Breeding Oscars – the smart fish

Oscars are a very popular member of the cichlid family. They are considered by some aquarists to be among the smartest fish to be kept in the aquarium. They can recognize their owner and eat from their hand. They are long living and grow very quickly and very large so a substantial tank is an obvious requirement for keeping these fish.

Breeding Oscars is really not a difficult task, as the fish are usually quite content to go about breeding without any assistance from the aquarist. Of course for this to happen you will need a breeding pair, and it is very difficult to differentiate between the sexes.

The best method to acquire a breeding pair is to get about 6 young specimens and let them grow into adults together and form their own pairs. This will take 12 months or more but will certainly be successful. The other alternative is to buy a breeding pair which can be quite expensive. You will know when your Oscars are mature and ready for mating when they begin some of the ritual behaviors such as lip locking, chasing each other around the tank and nipping each other. Some fish may become overly aggressive toward another and if you notice it is particularly one-sided, and one fish is continually beating the other then the culprit should be removed to avoid losing one or both.

The mating ritual behavior may go on for some months before they are actually ready to breed. At the right time the pair will locate a suitable place for the eggs. They like a flat surface and some large rocks or pieces of slate are best. If there are none of these in a tank they will dig up the gravel or sand to clear a patch on the bottom of the tank. They will then prepare the surface by cleaning it thoroughly using their lower jaw. They will become very protective of their rock and not let any other fish near it.

When the time comes and they are ready the female Oscar will begin circling over the area and laying a batch of eggs which the male will then swim over and fertilize. After all the eggs are laid, both parents begin the caretaking process. They first fan the eggs with their pectoral fins to supply them with oxygenated water. They may also mouth the eggs to clean them and destroy any bad ones that have not been fertilized.

The eggs will hatch in about 3 days. At first they are a helpless wriggling mass attached to the rock and will survive from their egg sac for the first few days. After that they will need food and plenty of it! Fortunately feeding these fry is not as difficult as with other species because of their relatively much bigger size. They can eat the regular dry flakes crushed with the fingers without any problems.

You will need to decide if you want to watch the Oscars raise the fry and therefore risk the possibility of them eating the eggs, or if you want to be certain of keeping as many fry as possible and removing the eggs to hatch safely in their own tank. When they grow to about two inches in size they can be sold.