leighreed76 Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 Hi all this my first post on your forum. My O's have been acting strangely for about the last 3 days they have been pushing each other around with open mouths quite forcefully. I thought at several stages they were going to break skin on each other. Now this morning they seemed to be best buddies rubbing up against each other with some tail shimmering of sorts. This afternoon they are pushing all the rock furnishings around the tank with open mouth. These rocks are in the photo attached. I was thinking it maybe a mating or courting thing but they are around 20cm’s in size and in the range of year old so I’m thinking they are too young? But thats a guess. My O's are part of the family so If you can shed some light on this that would be great.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citypainter Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 You answered your question. They are in courting behavior. They might lay eggs but they will probably not hatch. Oscars are usually pretty poor parents from what I have seen. But pairs do stick together so they will keep trying as they mature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leighreed76 Posted October 17, 2010 Author Share Posted October 17, 2010 You answered your question. They are in courting behavior. They might lay eggs but they will probably not hatch. Oscars are usually pretty poor parents from what I have seen. But pairs do stick together so they will keep trying as they mature. WoW that was a fast reply LOL I thought it may be the case but I am no pro with these guys! Being bad parents? Should I remove the eggs and put them in a cycled tank with a fry filter? It's only them and a pleco in the tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 At 20cm, they are large enough to breed, and it's a fascinating ritual to watch! My own oscars bred recently, too, although I did buy the female for exactly that purpose. Being her first breeding, the female was hopeless, but I tell you truly - the male was the best cichlid parent I have ever seen. He wouldn't let any of the many other fish near the spawn and he refused to even come up for food. I removed the eggs for artificial rearing on advice and nearly got my arm ripped off by the protective dad...lol I've done a bit of reading and it seems that many oscars can breed, but are sterile. This is because many of the fish that come via exporters based in the pacific/indian oceans are treated with Malachite Green, rendering them infertile. It's a terrible shame. Having said that though, my eggs did hatch, but only briefly before fungus claimed the young'uns before free-swimming stage. So I know my two are fertile, and next breeding, I will be leaving the fry with mum and dad to see how they do. Hope this helps, Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Does the Malachite Green affect all cichlids this way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 So far as I am aware, it would probably render just about every fish sterile in the right (wrong) concentration. Commercial fish medicines don't seem to have levels high enough to do that when dosed properly, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leighreed76 Posted October 18, 2010 Author Share Posted October 18, 2010 Thanks heaps for all the replies. They seem to have settled down now but they are just hanging around in one corner of the tank near the bottom , in the same place they were pushing the rocks around..... You can see the rocks in the photo. I can’t see any eggs but they seem to just want to say in that area. They are still feeding but return to the same spot afterwards. Do they lay eggs on the underside of rocks or just on the bottom in the substrate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 They may still be cleaning the site to get ready for the spawn, or you may have eggs already - either way, it sounds like it's going great for you!! The eggs will be exposed and most often on a vertical face of the preferred rock. They are translucent creamy-grey in colour if fertile. Any more pics to come? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leighreed76 Posted October 18, 2010 Author Share Posted October 18, 2010 They may still be cleaning the site to get ready for the spawn, or you may have eggs already - either way, it sounds like it's going great for you!! The eggs will be exposed and most often on a vertical face of the preferred rock. They are translucent creamy-grey in colour if fertile. Any more pics to come? Well fingers crossed! I can take any pic's you think will help. Let us know what you want and I will send them through! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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