Oscars

[Burly31]

I have had 2 Oscars for about 5 months now. They have been in their new 75 gallon home for about a month and randomly decided that wanted to fight. I moved them from a 29 to a 55 about 3 months ago (i was moving around a lot). Then once i got settled i set them up in a 75 gallon with a pleco. They have swam side by side since i got them and now all of a sudden they are picking on each other. I have read multiple articles that say to just them them go and monitor them. Nothing major happened until today. For about the last 3 days i see them chasing each other and opening their mouths but nothing to serious. Now the smaller (4") oscar is all beat up on his sides. I just don't want to lose one and be responsible for its death.

 

[HUKIT]

If your seeing fighting now what till they hit puberty around 9-10" mark then the dodo will hit the fan. Oscars fish but rarely do they do any harm to each other, if your only seeing light bumps, bruises, or scrapes there's nothing to worry about now. At some point with 2 large fish in a small tank like a 75g theres going to be issues, so just be prepared for what might come. I breed oscars and they can get pretty rough on each other but no permeant damage, and if they spend the majority orlf their time together you should be good for awhile.

 

[Burly31]

The only thing that has me worried is that the smaller of the two is missing a decent amount of scales on his sides. It seems like if im in the room nothing serious happens but i leave for an hour or so and when i come back hes all beat up.

 

[HUKIT]

I know it seems like he's getting beat badly but if it's just missing scales I wouldn't worry to much at this time. If he's showing other damage or stops eating them it's time to rehome one.

 

[Burly31]

Thanks for the help, and at this point the piece of mind. Its just really weird because i feed them blood worms and krill out of a squirt bottle and they eat together just fine. They don't fight at all but after a few hours ill notice that the bigger one is biting at him and hitting him pretty hard, but then an hour later they are swimming around side by side.

 

[HUKIT]

The last thing you could try is a tank divider, I've had good luck in the past by separating them for 3-7 days then reintroducing them back together. I had a pair of jags that were on the verge of killing each other then I used the divider for a week and after that no aggression at all.

 

[Burly31]

I know it must sound kind of annoying but i just do not understand it. They just got done fighting about 5 minutes ago and i am now watching the smaller one swim over the bigger one. I mean i just dont know how he goes from getting beat up badly to actually swimming next to him.

 

[HUKIT]

I would try the tank divider. Just to Home Depot and get a piece of egg crate from the lighting department and cut to fit, the use some suction cups to hold it in place.