ady

I would first of all like to say hi to all the members of this forum. As you may well notice I have just recently become a member.

I am not new to the world of fishkeeping as I have been in the hobby for some years now. Thing is I have always kept discus and have now started to move onto to other species too.

I have two questions. The first is related to Oscars and the other to Pearl Gouramis.

I will start with my Oscar Question:

I have a Red Tiger that is now about 8". The fish is in a 50gal all alone. Tank in completely bare. No gravel or other deco whatsoever. What is worrying me is that the fish gets startled very easily. If for example the room is dark and I turn on the lights, sometimes (not always) the fish will, after a minute or so start dashing across the tanks and hitting hard against all the sides of the tank. What could be the cause if this? I do suspect that it is due to the fact that oscars prefer a place where to 'hide' and since it is in a completely bare tank it is stressed from feeling exposed.. Could this be correct? If that is the case, what should i use best to act as a 'hiding place for the fish?

Now onto my Gourami question:

I have a pair of pearls that have shown signs of breeding. Male has very red chest and female has roundish belly. I have reduced water level to around 8 inches and turned off the filtration. I also put a piece of styrofoam on the surface. I did all this about three days ago. Today, the underside of the styrofoam is full of bubbles. What I am not sure of is whether the breeding has already taken place. The male stays under the nest constantly whereas the female is in a corner. This all leads me to believe that the mating has already been done however;
a)the belly on the female is still round (like before)
b) on looking closely at the nest I do not see any sign of any eggs. Just clear empty bubbles

Will the eggs be visible to the naked eye? Will I therefore know that the mating is done by examining the nest.

I am asking this question as i am not home all day and will prbabbly not be there when the 'show' begins...and ends!

Thank you in advance for your comments
Adrian

Tommy Gun

I have never kept an Oscar, but know a bit about cichlids in general so yoou can take this all with a grain of salt, but I think I may be able to offer some ideas for you...

First, welcome to the forum! It is great to meet you!

I think that many cichlids, including Oscars, are kept for their interesting behaviors, which is often especially related to Oscars as they seem to be more of a 'pet' than just a fish with their robust personalities. From my perspective, I think that keeping a bare tank would be sort of 'dull' but I do recognize the advantages of keeping a tank free of substrates and decor, especially with such a 'messy' fish like the Oscars.

However, in a tank like yours, the fish has to keep a constant watch in many different directions since it is in their nature to be aware of preditors, just like it is in ours to blink and breathe. I was told once, when I wanted to keep my 55 gallon long tank perpendicular to a wall so that the two long sides would be visible, that this would be ok for many fish, but the cichlids I wanted to keep would have some issues with this idea since it creates a wide area of front space to guard against, as well as the back space to do the same. I did have my tank set up like this for about two months, with some aggressive Malawi cichlids and I hardly ever saw them. When I moved to a new apartment, I put the tank in the traditional manner against a wall, and had totally different fish! My point here is that it may help your fish become more confident if you find at least some way for it to feel 'guarded' and perhaps just adding blue or black background to the tank would change things for the better.

The problem with many Oscars, once they are larger, is that you as an aquarist, do not have much say in how the tank will remain decorated since the fish is powerful enough to move things in a tank as they see fit. For this reason, I wouldnt put any rocks in the tank for fear of the fish pushing it and possibly breaking the glass in the tank. Of course, you could put a very heavy rock in the tank, but then you might be the one who breaks the tank as well.

If this was my tank and my fish, I would do a bit of experimenting by buying a background with one pure blue side and one pure black side. I would start with the blue side since I think that would also help you see your fish better. If it seemed not to like the change, I would try the black side.

I would also find a way to add a few fake plants to the tank, possibly in clumps, that the fish can hide behind and move around if it felt like it without risking any damage.

I would also consider if the tank lights themselves are too bright or maybe too dull. I found that with my cichlids, putting the two hood lights on a timer, with one coming on in the morning half an hour before the other, that they became less skittish in the mornings. I do the same at night as well.

The one thing that I am thinking about, but not sure how much this would or could apply, but your fish may be seeing its own reflection in the bottom of the tank because there is only glass, with a dark backing to it (the stand it is sitting on). To me, this seems like the same principle as not being able to see outside the windows of my house at night, with the bright lights inside and it being dark outside. I guess it would be 100% hard to say if the fish is seeing itself for a second when you turn on the lights in the room and this is why it gets spooked or not, but I would again, try to experiment to see if you can make a change in how the light hits the tank or put a very thin layer of substrate in the tank to see if that helps.

I dont know anything about gourami's breeding behavior, sorry.

ady

Thank you for your comments. What you say makes a lot of sense. I will follow your advice and keep you posted.

mayastarocker

In regard to your gouramis, the female could very well not have the eggs yet. The eggs are visible but are kind of hard to see. I had a pair of dwarf gouramis and they did the courtship dance, the female bursted a bunch of eggs and the male put them in his mouth but I didn't get any babies because I didn't exactly follow the rules. He did somewhat build a bubble nest in one corner with the least moving water. The eggs are pale but are kind of transparent. When the male has the eggs, he is very protective. I hope you do have the babies. You may have better luck than I have.