Now that your ready to get started the first step to breeding oscars is obviously to obtain a pair! There are a few ways you can do this.The cheapest and easiest way for a beginner is to buy 6 small oscars raise them up together and let them pair off on their own.For less patient people you can look around until you find a pair and then hope they are compatable.There are many supposed methodes of sexing oscars most with little or NO reliability,so I won't even go into all of them. The methode I use (if not letting them pair off on their own ) is venting.Of course, sexing can be done this way but there’s no guarantee that a spawn will occur. Oscars, if paired this way, will usually spawn but alot of other fish won't.

Oscars are substrate spawners and will lay from 200 to 2000 eggs on a flat area that they have cleaned over and over by removeing all the rocks and then scrapeing the area with their mouth. Lots of Oscars will tend to their young, if in a separate tank from other fish. If they spawn in a community tank, they will get overprotective of their young and either kill everything in the tank or eat their fry. If this happens, remove the slate that they laid the eggs on and hatch artificially. (Be careful when you remove the eggs because your docile pets will try to remove your hands.)

I have no great secret or no magic super way to induce spawning. I just keep my oscars well feed and when I want them to spawn for the first time I do an 80% water change,make sure they have a large flat surface to lay eggs on (I use slate) and raise their temperature from 78 to 82.For my personal system water changes LOWER my PH so it may help you to lower yours.If you have clorinated water I don't reccomend high % water changes.Once I have gotten a pair to spawn thier first time I only perform normal maitance water changes

The act of actually spawning makes alot of people think their oscars are fighting.The main steps in actual spawning are

• Lip locking
• Cleaning of the nest site
• A bit of pushing (usually by the male)
• The female lays the eggs
• The male fertileizes the eggs
• The male and female may take several turns at laying and fertilizing eggs over a few hour peroid.
• Then the pair takes turns fanning and protecting the eggs

  If you've gotten your oscars to spawn. Now you need a plan for the eggs. The first logical step would be make sure the eggs are good! Beige or yellowish eggs are fertile eggs while bright white eggs are duds.Now if you've gotten fertile eggs you need to decide if you want to let the parents hatch and raise them or if you want to do it and not take any chances.I sometimes remove my eggs (slate and all) and hatch them in another tank(watch you hands when you pull out the eggs).I set up the eggs so that water flows over them to simulate the action of parents finning them and to help prevent the growth of fungus.Give the eggs 32-80 hours and you'll have wrigglers little tiny fish that look like worms with egg yokes. Even though they're not ready to eat yet once I notice most of the eggs have become wrigglers I add bacterial fry food to the tank since it takes a few days to start growing.Next The wriggles start developeing and actually look like little fish,called fry. Once this happens it's time to start feeding them(food of your choice)I use crushed pellets,flakes and both live and frozen baby brine shrimp. Now that you have babies your ready to start the whole cycle over again! Have fun!