[sunnygrl_ks]

Of course I never thought about eggs or baby oscars when we got our baby oscars. I bought myself a tiger a little more than a year ago. I came home from work and the tiger had a new buddy, hubby had bought a red oscar. The two of them have been great buddies and get along great with their tank mates ( i have issues with my hubby stocking my tank behind my back, but that's another issue). About 2 weeks ago they started doing the whole mouth lock thing which I read was a mating ritual. They started digging a hole out at the bottom of the tank so I put in a large flat rock. Day before yesterday, there were tiny tan specks on the rock( i was surprised, I expected them to be bigger for some reason) They took turns staying with the eggs, but I don't think they are very diligent, as when some of the small fish came up to eat the eggs they didn't attack them just kinda moved toward them a little. One bit that was really strange was their behavior toward the paku ( i know.... i know.... my hubby put him in about Feb. and we've been fighting about what to do with him ever since ) The oscars always made sure the paku stayed a little bit of distance away from them, but when they had eggs they welcomed him into their little hole with the eggs and the paku took turns with them guarding the eggs, of course none of them were great at this job, as of this morning there are no eggs left....

well anyway here is the dilemma...
I have almost decided to put the oscars in their own tank and let them have at it, since it seems they are a pair, but is it good for the breed to have a tiger and a red breed? I don't want a million oscars myself if they ever figure it out, and would probably want to sell them to the pet store..... Does it make a difference if one is a tiger and the other is a red? If it is not a good thing for them to breed I will leave them in with the smaller fish and let them eat the eggs.

Opinions are desired, bashing is not.... (I will work out the hubby fish issues, by kicking him or his paku to the curb)

thx

 

[remarkosmoc]

I don't have a good answer to the Red/Tiger question. They would still be healthy oscars, but it would impact their saleability i would think. As far as their parenting skills, I would say that after a few tries they will get better and will then be pretty good at defending them. Depending on how much aggression they display towards the other fish, they might need their own tank.

 

[chrispyweld]

I don't think it would have any impact on their worth at all.

I would assume the fry would look all like one or the other which ever trait is dominant. If they don't and you get a mix then one of the ones you have is a mix already and you bought it and are happy with it so why would others not be.

There has to be crosses out there to get all the color variants that are available. They didn't come out of the water "Tiger", "Red" "Lutino Cross" or Albino and then only get bred with that type they are all man made color strains. The "wild" type may be different .