Feeding Oscar

[AquaNut]

Sorry for the multiple topics about one sad oscar, but I thought some people might respond to this one that haven't looked at my rescuing threads. I already got some good suggestions for feeding him (earthworms, mussels, cockles? are those clams?, and fresh fish), but I was wondering what else is good for him. Do oscars eat frozen bloodworms, or are they pathetically small for an oscar? How about fresh shrimp (dead - the kind I buy for me and my daughter to eat)? Do they eat any veggie matter?

Also, are they particular about pH etc? I never alter my water for any of my other fish; the water here is exceptionally clean and good (from mountain lakes).

 

[smb]

Sorry for the multiple topics about one sad oscar

Don't be sorry. This is a totally different concept (for lack of a better word) than what was talked about, so it's a;; good.

How big is he? Don't have to be exact but approximately? I can give a lot of ideas once I know this.

 

[AquaNut]

There are pics of him in the members photos section, but I'd say he's about six inches long, not including his tail and three inches high, not including his fins.

 

[smb]

6" might be a bit big for bloodworms. I think the main thing is that he's a bit uptight right now and needs to settle in. I'd give him 3-7 days to adjust before you try the gamut of foods out there.

In general, I feed earthworms, cichlid flakes/sticks/pellets, spirulina flakes, shrimp, krill and beefheart.

Right now, while he's adjusting to his a new surrounding, you can do what I do...add some ghost shrimp. They're live, eat uneaten food and I've not met a cichlid that doesn't love to eat them. This might help greatly while you let him settle in, find out what food he likes (the ghost shrimp will eat the uneaten food) and also he has a source of food in the tank if he's hungry. For a few days he might only eat at night so if possible count the ghost shrimp you add. I wouldn't worry too much about it tho. After he settles in, when he's hungry he'll be at the front of the tank with his puppy dog eyes and wagging (begging) for food. Also, remember, even tho it's the same food names, different brands taste different so you might have to find the brand he likes also.

A trick I use for new tankbusters that are beyond juvie size... (only once he's settled in will this work)

Leave the top of the tank open and walk by it and as you KEEP walking by the tank drop a small portion of food in there. After a while he will come to know as someone walking up to the tank as a source of food and fly to the front. I had to do this for my piranha and trust me, it works.

 

[AquaNut]

Thanks so much smb. In all honesty, I don't think I'd have taken on the challenge of rescuing this big guy if I didn't know that I had the likes of you and freshmike (among so many others) to ask for help.

 

[smb]

NP at all AquaNut and thank you.

In all honesty tho, this will be easy for you. The only problem with cichlids are the first few days of adjustment. You have to remember that these fish kill or be killed in the wild so it's instinctive for them to be wary for the first few days of new surroundings. Guppies don't kill or be killed so in a matter of minutes they are adjusted. It's only the mentality of the fish. The cichlids are waiting for some big fish to come around the corner to eat them ( might be you for all they know) and it just takes a few days longer to adjust. After they do, you will see a brand new fish! We all go thru this with every fish we get. This is 100% normal my man.

You'll see how easy it is as long as you do regular water changes every week and in a couple weks you're going to post back and say how EASY they are and how you can't wait to get more cichlids.

Keep us updated on everything so we can continue to be as excited as you are about this!

 

[missyintx_99]

My Oscar is 8" now and I feed him the following....
Wardley's large cichlid floating pellets
Hikari Gold med. cichlid floating pellets
Wardley's cichlid flakes
frozen bloodworms (he loves these! I have to cut the cubes up so he doesn't gobble them up in one bite)
frozen brine shrimp (same as the bloodworms)
frozen krill (I've tried the freeze-dried but he doesn't gobble them up as much as the frozen)
Pro Balance Sinking sticks for large cichlids and bottom feeders.

I haven't tried the live ghost shrimp simply because I haven't seen them at any of my LFS, and I haven't tried the beefheart yet. I also mix up what I feed him and he gets fed 2-3 times a day. The staple in his diet are the Wardley and Hikari pellets. The other things suggested are all good I'm sure, I just haven't tried them myself yet. But I totally trust what SMB, FreshMike, CM and the others suggest. Just try a couple to start with, the things that will be the staples preferably and add the other things a couple at a time as treats. Thats what I would do anyway.
I'm gonna check out your pics! Take care!

 

[Sondan]

I know that our oscar as a kid also liked to eat snails. My grandmother had a 30 gallon guppy tank set up to help feed the oscar. Occassionally when the snails in the tank got to be numberous she would fish some out, Us kids thought it was so neat that P.U. (Pretty Ugly) would eat the snails out from between our fingers and never once bite us. Man he was one awesome fish.
Signed,
Sondan

 

[smb]

Us kids thought it was so neat that P.U. (Pretty Ugly) would eat the snails out from between our fingers and never once bite us. Man he was one awesome fish.

