CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

My two tiger oscars have been acting differently lately. One is 8" and the other is 6". They have been "yawning",tailstapping, and all that good stuff. They have even cleared off a spot in the tank all the way to the glass bottom. They have cuts and wounds on there face and stuff, I think from eachothers dosal fin. I think they are both female(I'll to post some more pictures Joe).
Help Joe and Kickstart!
Jay

Heheh,

Nice going Jay. Sounds really good if you say there is "Tail-slapping", and tail quivering, and cleaningof the bottom. Do you have a piece of slate rock? YES you need slate, they just prefer it for some reason....they'll lay eggs on other stuff but slate is better. Give more details on interaction and YES post some "indecent" pictures of them!

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

I'll get a slate rock in there as soon as possible. I'll try to find a way to get pictures posted. I have an awesome video card, so I THINK I can video tape my oscars, capture some frames, and then post them. I'm so excited about my oscars .
Jay

my 2 oscars have also started to tail quiver and mimick eachother they are curretly clearing a spot in the corner of gravel. i may have two females one clears the gravel and the other swims around ? does a male or female clear gravel or both i hope i get some fry

Well lucky you!!

Now all you have to do is figure out if you got a male and a female. Cause I've heard stories of 2 females going at it *grin* What I mean is 2 females have layed eggs w/o a successful batch. Just heard things. Don't know if they knew for sure that both fish were females or it was just that the male was sterile. Usually after a few days you will be able to tell if they are fertilized or not. Just look for little squirming tails, it may actually be a little earlier than that. But best of luck and congrats on your fish! Hope all goes well. Keep us informed.
Chuck

Good luck to you all
Just to let you know, I've had unfertilized batches of eggs from a fertile male before. Not sure if he didn't dump on them or if the eggs just croaked or what. Happened when they laid eggs but I had Barely fed them. I had starved them for a week, water was dirty, temp who knows what, and they laid eggs....go figure...And YES, sometimes two females may 'act' as a pair and lay eggs. I'm not sure how common infertility is amongst male oscars. BOTH will clear gravel, i find the male usually starts the cleaning of rocks etc...

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com