Oscar fighting injuries

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

MagicalLioness13

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 25, 2025
Messages
1
Location
santa Ana
I have a male and female Oscar in a 50 gallon tank. They have always got along for the most part and even thought they were going to breed when the male would slowly swim against her vibrating his tail , but sadly I noticed my female missing and found her hiding in the bottom corner of the tank. A portion of her top lip is missing and her teeth showing. She’s able to eat. Fed her frozen bloodworms. But the guy is overly aggressive and even tried attacking me thru the glass when I got close. I put in a mesh divider and added some antibiotics. Will her lip grow back on her own and well I have to put her in a separate tank forever. ??
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    107.1 KB · Views: 4
  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    90.5 KB · Views: 4
  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    159.5 KB · Views: 4
Unfortunately, Oscar pairing can be brutal. Many a pair has been left with missing parts ( i.e. lips, eyes, fins, scales, etc. ) The real issue may be that your tank may be too small for them. 50 gallons of water sounds like a lot but it will depend on the dimensions of the tank. ( L, W & H ) All my pairs were in 90-100 gallon custom tanks that were basically large squares so the pairs had space to get away from each other. Even with that, some of my pairs were looking cramped as they got older.
Regarding the injuries, If you are sure they are a male/female pair, lip locking is a natural test to see if the mate is acceptable to each other. The injuries I see do not look that bad and in time, should heal. It most likely will not be a quick healing so it is imperative that the water stays clean to avoid infections. Unfortunately, it doesn't mean that the fish when put back together won't reinjure the mouth. Using antibiotics will help with that as well as long as you used the right antibiotic for your water parameters. Antibiotics do not work or work well in all water parameters. What is your water pH and which antibiotic did you use?

Lastly, and this goes for most cichlids: If you want perfect looking fish all the time, do not try to breed them. Their mating rituals can be brutal. :(
 
Back
Top Bottom