# Oscar's Behaviour, very interested!



## HawkinsStu (Feb 27, 2010)

Hello Everyone.

Hopefully there will be people to pass on their ideas out this. Noticed the forums gone a bit quite recently 

Any who, as you know i have 2 tiger oscar one at 9 inches and the other at 8, nice healthy fish kept in water with ammonia - 0 nitrite - 0 and nitrates - 15, tank is 150gal 48x24x30(h).

So usually when they are aggressive to each other they would violently shake their tails up and down vertically is the other got to close at the wrong time to warn them off, right?

Well last night i came home from work watching them digging in the sand and attacking a piece of wood, which i thought ok usually behaviour and thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s fine. I watched for another 25 mins and it developed into the following.

1) Digging next to and bulling my Lepored Cactus Pleco L114 at 9 inches, which of course he was trying to defend them off, letÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s say the pleco is fine (thank god, most expensive fish i have) but the spikes of his sides and tail didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t turn out in the oscars favour.

2) The oscars instead of shaking their tails vertically and rapidly at each other, they were twitching their head horizontally at each other, by twitching I mean one strong twitch at a time, also they werenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t even lip locking?

Can anyone explain this type of behaviour or come up with suggestions/ theories? Will be intresting to see what you come up with.

Thanks

Stu


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## BigDaddyK (Nov 6, 2006)

I'd wait on the advice of The Fish Guy but it sounds like a territory dispute. It sounds like there might be some love in the air too but that's not for sure just a thought based on other egg layers i've seen cleaning a surface.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

Agreed, possible breeding behavior.

Congrats to the L114 for fending off two large oscars! :lol:

But yeah, TFG will have the definitive answer on this for sure :thumb:


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

I would say with confidence that you've got eggs in your future. They are young so I wouldn't suspect they will suceed but you never know!

You have descrided word for word what my pair(s) do when they get ready to spawn. THe pair in the 1200 was just attempting to move a 10 pound rock last nite... LOL They will spawn again within the next few days...


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## HawkinsStu (Feb 27, 2010)

Thanks for your replys

hmmm could get interesting, shame i dont have another big tank to put the plec and pictus in so they could have the tank to themself.

I do have a lovly flat rock in there but they seemed to pick a spot right next to the plecs hiding spot.

Any other advice for the future?

Ta

Stu


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

If you do not want them breeding because of the turmoil it may cause then lower the temp in the tank to around 76*


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Hi *HawkinsStu*,

Although I have not seen your tank; if you are worried about the safety of your pleco and pictus, I would add some sort of pipe for the pleco (like in TFG's avatar) and some small caves for the pictus. This might give them some more refuge during the day, since the Oscars seemed to pick your plecos hiding spot as a breeding site.

Congratulations on the pair.

Thanks,
Matt


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

My pair spawned again last nite... :lol:


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

:thumb:


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## HawkinsStu (Feb 27, 2010)

TheFishGuy said:


> My pair spawned again last nite... :lol:


HaHa thats to funny,

My are acting so stupid at the moment but its fun to watch, they have gone around pretty much digging everywhere and cleaning off everything. They wont get to the bottem of the tank, the sand bed must be a good 4 inches deep!

Just interesting to watch.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Oh, they'll get to the bottom! If you want them to breed bury a large flat rock in the sand... they will find it!


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## HawkinsStu (Feb 27, 2010)

TheFishGuy said:


> Oh, they'll get to the bottom! If you want them to breed bury a large flat rock in the sand... they will find it!


Hey your right! They found a buried rock, anyway they are still at this behaviour, what i shall try and do is to get a good picture of each of their vents and post them up.

Is it possible for 2 males to show to behaviour, i know 2 females will do this and lay eggs but what about 2 males? (i know males dont lay eggs  but you know what i mean)


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

If you had two males one fish would more than li8kely be dead by now!

Females have a LARGE triangular vent, males are considerably smaller and pointed, not triangular.


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## HawkinsStu (Feb 27, 2010)

TheFishGuy said:


> If you had two males one fish would more than li8kely be dead by now!
> 
> Females have a LARGE triangular vent, males are considerably smaller and pointed, not triangular.


I shall be having a nice close look tomorrow now when the lights come on.

I know people go on about there is no way you can tell by apperences but theres two differences that i would like to share. I recon i feed the same between and both the same age, one is much bigger than the other between 1-1.5 ichs now. The smaller one does have trailer on "its" pelvic fins.

Do you notice a difference in yours? Im guessing you know the sex of each fish.

This and water chemistry makes me really intrested in fish keeping.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Well, in my pair the female has a smaller caudal fin and a narrower face... That's about the only difference. They are both a touch over 13" tail length... Both red tigers...


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## HawkinsStu (Feb 27, 2010)

cool, you got any pics, fancy having a look at them?

What temp would you say is best to invoke a spawn or to keep your tank at? 76 to not spawn.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

82* seems to be the sweet spot.


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