Oscar Mating Behavior or fighting?

[Joshuaharestad]

I got two oscars and have them temporarily housed in a fully cycled 75 gallon while I set up their 180 gallon permanent tank. Water parameters are all normal. They aren't full grown yet, mid sized, 8 to 10 inches. They were previously housed with about six or eight other oscars in a slightly longer tank at the pet store. The two I got are an albino and a red. They got along great at first. Then as soon as the lights turned off they started lip locking. They did this for about thirty minutes then stopped. Don't know how much more they did that night. Next morning they are getting along fine until the light turns on. Then the lip locked a bit, but just for a few minutes. Their tails sometimes shutter when they are next to each other. The red is the bigger aggressor. It has also been flattening a spot in the tank and bit me when I put my hand in that area. A nest? Their fighting usually lasts about 5 to 10 minutes and hasn't been too rough until today. Most of the time they get along and they generally hang out next to each other. Today we came home and found a couple decent size scars on the side of the albino, but nothing severe.

I'm trying to decide if this is mating behavior or fighting. As I will take one back if it's fighting but I'd like to keep them if it's mating. I see their mating behavior can be pretty rough so I'm just curious what some people who've had them think. It's only been a couple days. They will go in the bigger tank in about a week. I think it is a mating thing, but was hoping for a second opinion. Thanks.

 

[A201]

Although domestic violence is quite common in Cichlid relationships, the lip lock battles are usually territorial disputes between males.
Circling each other, shimmies & digging into the substrate is more or less common mating behavior. Things will likely improve in the bigger tank.

 

[chromedome52]

Oscars are one of the species where lip locking is a common mating ritual. It occurs more often in species where there is not a great difference in the size of the sexes. Fanning out an area of the bottom certainly sounds like nest building. Watch for breeding tubes, and get them into the bigger tank as soon as you can! Feed them some live shrimp or crayfish, it seems to encourage egg development IME.