aggresive oscars

Question
QUESTION: We bought two Oscars back in October, they have always been very passive and hilarious, I have never seen fish with such a humorous nature.  My question is that recently the one that we believe is a female as gotten bigger not much but still bigger than the other and they/she has started fighting.  Also suddenly they don't appear to be intersted in the feeder fish they would rather have pellets.  Is it normal for them to behave like this, or is there something else going on.  I would hate to lose them, everyone including my daycare kids love to watch them.  Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Melany,
 First, please stop feeding them feeder fish.  Pellets are much better and safer for them.  Feeder fish are notorious for carrying various diseases, such as ick, and it is just a matter of time before they get to your oscars and kill them.   

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: what about the aggressive behavior is that normal??  Also, the larger of the two (shes white and orange) has managed to pull the smaller of the twos (hes black and orange) top lip off.  Will he heal up or should I start preparing my kids that they will not be seeing him after awhile?  Remember we are only guessing at the sexes.

Answer
Hi Melany,
  There is no way to tell the sexes of oscars so your guess is as good as any.

  Aggression is a very normal part of oscar life. They fight.  It is hard to say whether the lip will heal perfectly or not -- that depends on the extent of the damage.  Cichlids such as ocars can heal up some rather remarkable wounds.   Face to face fighting is an important part of both combat and courting.  In combat, they do that kind of fighting and then eventually one backs down and the other starts chasing it incessantly.  At that point you need to do something because the aggressor could easily kill the other fish.   In courting, which starts out exactly the same, and equally violent, they will fight, sometimes for days at a time, but then just stop and make a nest.   

  Basically, the courting fighting is how they test each other, to see if their potential partner is up to the challenge of raising a brood of kids, which is tough business in the wild.  The parents are going to face all sorts of predators that want to eat the kids and each parent needs to know that its partner is up to the task.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>