CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Hello all.....  I recently aquired 3 large oscars nearly 12 inches each.... they were not feeding and very lethargic... the owner thought they were going to die so he gave them to me..... I have used some antibiotics and changed water several times keeping it very clean.....  they have all recovered VERY well and eat like horses now..... I still have them in there temporary tank 55 gallon, which I know is too small but I have not gotten my 110 gallon set up yet....  anyway they are very hearty and robust now but I have 2 of them that are doing some strange things,,,, they will open there mouths very wide and swim towards each other very fast but they are not biting or really hurting each other,but its more than just normal playing..... so its the same 2 every time and the 3rd pays no attention to either one... I am wondering if this is a mating thing, possibly 2 males competing for the female?  is there any way to sex these guys to find out if they are male/female?  thanks and I look forward to spending a lot of time on this site, looks great...
Rick

is there any way to sex these guys to find out if they are male/female?

vent them


try searching the forum for " venting "

Theres a bunch of posts somewhere,if it wasn't so late I'd look it up.

Short version - compair holes and look for smaller = male , larger = female.

Or if one drops a noticable tube from it's hole = female
If another drops a smaller tube from it's hole - male

Venting sounds mean. I couldn't do it. I wouldn't want to stress my fishies.

I would just wait and see. Mine show breeding signs, but I'm not going to vent. I'm just going to wait and see if they make babies! haha.

Females generally have a pointy face, males generally have a rounder one.  Other signs of breeding are head twitching, and if you have a nice flat rock in the tank they will start to clean it by scraping their mouths over it.  They will also start to defend the rock from other fish in the area.  Although I would recommend you get the 110 gallon set up quickly because they will start to fight when they have too small of a tank (and they will fight to the death).  I don't know if you know alot about Oscars but they are very messy and with a 110gallon tank you will have some work ahead to maintain water quality. Anyway, nice score, enjoy them cause they are alot of fun.