New Baby

[wuvmybetta]

Right on!!! darn ich trying to get on that baby

so....he eats guppies huh? I think I'm going to try and give some to my big boy
I found a recipe you might be interested in for homemade cichlid food, you just whip it up and stick it in the freezer, I went out today and got all the ingredients and I'll make it tomorrow ,I'll let ya know how it turns out and if it gets a fins up or fins down from the critics

 

[Wilsta]

i wouldnt recommend feeding the oscar feeders they arent very nutritious for the O IMO.



but its your fishy!

 

[missyintx_99]

I know they aren't very nutritious, but that said, My Oscar *loves* feeder goldfish. I think he really just delights in the attack. It takes him about 2 seconds most of the time, but he is relentless if one is able to elude him for any time. I just do it every once in a while as a treat and only after quarantining them.

I'm so glad you're enjoying your new baby! Thats so

 

[CFC]

Since oscars will eat pretty much anything you throw at them i cant see any need to feed them feeders. A diet of frozen seafoods (mussels cockles and shrimps) and a good cichlid staple pellet food plus the occasional algea disk and frozen spilurina cube (sp) if you can trick them is a much better diet.
Why cause unnessesary suffering to another fish when there are better alternatives .

 

[Wilsta]

As much as i am against feeding feeders to oscars, I am guilty of feeding feeders such as neon tetras, zebra danio's to my long neck turtle, it does give him that thrill of the chase of actually catching a quick fish.. but the only reason i do feed him feeders is because he is from the wild.

 

[CFC]

Oh dont get me wrong i too am guilty of sending countless numbers of small fish to their deaths as food for needlefish and leaf fish that i have kept in the past and for my frogmouth catfish. But these are fish that will not eat ANY other foods and would starve to death if not given live fish, i only feed the frogmouth once a month and try him with other foods constantly but everything but live fish is refused.

On the other hand i keep many other species of predatory fish ranging from large carnivorous catfish to dwarf snakeheads all of which happily eat alternative foods and are still thriving.

 

[smb]

I think part of the thrill in keeping cichlids is watching them hunt and kill prey. I've always done it with both my cichlids and my piranha.

I agree that live fish aren't as nutritious as the alternatives but I don't see anything wrong with feeding live fish once in a while.

 

[juanveldez]

god knows that I have sent countless numbers of fish to their deaths over the past few years first with my RBPs and now with bert, in fact the whole reason that I even got bert was cause at the time I was sick of the guppies that were infesting my 29 gallon tank in the first night he mangaged to wake me up 3 times the first time was cause he ran into the heater head first and broke it the second and third time was him hitting the side of the tank while he was chasing guppies

 

[AquaNut]

lmfao Juan.. overrun with guppies.. you know what I'm talking about..

First let me say that I'm fully aware that 'feeders' aren't the most nutritious food available to oscars... sort of like brine shrimp aren't very nutritious for my guppies, but they love them, so I feed them anyway. Secondly, the guppies I fed him aren't what I'd consider 'feeders'. They are juveniles out of my own guppy tank - born and raised in my own bedroom. They are definitely disease free and come from clean water and have been fed an excellent diet. I have no idea how many guppies are in that ten gallon tank at the moment, but I'm going to guess there are about 25 or so in there. I never save any fry or put the females in nets or traps; I just let nature take its course and the females give birth in the main tank and the strongest fry survive. Do you know what happens when you end up with that many guppies in a tank that small? I'll tell you. It's survival of the fittest and the strongest fry will continue to grow, but the weaker, older adults will start to die off. There just aren't enough resources/space in that tank for all of them. Somebody has to go and if I don't remove any fish from that tank, that's what happens. I'm not sure why it's nicer to allow a mature guppy to die a lingering death (they usually clamp their fins and waste away in this situation) than it is to remove a few juvies and feed them to larger fish. One dies in a matter of days, the other in a matter of seconds. Also, I don't know why it's alright to allow the females to drop in the main tank and have all the other guppies, otos, and the female betta who reside in that tank to have their fill of live guppy fry, but it's abominable to remove a few and feed them to fish in a near by tank. The idea that one is okay and the other is wrong is all in your heads, and trust me, not in the guppies' heads. I wholeheartedly agree that fish are smarter than they're given credit for, but I ASSURE you that a guppy that's less than a cm long doesn't have the brain capacity nor nervous system to process the cognitive thoughts required to experience fear on the level you're describing. I'm sure that in the two seconds those couple of guppies were in the o's tank, they may have had an instinctual sense of impending death, but they didn't even have time to think about trying to escape. Their death was quicker than almost any other 'natural' death I've ever witnessed in any of my tanks. This fish is not in any way picky and eats everything I offer him. There is no need to give him live fish. I'm certain he'd be quite thrilled with earthworms and dried and frozen foods. However, as long as I maintain a guppy tank inches away from his tank, and as long as that guppy tank is perpetually overrun with fish, I will continue to drop the odd juvenile guppy in for the oscar. He enjoys them. If it breaks your heart to think of such an evil deed, just think of the adult guppy who won't have to die to make room for the growing fry.

By the way wuv.. I'd love to hear more about your recipe. Does it contain guppies?

 

[FishHeads]

Good for you, they are great fish and this ones got a good home for sure
Has he got a name yet or perhaps when we get some pics we could have a poll to name him ?. All the best with "the fish with no name" and keep us posted on his progress


All the best

David

I have a whole school of about 20 to 25 baby oscars in a holding tank at my dad's in Glendale. The tank is a 135 gallon. They follow me around like the ones in he petstore do....You know, the flocking "FEED ME!" dance they do so well! They go through a small canister of bloodworms a DAY!

 

[wuvmybetta]

By the way wuv.. I'd love to hear more about your recipe. Does it contain guppies?

lmfao,no,guppies are a side entree

this has,beef hearts,chicken livers,krill,spinach,peas,hint of garlic ,I'm going to make it right now

 

[AquaNut]

Ohhh... sounds similar to something I already make for my fish. Beef heart, fish filets, fresh shrimp, spinach, peas, and assorted other yummies.. all blended up and then I freeze it. My fish love it.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Ohhh... sounds similar to something I already make for my fish. Beef heart, fish filets, fresh shrimp, spinach, peas, and assorted other yummies.. all blended up and then I freeze it. My fish love it.

forget my recipe, I want yours!!!

It sucks peeling krill

But I'm glad to hear your fish ate it, at least I know all of this work wasn't done for nothing

 

[BadLarry]

the key to keeping an oscar healthy is variety. i feed mine cichlid pellets, flakes, krill, brine shrimp, crickets, feeder fish, and they love crustaceans(especially live crayfish). what ive also found helpful is to avoid overfeeding which can be easy with oscars... i feed mine every other day, keeps em hungry...ive always found that a hungry fish is a healthy fish.