Confused fish trying to cross breed?

[Donslights]

I'm sorry if this isn't the right place on the forums to be posting this, I figured it was best suited.
Anyway, I have 1 decent sized (2.5" give or take) electric yellow lab cichlid, 1 small (1.5") blue cichlid, and a baby tiger oscar (about 2").

The oscar has been "sitting" on the gravel lately, not moving much until he/she gets hungry, or another fish comes and startles him/her. Every once in a while, he/she will start to shake his/her tail up and down, almost like it is vibrating. About this time, the cichlids start going haywire. They will swim in circles around the oscar very quickly, then the blue one will lay next to the oscar and start shaking too. The yellow cichlid swims up to the oscar and turns on its side, and rubs on the oscar.

This has been going on for the past week now. I asked the people at my lfs, they said it sounds like the oscar is trying to lay eggs pre-maturely, and the cichlids think they can fertilize them.

There is only 2 stores around me, petco and fishey business. The people at fishey aren't the nicest, nor do they seem to know much, they just like to sell you things you dont need for rediculous prices, far higher than petco. The guy at petco, I know personally, he knows quite a bit, and is the guy who told me.

I was wondering if anyone here has ever ran into something like this before? Also, is there any possibility of harm coming to any of this fish because of this?

There is a baby jack dempsey (1.5") in the tank too, he seems to not care about whats going on.

I appreciate any help.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Morgie]

I've never heard of this happening.. but, well, oscars are technically cichlids so it could just be a case of mistaken identity? If it continues and seems to stress out your oscar you may want to separate her from the rest of the group of cichlids temporarily.

 

[Donslights]

I found out they are all in the same family, cichlids, but so is the jack dempsey right? The JD doesn't seem interested in the other fish. The yellow lab cichlid is swimming at the oscar with his mouth open, pushing the oscar, his mouth never closes, so I know he isn't biting. During this time, the oscar stiffens up and plays dead. After a few seconds, the oscar will open its mouth completely and charge at the cichlid, I get she is getting upset. I don't blame her. I have asked several people that have had cichlids and oscars, along with people at my lfs, they all think its funny. No one has ever heard of this before.

I was going to remove the oscar, keep her alone in a 10g, until she out grows it, then re-introduce her into the 55g. At this time, she should be big enough to hold her own...

 

[Tim Wheatley]

This is how hybrids happen. If they can mate, they'll try. even if they can't, they'll try. It just has to feel right... lol

Not sure if the specific fish you have can create fertilized eggs, but it has certainly happened in the past with different fish.

Not saying this is what it is though, your Oscar could be in trouble and sick or something, too.

 

[Morgie]

I was going to remove the oscar, keep her alone in a 10g, until she out grows it, then re-introduce her into the 55g. At this time, she should be big enough to hold her own...

This sounds like the best thing to do, especially since she's kind of being bullied by the other cichlids. And yeah, JDs are cichlids (and some of the prettiest ones IMO)
Putting her in a temporary tank will also help you figure out if she's really trying to lay eggs, is sick, or was just overwhelmed by the cichlids and being bullied. Good luck!

 

[Donslights]

ok, I guess she is getting pulled out. Thanks for all the help. As I said, this was taken as a big joke by everyone I went to for advise.

From what I have heard, oscars have neurological problems, where after some time, they will start to show. The owner of my lfs explained to me how some of the oscars they receive will act very oddly and even die after about 2 weeks. They seem fine until the day it all goes wrong. They said this could be a sign of said problems, or that the cichlids simply put her in the mood to mate, even though she is too young, she is still trying...

 

[mfdrookie516]

Oscars and yellow labs will not breed. That said, those fish don't belong in the same tank together. They have completely different requirements and aggression levels. That lab will beat that oscar all to pieces. Any african will. At least, until the oscar is big enough to eat them.

 

[doogle]

my blue cobalt and red zebra crossbreed, i think(fry are orange but have (blue?) dots on top of heads)... i watched my mollies do it today... the male will follow the female swim along side her at a tilt and his gonnapodium(spelling?)pointy thing will swing forward and...bam, bam, bam,you know...

 

[Donslights]

Mfd,
A buddy has had 2 yellow labs and a pink jewel in a 55 with a tiger oscar. He picked them all up at the same day, prett much the same size. He had them together for over a year now, oscar is well over 8 inches, and the cichlids are all about 3.5-4 inches. They have no problems at all.
Could this simply be because they were the same size, so there was no "bully" right off the bat? I'm guessing thats where my problem is coming from. the yellow lab has about a 1/2" on the oscar at the moment. they aren't getting rough yet, but the cichlid isn't giving up. He is doing exactly what doogle is saying, he goes vertical, and starts bobbing, and shaking, while rubbing on the oscar.
I suppose I will keep an eye on them, if they show any real signs of aggression/violence, I will remove the oscar.
Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Every Oscar seems different.

 

[severum mama]

The oscar should be larger than 8 inches after a year. The tank is too small for it and it's also overstocked.