critter_fritter79

Well it is looking like I might have gotten my hopes up about having a breeding pair of oscars. The pair I have has done fine since I rehomed the albino pair they had beaten up. Now all of a sudden 2 days ago they started fighting. I thought it was a pretty mutual fight to start off but I have been watching them pretty carefully to make sure nobody gets seriously hurt. It seems like the smaller of the 2 is now picking on the larger. He is chasing the other one and biting it all the time. They fight for a few hours, then they rub up on each other like they are apologizing. They both have some missing scales and frayed fins. I have to admit i am very worried. Is this normal "foreplay" or am I going to have to seperate them?

Shawnie

it is very normal forplay for them and goes on more and more the older they get...but it shouldnt cause injuries....are you sure the boo boo's are from them sparing off or is there something in the tank that they can get cut or hurt on thats hard? (decorations and driftwood and such) if theres nothing they can hurt themselves on in the tank, then id say they are not going to play nice as injuries are not good..if theres something in the tank , leave them be and remove anything solid or large

critter_fritter79

I removed everything but silk plants so they would have more swimming room while I wait to get the 125 paid off, so nothing hard. They are neither beat up like what they did to the albino's but they do have missing scales and some scrapes on their sides. They are doing the lip locking but the majority of it is the smaller biting the bigger one. The big one doesn't seem to be the aggressor.

Shawnie

scrapes are fine ...it will happen all the time with them....and it could have been prior to removing things... lip locking happens their entire life whether they are a pair or not....thats very normal...I have a few vids of my kids going at it ..heres a couple links to compare

critter_fritter79

it is almost like the little one is bored. it swims to one end of the tank and kind of looks around thden swims back and rams the other one with mouth open as fast and hard as it can. The big one doesn't seem to be fighting back much and definately has the majority of the injuries. Love the video of the bubble bath! Mine do that and i was beginning to wonder if they had parasites or something..I have never seen a fish just sit in the bubbles like they do!!

Shawnie

how big are they now? they are crazy fish for sure..if water parimeters are all on track, and nothing more than the few scrapes, id leave them be...what are you feeding them? maybe a few diet changes will help also

critter_fritter79

they are about 8-9 inches long now. Water parameters are normal, ammoia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20. They get fed a mix of cichlid pellets, frozen brine shrimp, frozen krill and dried krill. Mostly the pellets but they get a mix of the other foods everyother day or so. They also get peas and green beans at least once a week. I have put floating plastic balls in the tank for them to play with and until the last few days they seemed to have a lot of fun with them. The little meanie doesn't seem to have really any damage to him but on close inspection, the larger one also has some frayed fins alond with the missing scales and cuts and scrapes along its sides.

Shawnie

how much longer before you get the 125? they need it bad the way you are sounding....
get some fresh beef heart from your grocery store and feed them that 4 times a week with some fresh garlic stuffed inside... ...if you make your own foods, its so much cheaper and you can add a ton of healthy things to it...especially with oscars...and at their size, 2 partial (30% ) water changes a week are a must to replenish their minerals and vitamins ....

critter_fritter79

hopefully i will have the 125 here in the next week or so. Thanks for the idea about the beef heart..i will definitely try that! I vac the gravel and do a 50% water change every 3 days..they poo so much I have to make sure and vac that gravel often or the poopie would fill the tank!!