Why are my oscar fish fightimg?

Question

my fish never fought before, but they are now and i want to know what is going on with them

Answer 1

Oscars are cichlids and by the nature of cichlids, they are aggressive and territorial. Unless you have them in a tank of at least 125 gallons, you will have continuing problems.

They are probably maturing and becoming adults. If that is the case, they will be fighting to become the dominant fish in the tank. If it is a small tank, less than 50 gallons, the dominant fish will eventually harrass the other/others to the point where they will not eat and they will starve to death.

It is very cruel to leave the sub-dominant fish in the same tank with the dominant one due to the continual agression they must endure.

The best way to raise oscars is to start with at least six, all very close in size, from the same tank in the store. You should buy young ones that are around 3-4 inches and raise them together. It is possible that you may get a compatible male and female from a group such as this and they may spawn for you. Like I said though, you will need at least a 125 gallon tank for two or more adults.

Sometimes, not very often, you can raise two together if they are from the same group of fry or have grown up together until you buy them. One will always become dominant and the other, if it is not killed, will be stunted and not develop properly due to never getting enough to eat. The other one always will eat first and eat until it is stuffed before letting the sub-dominant one eat.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Naturally they're very territorial fish. Since they can grow up to be HUGE, they fight for as much space as possible.

Answer 3

Have they grown much? If they grew in size then it may be territory issues because tehy both need more space now...

Answer 4

What size is the tank? Might be a territory issue.