want to breed fish any ideas?

Question

on how to tell the sex of a fish and what i should do

oscars
red tail pacus

Answer 1

Oscars - hard to sex unless you see them breeding (female has a longer, blunter breeding tube), best to buy in a small group (3-4+ fish) and let them sort things out themselves:

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Taylor_Oscars.html
http://groups.msn.com/Breedingtropicalfish/oscars.msnw

Pacus - not much is known, most info is from related species (i.e. males have more pointed dorsal fin):

http://www.aquariacentral.com/fishinfo/fresh/redpacu.htm

I've heard that you can tell by looking at their first dorsal ray (male's is angled, female's is rounded) but don't know how accurate that really is.

In any case, I hope you have BIG tanks!

Answer 2

Until they spawn it's really difficult to judge the sex of Oscars,then you can spot the females ovipositor(spawning tube).Evidently it's not all that easy for the fish either,I've seen two females try to spawn! Any way to get started breeding Oscars, get a huge aquarium,and raise as many really top quality young fish as you can,let them pair off naturally.Then put the pairs in their own, slightly less huge, aquaria. Water conditions should be Amazonian. Then wait for nature to take it's course,then having gotten rid of the other Oscars, move the fry back to the really huge tank for growing out. Water conditions must be nearly pristine for good growth rates,and feeding the fry when they are really small is another set of problems.Luckily the parents will help through this stage by eating the first few spawns. Breeding Oscars is a frustrating and expensive undertaking with a long "break even" point. Most attempts I've seen turn into just another expensive hobby. Fun,and success will give one a feeling that is without parallel.---- As to the Pacus,do you know how really large a breeding size Red Tail actually is? Think about a garbage can lid. Good Luck.--------PeeTee

Answer 3

Since you need approximately a thousand gallon tank, I wouldn't worry too much about the gender, the fish themselves will sort it out once you get your tank set up.