Red and Tiger Oscar

Question
Hi. I first bought a Red Oscar about a month ago, around 3 inches long, in a 8 gallon tank. Yesterday, I got a Tiger Oscar, around the same size into the same tank. The next day I found some injuries on the Tiger's body, such as torn fins and missing scales on the sides. I`ve seen many times the Red one nips the Tiger. At the same time, they both move around in the aquarium together as if they were mated couples. The problem is, I don't know what to do, because the Tiger seems to be getting injured by the Red, but they still swim around together as if they cannot be separated. Why are they behaving like this?

Answer
Hi Don,
  Unfortunately that is much too small of a tank for an oscar, let alone two of them.  Left as is, one of them is going to be killed very soon. BTW, they are much too young and small to be mating, though it might look that way.  In cichlids, courtship and fighting can look very similar but with very different outcomes.   Keep in mind that an adult oscar is 12 to 16 inches long so you need to think about a long term plan for your fish.

-- Ron C.
   rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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