Can an Oscar and a Convict Cichlid Pair Up?

I had a female Oscar that was about 8" long and a male white convict cichlid that was 4" long. These two were too aggressive to house with any other fish. So I kept them together in one tank. They both seemed to respect each other’s boundaries and there was never any trouble.

But one day, I noticed that the convict was trying to entice the Oscar to pair up with him. He was doing the mating ritual with her, but she was least bothered. He just wasn’t big enough to impress her. Disgusted by his act, she would chase him away, every now and then.

Convict Cichlid - Hump on the Head

In the aquarium world, when one talks about humps, the first thing that comes to mind, is the Flower horn. That's one of the cichlid species that has been cross bred with different varieties of cichlids in order to achieve this characteristic.

But here, I'm not going to talk about the Flower horn Cichlid. Instead, I will talk about the Convict Cichlid. I have kept Convict Cichlids long enough to notice the adult males developing humps on their heads.

Controlling Convict Cichlid Aggression - The Struggle for Peace

Convict cichlids are highly aggressive in nature. It is your duty to try and control Convict Cichlid aggression to some extent. Convict ciclids can be aggressive towards their own kind, or towards other fish. The aggression level increases especially once they pair up. They become even more aggressive when they spawn. Now if you are stuck with too many of these fish in your tank, it will be your responsibility to control convict cichlid aggression. Now there are a few tricks that you can try out.

Cichlid Tank Decorations
By changing your tank decorations, you are giving them something else to worry about. The convicts get busy searching for new homes and settling down. So during this time there will probably be less picking on others. You can repeat this on a weekly basis to keep the aggression level to the minimum.