Steps for Spawning Oscar Fish
The oscar fish is well-known as the fish that can breed easily. Therefore, there are many aquarists want to spawn this living creature in the aquarium even though this fish is quite large. Here are some techniques for spawning oscar fish.
1. Choosing the pair of oscar fish
The first and the hardest part in spawning the oscar fish is choosing the adult male and female pair that is going to mate. 14 months up to 3 years old with 6 to 10 inches long are considered the adult ones. You need to find out the pair that can produce fertile eggs. The problem happens when you cannot differentiate which one is male or female. You will find out after they can lay the eggs. Once you succeed to breed, this animal can lay up to 1,000 eggs.
2. Choosing the large tank
Considering the size of this animal, you need to provide the large tank to spawn. The minimum size for the tank is 55 gallons for 6 inches pair of fish. But the larger tank will be better especially if the pair lays the eggs. Another 55 gallons aquarium is for the fry.
3. Providing the comfortable condition
Provide the clean tank and clean water is essential. The tank should have a good filtration to filter the waste from this fish. Furthermore, the aquarium should provide a glass cover which is weighed down by the brick or other heavy things to avoid the fish jump. In addition, this pair needs clay flower pots, large diameter pipe, or rocks as the refugees to avoid the aggressiveness of the fish during spawning.
4. Feeding the pair
This breeding pair needs the nutritious food during spawning. The purpose is to produce good quality eggs that can hatch the strong fry. You can feed the fish with these kinds of food such as frozen adult brine shrimp, earthworms, live black worms, ocean plankton, or pelleted fish.
5. Spawning oscar fish
The female oscar will start laying the eggs is by swimming back and forth. Then the male one will fertilize the eggs. The fertilized eggs will look white to tan brown. After laying the eggs, consider removing the eggs to avoid cannibalism. Move the eggs to the tank or container with the same water taken from the parents’ tank. Within 72 hours or more, the fry will hatch. After four days, you need to feed them with supplemental food such as brine shrimp. Feed the fry three times a day.
Spawning oscar fish can be challenging. But if you pay attention to those following steps, you can spawn and harvest a lot of fry.
References
www.oscarfishlover.com/breeding-oscar-fish
https://aquariuminfo.org/oscar.html
www.petcha.com/oscar-fish-breeding/