# sexing a tiger oscar



## ant- (Apr 19, 2009)

is there away to tell the sex of a tiger oscar as a friend is selling theres and som1 is interested but would like to know the sex
thanks


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## MJ75 (Feb 5, 2009)

ant- said:


> is there away to tell the sex of a tiger oscar as a friend is selling theres and som1 is interested but would like to know the sex
> thanks


Some people say the males are a little larger with more pronounced finnage as they age. But to be honest, it's very hard to tell unless you've seen them spawn. Particularly if they're youger fish.


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## morelia spilota (Mar 21, 2009)

how many are their?


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## ant- (Apr 19, 2009)

thanks for that
i havnt seen it spawn as theres only one


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## morelia spilota (Mar 21, 2009)

correct me if im wrong MJ57 but usually u have a gruop (preferably young, as not a lot of people have a tank bigenough for a adult group) and adventually u will end up with two that will swim together and chase the others away, at which stage the others should be removed and perhaps placed in another tank where you may end up with another pair, etc.. depending on how many you have , or u buy an existing pair 

also if you just have the one even if it is a female it wont spawn as there is no male to fertilize the eggs


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## MJ75 (Feb 5, 2009)

morelia spilota said:


> correct me if im wrong MJ57 but usually u have a gruop (preferably young, as not a lot of people have a tank bigenough for a adult group) and adventually u will end up with two that will swim together and chase the others away, at which stage the others should be removed and perhaps placed in another tank where you may end up with another pair, etc.. depending on how many you have , or u buy an existing pair
> 
> also if you just have the one even if it is a female it wont spawn as there is no male to fertilize the eggs


Thats a pretty standard way to get a breeding pair of cichlids yes. Grow on a group and wait for a pair to form.

Yep, a female on her own obviously won't breed. My comment assumes you are watching a pair spawn. Sorry, I should have been more clear. Two females spawning together have been recorded on occasions though! Obviously the eggs were not fertilised.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

You do sometimes get a very very small raise in a male's forehead. Many male cichlids get a nuchal hump of some sort. With some (eg Gmnogeophagus Balzanii) its really obvious. Some like oscars barely get one, many males never develop it at all.

I've found Male oscars seem to be more responsive to objects outside of their territory. Like most big cichlids they will react to stuff outside the tanks but males seem to have a much wider area that they react to whereas females tend to have a much smaller area of concern. Obviously not a hard fast rule but I've noticed it with a few oscars over the years.

Other than that, a spawning pair will present you the obvious differences.


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)




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## ant- (Apr 19, 2009)

HABU said:


> image


 seen the oscar dothat many times luckily the cat wasnt sat on top as he would jump in the water


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## russm (Aug 28, 2009)

I would say the only way to be sure is to see the breeding tubes. From memory one has a tube that has a pointy end and the other has a flat end. Cant quite remember which way round it is tho. I think the male has the pointy one. Maybe MJ could shed some light on that tho.


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## MJ75 (Feb 5, 2009)

russm said:


> I would say the only way to be sure is to see the breeding tubes. From memory one has a tube that has a pointy end and the other has a flat end. Cant quite remember which way round it is tho. I think the male has the pointy one. Maybe MJ could shed some light on that tho.


I really don't know mate. Never heard that before. I've seen a few pairs of cichlids spawning over the years and so have manged to work out the male, female fish (With discus etc) etc, but have never paid that much attention to the ovipositor. To be honest, I was just pleased I'd seen it.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

If they do spawn you won't even need to look at tube shape. You will be able to tell the male and female. She will hang close to the eggs whereas he will be guarding a much larger area


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## russm (Aug 28, 2009)

MJ75 said:


> I really don't know mate. Never heard that before. I've seen a few pairs of cichlids spawning over the years and so have manged to work out the male, female fish (With discus etc) etc, but have never paid that much attention to the ovipositor. To be honest, I was just please I'd seen it.


Yeah it is easier to tell if they are actually spawning but sometimes you catch them swimming about randomly with them out so you can tell. Seen it a couple of times with discus.


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