Bullrock74
Fish Crazy
I wanted to share my experience with my red Oscar because it may help some people who are thinking about what to feed them if they get one. Before I got him, I did a lot research and came away with the idea that they are easy to feed since they will eat almost enything. So, I got one, put him in the aquarium, let him get used to his surroundings, and then, about an hour later, tried to feed him. By the way, the other fish in the aquarium at the time were a silver dollar, a three-spot gourami, and a non-common pleco. I fed him cichlid pellets. He would suck one in his mouth and then spit it out. So, I tried shrimp pellets. He ignored them. So, I tried shelled peas. He spit them out. So, I tried flakes. He ignored them. He was swimming all around the aquarium not just hiding in one spot, so it wasn't that he was scared or being bullied. In fact, he was enjoying pushing the other fish around the tank. I thought when he got hungry enough he would eat...I was wrong because two weeks went by and still nothing. In desperation, I took some ham out of my freezer, thawed it, and put small slices in the aquarium and he finally ate something. He did not eat it all, but he definitely did not spit any out. But, since ham doesn't seem like a very healthy food for fish I tried shrimp. Cooked, peeled, deveined, expensive out of the freezer section at the grocery store shrimp. He finally lived up to the reputation that I had read so much about. When he was finished with his shrimp he would knock at the top of the aquarium begging for more. So, I fed him shrimp for about a month and all was well. He was growing and looking healthy. I decided to try some shelled peas again and this time he would grab them off the gravel and actually would chew them up, but would spit a lot of it out again. But it was more than he did before. I tried cichlid pellets again and he ate them! He used to spit them out immediately. Then I tried flakes and the ate them all! He would go up to each flake on the surface of the water and eat them one by one! Finally, he was totally acting like the Oscars I had read about before I got him. Now he is about seven inches long and probably getting near a year old. I wanted to share this experience since I had read nothing like this while researching them.
95 Gallon Quarter Cylinder aquarium
Emperor 400 power filter
Fake plants only
One red oscar - 7"
One female black convict - 2"
One silver dollar - 4"
One male three-spot gourami - 3"
One red-finned shark - 3"
One non-common pleco - 5"
95 Gallon Quarter Cylinder aquarium
Emperor 400 power filter
Fake plants only
One red oscar - 7"
One female black convict - 2"
One silver dollar - 4"
One male three-spot gourami - 3"
One red-finned shark - 3"
One non-common pleco - 5"
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