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I have a pair of Oscars which have just started to spawn, at first they clear a space on the bottom of the tank then the female will lay her eggs and it seems as if the male fails to fertilize, he then begins eating the eggs but the female doesn't and she doesn't show any aggression towards him but she will chase away the two cat fish I have in the tank!
please help!:confused:

Hi and welcome to the forum.

How big is the second Oscar?
How often in the past have they laid eggs?
It is not uncommon for fish when they first start breeding to eat either the eggs, or the fry.
How long after the eggs are laid does the Oscar begin to eat them?

Are you also sure you have a pair?
With two females you can also get eggs,of coarse none will hatch though.

the secound oscar is about 27cm the first is 25cm.
i have only had them four weeks and this is the secound time it has happend. i am sure i have a pair as the male has more colour around the eyes and fins and three spots at the bottom af the dorsal fin also they go though the mating steps ie jaw locking shivering etc..

the male starts to eat the eggs as soon as they are layed down,
whats going on?:confused:

Originally posted by keithatrax
. . . and three spots at the bottom af the dorsal . . .

Interesting! This is definately a male (if they are eyespots, like the caudal spot) but I was unaware that commercially available Oscars had this trait. Could he be wild-caught?

Oscars vary in temperment and breeding habits from specimen to specimen. In Axelrod's description of Oscar breeding, he says that even the same mating pair can change from spawn to spawn -- one time the male will eat the eggs or the fry, then the next time he won't, etc. etc. I don't see how you can separate the male from the eggs, since he has to fertilize.

I'd like to see a picture of the male, if possible, to confirm the eyespots. I'm leaning towards Stilllearnin's thought that you may have two females. The colors you describe:

. . .the male has more colour around the eyes and fins . . .

Many times are not reliable to gender Oscars.

--Mark:cool:

IT SEEMS TO ME LIKE U NEED TO LET NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE ...OSCARS ARE REALLY GOOD PARENTS ONCE THE MALE COMES ARROUND AND KNOWS THAT THE EGGS SHE IS LAYING WILL BE HIS YOUNG HE WILL BECOME A GREAT FATHER ...AND THE MOM WILL GAURD HER EGGS WELL FROM HIM ...

HOPE I WAS OF SUM HELP... GOOD LUCK

JOHN

thanks for that mark and john, will try and get some good pics to show you. the problem is i dont know the history of the Os as the previous owner had left home when i went to collect them.
what do you mean by ( eyespots, like the caudal spot)?
by trade i am a trout farmer so this is all new to me!

Originally posted by keithatrax
what do you mean by ( eyespots, like the caudal spot)?

Most Oscars have a spot on their caudal peduncle (which is just in front of the tail) that is one of the dominant features of their appearance. The only ones that don't (that I know of) are some of the Red varieties. According to some people, in the wild many males have a line of these eyespots extending up from the one near the tail, up under the Dorsal fins. Not all males have these extra spots, but no females do. I had heard (and have since assumed) that the extra eyespots on males had not occured in commercially-bred Oscars or aquarium bred, so I was surprised when you mentioned that yours had them. --Mark:cool:

Here's a wild-caught Male, photo courtesy of Swedish Museum of Natural History:

Here's a Red without the spot, in case someone is interested. This picture came from the old CHOP website that is sadly no longer online: (CHOP -- Cichlid HOme Page)

really confused now as both my oscars have that black spot on there tails but without the red circle around it. they both look similar in colour, but one "that i belive to be the male" has a much rounder head and body shape and has more colour arond its fins etc...if i do have two females from the same family why is only one of them laying eggs? and why are there body and head shapes differrent???? also i think i have miss understood about the eyespots as one of my Os has red spots below the dorsel fin wich do not run down towards the tail like the pics above!

I am not sure if the pics would help to identify there sex. But I sure would like to see a couple of yours.
Question, have you tried to view thier vents. Female vents round, male vents are elonigated.
Here is a post from cichlidfish, in regards to sexing Oscars. (for anyone looking for it, it is on the main page, (http://www.cichlidfish.com) under the Oscar tab.
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More and more everyone is posting everywhere with godlike authority that it is impossible to sex oscars short of seeing them spawn. That is NOT true! One sure way is through venting, where you analyze size and characteristics of their vents. Although hard to tell unless raised up together in same environment, females will have a more round head, also be more compressed and shorter. Males will have larger/longer fins. Males will generally have a more pointed 2nd dorsal fin(top fin next to tail). Females will have more of a rounded dorsal fin. Males are also more brightly colored. This is best noticed with cricles that surround eyespots or other areas that don't change with mood. And yes, the male will usually be more aggressive than the female. Another hint as to gender is the presence of DARK SPOTS at the base of the dorsal fin. Some males have 3 dark spots at the bottom of the dorsal fin. You may see that some of the dark spots may become "eye" spots like the one on the tail, encircled by red color. If your Oscar has 2 or 3 dark spots you should start looking for an Oscar who's laid eggs. Beware, that many male oscars do NOT have these 3 dark spots at base of dorsal fin. Males will generally have more red dots on fins, some say around gill area also.

cheers fuzzy
do u have any pics of the two examples of the vents you described and would i need to remove the Os from the tank to examin them? if so would this not be to stressfull for them.

There are two pictures posted on sexing in the FAQ section, at the bottom of the forum. If your O's are big enough, you might get a peak at them while they are swimming. Other wise, removing them and visably looking is the only way I know how.