oscar possible fighting

Question
Hello there Mr. Coleman,
I have had my Oscar for going on ten years.  She use to have a mate.  I know this cause they laid eggs but our pocostomus got them. Anyway, our male died.  She was so sad.  She just sat at the bottom of the tank for weeks.  She wouldn't eat or come to the top of the tank or anything so we went and got another Oscar.  They got along up until about a month ago...now all they do is open their mouth as wide as they can and race at each other.  The one that I have had for the longest is pretty mean.  She won't leave the other one alone and now the other one is falling into suite by doing the same thing.  Is there anything I can do to have them get along or will I have to separate them???  Please help.  Amanda

Answer
Hi Amanda,
  The trouble with putting adult cichlids together is that fighting and courting look exactly the same. Both start out with serious mouth-to-mouth combat.  This is how they "test out" potential partners to see if the partner is up to the challenge of raising baby cichlids.  The key is what happens after the fighting.  If they fight face to face and then break off, all is well (they may even tear up each others' mouths a bit -- that is okay).  But, if they fight and then one turns away and flees and the other chases it relentlessly, then that is bad because the weaker fish could easily be seriously injured or even killed.  I know it is hard to watch, but that is how oscars do it.

  Just to make it more challenging for you, there is no way to tell a male oscar from a female one just by looking at them.

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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