled with some really good filtration will mean you will probably get away with being able to keep two Oscars, just.