Tiger Oscar Getting Aggressive

[EgoFumPapa]

Hello, I have two tiger oscars in a 125 gallon tank with plenty of rocks and places for them to hide. They are not fully grown. One is about 6 inches, the other about 5. These two have lived in peace since they were less than 2 inches. Lately, the larger oscar has started displaying some strange behavior. He is digging a lot in the sand, making holes in the sand all the way to the acrylic bottom. He is also getting VERY aggressive towards the smaller oscar, causing some serious gashes on him. Does anyone know what could be the cause of this? Is there any way to remedy it? Thanks.

 

[JT-SCFC-1912]

Could be showing signs of breeding, Oscars start to breed generally when 6 inches or bigger and about a year old, when Oscars spawn they do become really aggressive.

Remedy?, you could separate them if you have another suitable tank, or you could take one back if you do not want them to breed Or let nature take its course

 

[Wills]

Could be showing signs of breeding, Oscars start to breed generally when 6 inches or bigger and about a year old, when Oscars spawn they do become really aggressive.

Remedy?, you could separate them if you have another suitable tank, or you could take one back if you do not want them to breed Or let nature take its course

Its a bit of an assumption on them breeding in all honesty - it sounds like one of them wants to do something breeding wise but it depends on the gender of the other one. It could also just be a sign of dominance in the tank - its not unusual by any means for an Oscar to try and own a tank.

However it does sound like if they are causing flesh wounds you need to separate them either separate tanks or a tank divider - the other thing you can try is rescaping the tank and also filling in the dominant ones holes as he will then be preocupied with digging rather than fighting.

Keep up with the water changes, feed hearty food and if you have some melafix in try dosing that to help prevent infections.

Wills