breeding oscars

[kribbz]

has anyone had any success with this? mine will lay eggs pretty regularly, however, they never hatch. the o's will fan them for like 4-7 days then the eggs get this slimy stuff coming off of them and then start turning colors. after that the full grown o's eat them. can someone offer any suggestions?

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

you may have two females.......they will pair up sometimes if there is no male around....

 

[mulron]

Few Questions:

Do they do their spawn dance? ie shaking, mouth locking?
Or do they just lay eggs?

If they don't you many have 2 females.

The color change is the eggs dying because they are not fertilized.

You can try this, get a separator and setup another flat area.

Once they are separated, see if they both lay eggs.

Also, how big are they? might be that the male is just not mature yet. Dunno without the sizes.

Oscars are very good parents so, there is definately something wrong.

 

[angelstiger]

To paraphrase Neal Pronek or was it Dick Mills "Don't ask your petstore the sex of an Oscar. Sometimes the Oscars can't even tell."

 

[stik6shift98]

he said they change colors which would lead me to guessing that they have been fertilized....maybe the pair just wants to eat them....take them out and raise themn on your own


usually oscars dont do that but u may have a messed up pair that doesnt know what to do yet

 

[mulron]

unfortunately stik6, I don't think they may be the case but to make sure....


Guess we should confirm what color do they turn to? And the "slimy" stuff should go away after about 24 hours. If it doesn't it was probably fungus.

Also eggs hatch after about 3-4days so if they are eating them after that, there is a good reason. They just were not fertilized or have fungus. /shrug

 

[kribbz]

ok the eggs turn from almost a bright whit to an off white or gray color. yes they do do the "spawning dance" lip locking fin slapping and the tail vibrations. one oscar is just over a year and a half the other is a little older but i'm not sure how much older. when i bought them i did not ask about male or female i simply bought two and it turned out that they paired up almost instantly. what is the deal with the fungus you were talking about mulron.

 

[mulron]

Oscars eggs are prone to getting a fungus infection. Common problem really because as you know they are not the "cleanest" eaters.

As for the egg color, it differs a little but mainly they turn from white to an off-white to yellowish color. The grey kinda concerns me but lets just assume they are fertalized.

Here a few suggestions.

They mate pretty regularly (meaning the same time every month). Try and do a 30% water change and a REAL good cleaning before hand. and you may want to feed them live food as to keep down the waste in the tank.



I would try that first. (even before separting them as I suggested in the above post)

Other tips/info:


Also I don't know where they are trying to lay these eggs, I assume a piece of slate, but here's a trick you can use to help out. Get a big country crock or cool whip container. Take the top of the container and sylicon a few small pieces of slate on it. Just enough to keep it from floating around. Place that in the same place they spawned before.

Once they eggs are on the top of the container, you can fill the other half of the container and "cover" the eggs for transport to a fry tank. This can be done with eggs or you can let the parents take care of them and once they hatch; do the same thing. They don't move much when they are first born so they will still be in their swarm.

Also using this method becareful to make sure the container is sealed or turn the container upright to transport them. You don't need eggs/fry spilling on the floor.

I don't know if you have a fry tank or have a spare tank sitting around. 5gal tank would do it. Just get some gravel from your main tank and an air bubbler. You would need a full setup if you want to grow them up.


One other thing is if the oscars don't feel comfortable or are spooked, they may eat their eggs too so becareful or cover the glass with paper bags.

I'm sure there is more but I have about 3million things going thru my head because I'm moving at the end of the month. If you need something else or more info just ask. I have breed a few pair of oscars. Albino Tigers and Normal Reds.


GL..

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

a five gallon tank? for how long? oscars can lay a lot of eggs...... 8O

 

[mulron]

oscars can lay 300-1000 normally(some bigger ones can lay more). I suggested a 5 gal if he just wanted to get the "hang" of it to see if it was something he wants to do. I used a 55 gal as a fry tank to grow them to about 1-2inches.

No sense on him spending a ton o cash on something where we still don't know if they are successfully breeding. guess I should have explained myself a bit more on the "full system" comment.

At the time I was doing a ton o things so. I hope I cleared that up.

 

[kribbz]

also if i took the eggs out of the system after they layed them and put them in a different system would i want alot of flow in that tank or can you explain to me a little bit like what i would need to all set up this fry tank. thanks kyle

 

[d9hp]

I know for most fry a marble substrate is good for hiding.

 

[mulron]

Well,
you can setup a fry tank a few ways. First method is to use a sponge filter in a few small tank. Once the fry are hatched put them in a "grow" tank which is bigger. Reason many folks do this is so that you can medicate the tank easier. (since you are caring for them, you need to make sure they don't have fungus growing on them. Use 10% Methylene Blue, dosage depends on the tank size, 2 drops per gal)

You really don't have to do this, I'd use just 1 tank. Normal setup, gravel,filter,lights, heater, etc. As for flow in the tank, just set them up a few rock walls made outa leaning slate up against the glass. Gentle flow is best on the eggs/fry but with the walls there; it blocks any flow you have in the tank. As for keeping this tank cycled? Best thing is to have a central filtration system but that would be the "ideal" thing. I basically just kept my feeder fish in the tank and removed them and cleaned the tank once it was time to transfer the fry in.


Feeding:
When they are first born, I would suggest using infusoria(bought or made) a few times a day. After about a week use brine and in 2 weeks after use flake or normal foods. When you are feeding them, you will have to do waters changes because the food is quite messy.


Only other things I can think of is to make sure the fry tank and the main tank are the same temp and water quality.

If I think of anything I forgot to put in here I'll let ya know.