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Hello all,
I knid of inherited this Oscar, her name is Veronica. She has jumped out of the tank a few times, no matter what lid we put on there. Now she has one that locks, the last time she jumped out, she was out a long time. I got home from work and found her dried up and on the floor in the hallway. We decided, since she was not hunting the other fish anymore, that we would get a catfish to help keep the tank clean. She acts werid around him and I was wondering if anyone else has seen this.
1. She shakes her tail when he comes by and then lays on her side for him to clean her. Is this normal behavior or am I going to have a new breed of fish,
2. She did get some scratches when she jumped out, is his cleaning her good for this, or should I keep them apart until it totally heals?
Any help, would be great
Thanks

[span class="edited"][Edited by highspirited 2004-09-08 10:08][/span]

First, let me welcome to you fish profiles, this is a great site.

Now, I have a few questions for you:

How big is the aquarium?
How big is the Oscar?
What kind of catfish did you get?
How big is the catfish?

there could be a number of things that could cause some problems, but I think i or someone else can come up with an answer after you have answered these questions.

1. She shakes her tail when he comes by and then lays on her side for him to clean her. Is this normal behavior or am I going to have a new breed of fish,
2. She did get some scratches when she jumped out, is his cleaning her good for this, or should I keep them apart until it totally heals?

1)If you get a new breed of fish, sell it for millions. I don't think there's any way in the near future that you're gonna get an Oscar Catfish...

2)I'm sorry, did you say the catfish is cleaning the Oscar? I'd hope you're adding a little Melafix to the tank for the Oscar's healing powers...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

Sorry for the lack of information,
It is a 50 gallon tank, Veronica, is just over a foot long. Issac, is a feather fin catfish, he is about 7 inches long.

As far as her shaking her tail, it appears she is calling him over,
He is not really cleaning her, it is more like he is petting her and she really enjoys it! Like she is getting a massage or something. It is just the strangest thing I have ever seen, she normal is so agressive, now she is totally passive when if comes to Issac. She has never attempted to bite at him or even chase him around. Do fish cuddle???????????

Her wounds from jumping out are healing pretty good, we add Melifix to the tank to help her.

If the wounds are healing and both fish are looking healthy, then I'd say it's okay. I've never known either of those to cuddle up with other aquaria, but I'm sure there have been stranger relationships...at some point in time...somewhere...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.