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Old January 17th, 2009, 11:47 AM
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Mat&Murph Mat&Murph is offline
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Tiger Oscars

My Mother in law has 2 oscars. One is little and the other one is big. The 2 of them had been fighting open monthed face to face for a couple of days and now the bigger one is laying on the bottom of the tank. Can't see any injuries. and it will move around but it never laid on the bottom of the tank befor. I was wondering if mybe she is getting ready to breed??? I know nothing about fish and my mother in law is worried that mybe it is dying. Any advice will be great!!
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Old January 17th, 2009, 04:28 PM
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I know nothing about fish, M&M, but I hope your MIL's fish is okay. I've never seen a tiger oscar before--beautiful fish! I wasn't expecting it to be that big when I opened the thread
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Old January 17th, 2009, 05:28 PM
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Mat&Murph Mat&Murph is offline
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The fish is HUGE!!!! I never seen one either. My brother in law bought them for my MIL. He had a white oscar befor But never had 2. So we are all in the dark. It swims for a bit then just rests at the bottom. Werid!!
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Old January 19th, 2009, 01:34 AM
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MyBirdIsEvil MyBirdIsEvil is offline
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There's not really enough info to determine what's going on.

Is it laying on its side? That would worry me. If it's sitting on the bottom on its belly then I guess that could be part of spawning behavior, but it could also be caused by other illness or stress.
Spawning behavior I'd recognize if I saw it myself but I can't tell from your description.

Approximately how big are the fish and what size tank are they in? How often are water changes done? What are the water parameters? (Nitrites, Nitrates, Ammonia, pH - that should be the first thing you check if you think there's a problem)
Any other information you know about the fish and the aquarium would be great too.
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Old January 19th, 2009, 10:37 AM
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Tank size and water parameters are very important.. but just to add to what's already been mentioned.

Oscars are pouty fish. They will sulk and usually do so by laying on the bottom on their side. BUT since they have been fighting it's probably stressed. Oscars can be territorial and that's more than likely what's happening. You'll probably need to rehome one, or buy a much larger tank.
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Old January 19th, 2009, 10:52 AM
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Oscars are VERY territorial... Almost to the point that they CANNOT be homed with any other fish... usually an Oscar is okay with a Pleco, one that isnt small enough for him to eat.

Like already mentioned they are pouty fish... and if they've been fighting I would suggest maybe separating the two, even if its just until a bigger tank can be bought. Watch for fin bites, if the smaller Oscar has taken a hunk out of the bigger ones Fins he may need some doctoring.
I actually had an Oscar bite the whole underbelly of another Oscar.

Stress is probably why he's sulking... You could try some StressCoat in the Tank.

And just FYI, this sized Oscar WILL eay ANYTHING that he can fit in his mouth...He's a gorgeous Oscar (well, as pretty as a fish can be!) Your MIL is lucky he's still so healthy! All my ex's Oscars ended up with Hole In The Head disease....
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Old January 19th, 2009, 11:04 AM
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he is not laying on his side, just on his belly. As for the other questions you guys asked I will have to ask and make sure. It is a pretty big tank that they are in. There are not bites or anything missing from the fins on either fish. The Bigger of the 2 is about a foot long and the smaller one is 6 inches long. As for the rest I will ask my BIL. The tank gets cleaned on daily and they are both eating well
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Old January 19th, 2009, 06:41 PM
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At that size and from what you've said it could definately be spawning behavior. Lip locking is normal in that case, and so is going to the bottom and sitting. You might also see one cleaning the nest site (they do this with their mouth, so if you see them picking up gravel or biting in a certain spot that could be what they're doing).
Even if they're spawning, keep in eye on them since they can still injure each other.

It may also just be normal bickering. The one might have taken over an area of the tank so it's staying in that area to keep the other one out.
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