# Clarification??



## madjecks (Jun 8, 2009)

HI!

So I've just joined, and I'm thinking of trying to breed my Oscars however after reading your oscars 101 sticky I would like clarification on a couple things.

One of which is, if you have a pair you'll know it. Now I believe I have a pair because the 2 since the minute I put them together have swam side by side and never really leave each others proximity much. So is this the behavior I am looking for in a pair?

Second, is about HITH I noticed this yesterday my tiger oscar has 1 hole in its head, I thought to begin with that the other oscar must have attacked him, which I thought was odd since they act how I described above. Then after looking around and reading about HITH it makes more sense, but the photos I have seen do not seem to match exactly what my fish has

IE my fish appears to have a hole, but its not as circular as the photos I have seen its more of a elongated hole. And there is only 1 where is most photos I come across have been a series of holes or a couple of holes and some pits.

So if you can give me you expert opinions on both matters I would be grateful.

Also I'll try to take a photo of my fish when I get home and maybe that will help


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

madjecks said:


> One of which is, if you have a pair you'll know it. Now I believe I have a pair because the 2 since the minute I put them together have swam side by side and never really leave each others proximity much. So is this the behavior I am looking for in a pair?


How big are your Oscars? When they are young it is very common for them to hang out and look like buddies. But as they mature, they become territorial and far less accepting of other Oscars, except for a mate.

TFG, the author of the Oscar 101 post, knows Oscars/Cichlids very well but I wouldn't have worded it quite like that ("if you have a pair you'll know it"). In ny experience it is very difficult to sex Oscars and a male / female combination will often not result in a pair. But I have had an adult pair, and they are a very effective team...



madjecks said:


> Second, is about HITH I noticed this yesterday my tiger oscar has 1 hole in its head, I thought to begin with that the other oscar must have attacked him, which I thought was odd since they act how I described above. Then after looking around and reading about HITH it makes more sense, but the photos I have seen do not seem to match exactly what my fish has
> 
> IE my fish appears to have a hole, but its not as circular as the photos I have seen its more of a elongated hole. And there is only 1 where is most photos I come across have been a series of holes or a couple of holes and some pits.


Hole in the Head starts small... does not have to be round/circular... So it is completely possible that what you have described is the begining of Hole in the Head... but without pictures we cannot say for sure.


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## madjecks (Jun 8, 2009)

One oscar is approaching a year old now, where is the other one is about 7 mos old. So they are definitely not sexually mature yet, and what you have said has kinda put a damper on my spirits for having a breeding pair by sheer luck..... thanks, thanks a lot.... 

Are you aware of a better way to obtain a breeding pair and not have to go through the procedure of buying a bunch of Oscars and waiting for a pair to emerge from the group?

and I will take a picture when I get home and post it to better illustrate, Thanks


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

madjecks said:


> Are you aware of a better way to obtain a breeding pair and not have to go through the procedure of buying a bunch of Oscars and waiting for a pair to emerge from the group?


Not really... they are hard to sex, nearly impossible when they are young... So it's very difficult to get a male and a female... and even then (in my experience) it's common to have a male and female that can coexist but do not spawn...

I've had the best personal experience keeping a single Oscar with a couple fish of other species... and I've tried keeping groups of Oscars in several ways... The one pair I got was sheer luck...


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## madjecks (Jun 8, 2009)

well I took some pics but I just moved them into a new 75 gallon tank last night, and didn't have the proper filtration system yet so it was kind of murky when I got home, so I went and got another filter today so hopefully I can get a better pic tomorrow, but its defiantly not as noticeable today as it was yesterday so hopefully he just scraped his noggin on something. We'll see in the morning


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## planenut007 (Mar 21, 2009)

2 O's in a 75 ? anyone else in there ?
That seems to be pushing the limits, if you already have water probs, might keep an eye out for a larger tank.


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

2 o's is really pushing it in a 75. Especially if they do breed. Hope there the only tank mates.


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## madjecks (Jun 8, 2009)

Ha I knew I was going to start catching flack for this.

Yes i'm always on the look out for a bigger tank and realize that it isn't optimal 

Wouldn't so much call it water problems since they were in there for 1 night without the correct size filter

they also share it with a pleco of slightly larger proportions

Water was crystal clear this morning, took a look at the top of his head and still can't really see anything anymore, so its defiantly getting better, not worse, so I'll keep an eye on it.

Everyone gets alone thus far, if it starts not happening I'll move them, until then, they are a happy Family :thumb:


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## jack lover (Aug 12, 2008)

2 O's in a 75g isnt realy that bad folks heres why

All you need is about like 12 x filteration for oscars no other tank mates and good weekly water changes like say 40% every week

Now if the breed not a real problem but can be aggresion wise you may need to keep a divider if they do breed which i havent realy heard of such aggresion on this forum yet..

If the both are male you can tell quite easy bickering, lip locking, ect Thus you would have to rehome which one you dont like.

I myself dont have personal experiance with oscar but my sister does.. She has 2 oscars in a 75g with 1 emperor 400, 1 AC110 and its all good but one is smaller than the other so that is one of the fall backs to 2 oscars in one tank the other oscar dominating the other in food and it would bet bigger than the other and eat it

I would give more reasons but got to go to my LFS to pick some stuff up ill reply later tonite


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## madjecks (Jun 8, 2009)

Well bad news came out this morning and my tiger oscar was laying on the carpet and stiff/dry as a bone. My lutino keeps staring at the top of the water like its waiting on the tiger to come back He was his bestest friend, not he's going to have to make friends with the pleco...

Sad day. see ya lil guy


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## oscars4me (Feb 22, 2009)

That's a shame sorry you lost him.


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## madjecks (Jun 8, 2009)

Lutino is increasingly pissed off at the Pleco now that he doesn't have a friend, I may have to take him out and replace him with the one of the monster plecos


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## Gliven (May 5, 2007)

They both look awfully small for how old you say they are. What size tank did you have them in until you moved them to the 75?


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## ScoobyRacing03 (Mar 1, 2009)

Gliven said:


> They both look awfully small for how old you say they are. What size tank did you have them in until you moved them to the 75?


I was thinking the same thing mine are about 3-4 months old and they are well into the 6" range already and are a lot thicker than his too.


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

I'm hoping that is an old pic.... they look very, very juvenile.


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## madjecks (Jun 8, 2009)

under_control said:


> I'm hoping that is an old pic.... they look very, very juvenile.


ding ding ding we have a winner

and

They were kept in a 30 gallon until the 75


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## srook23 (Feb 21, 2009)

Mine is 8 months old and he'd eat either one of those in one gulp judging from the pics.

At a year that sucker should be at least 10-11". Mine is only about 7-8 months tops and he's 8" and he's thick as ****.


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## madjecks (Jun 8, 2009)

srook23 said:


> Mine is 8 months old and he'd eat either one of those in one gulp judging from the pics.
> 
> At a year that sucker should be at least 10-11". Mine is only about 7-8 months tops and he's 8" and he's thick as #%$&.





madjecks said:


> under_control said:
> 
> 
> > I'm hoping that is an old pic.... they look very, very juvenile.
> ...


^ read

Old picture, thanks


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## srook23 (Feb 21, 2009)

So how big is it now?


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## srook23 (Feb 21, 2009)

I just went read your profile...pretty funny occupation... :lol:


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## madjecks (Jun 8, 2009)

He probably is about over 8 inches now, and probably younger than I thought (lutino)

The tiger is I dunno probably pretty well decomposed now so I can't get an accurate sizing on him.

Thanks :thumb:


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