LOL, yea I agree! Cichlids are great for that and the main reason I love them so much!

 

[AquaNut]

I haven't seen Chester Bertuzzi eat anything yet, but I put a couple of sinking wafers (they've got bloodworms, krill, spirulina etc in them) in there last night and they're gone this morning. It doesn't mean anything though, because the CAE could easily have eaten them both.

I make my own frozen food for my fishies with beefheart, spinach, shrimp, fresh fish fillets etc in it, and Chester wasn't interested at all. I'm going to hit the lfs after work today and hopefully they'll have some ghost shrimp in. I'll dig him up some earthworms if I get home before dark, too.

If he's been eating mostly feeder fish all his life (I'm assuming that's basically all they fed him because they gave me some flake food "for the goldfish and algae eater", but nothing else ), will it be difficult to get him to eat non-live food? I sometimes give guppy fry to my community tanks and bettas (more as population control in the guppy tank than anything), and I feed lots of live mosquito larvae etc, but any of those things will be crumbs to Chester. I don't want to feed him 'feeder goldfish', and one meal for him would probably decimate my guppy tank, so that's not a feasible option, either.

As an aside, the CAE almost jumped out of the tank to kiss me when I dropped an algae wafer in there for him. He literally ate the whole thing in minutes.

 

[AquaNut]

Well, my lfs didn't have any ghost shrimp. I did run into a guy while I was looking at the dry foods and he was buying Oscar Show by HBH (large mixed pellets). He said it's all his oscars (he has three) will eat in the way of dry food, so I bought some. lol I ended up putting a couple of the little goldfish back into his tank. I was worried that Chester might be getting hungry and isn't accustomed to eating anything else... that in conjunction with his not being settled in yet made me think I should offer him what he's used to. Chester couldn't be LESS interested in the fish. I, on the other hand, am quite attracted to them. They're really very pretty little fish! They appear to be extremely healthy.. bright colours, erect fins... swimming and eating well. Is there something I should look for in terms of their not being good eats? At any rate, if he's been eating nothing but goldfish all his life thus far, I figured one or two more aren't gonna be the end of him.. and at least I know he's not starving if the goldies are in there. *sigh* I can't wait to get Chester into a bigger tank so we can all relax a little.

 

[smb]

If he's been eating mostly feeder fish all his life (I'm assuming that's basically all they fed him because they gave me some flake food "for the goldfish and algae eater", but nothing else ), will it be difficult to get him to eat non-live food?

If he's only eaten live feeders all this time, then chances are it will be hard to get him to switch right away. It can be done but with some fish it might take a couple months.

I think the main thing to try is to get them ghost shrimp and also try BIG foods. I would hold off on the smaller foods until you can get him to eat because IME, with big fish, they normally don't bother with the smaller foods and it might be especially hard in your case if he's not used to eating food that doesn't move.

Try some krill or shrimp and earthworms. Peas are another good option and sometimes readily accepted. Just keep trying and you'll get him to eat eventually. Turn off the lights (during the daytime) and feed him. This might coax him into it if he's just shy about it.

 

[smb]

Whoops, your last post wasn't there when I replied.

 

[AquaNut]

Oh! I almost forgot.. I did buy some frozen krill, too. Jenica and I will go out to the veggie garden in a little while and dig up some earthworms for Chester. How long can he go without eating? I know fish can go quite a while... is it less or more for a big guy like him? I'm probably obsessing over him too much, but I really want to take care of the poor guy. His appearance has improved 90%, but his behaviour has not. I guess I just have to wait for the cichlid adjustment period to pass.

 

[smb]

Oh! I almost forgot.. I did buy some frozen krill, too.

That's good. Has he eaten any yet? You can also try freeze-dried foods. I know the $$$ for all this food is astronomical so these are just suggestions to try and help and not anything other than that. I know I couldn't afford all this food. lol

Like I mentioned earlier, make sure you try different brands of the same foods also. This makes a difference. It isn't always this hard to get cichlids to eat. When you buy them small, you just feed what they were fed previously and add what you want and they almost always except it. It's hard now because he's larger and already spoiled.

Jenica and I will go out to the veggie garden in a little while and dig up some earthworms for Chester.

You can also go to baitshops or some gas stations have them for about $1.50 per dozen. Incase ypou live where it freezes.

I know fish can go quite a while... is it less or more for a big guy like him?

As a generalization, I would say that fish can go a month and a half or so w/o food. The bigger the fish the easier it will be for him. Smaller fish like fry and juvies need to eat more often. fry daily. I wouldn't let him go more than a week and a half w/o eating. Keep the goldfish in there and ypou won't have to worry about it. Be careful about adding goldfish in the future w/o quarantine. IMO, they are dirty fish.