Ravenous Oscars

[sake]

I have an oscar who eats any and everything you put in front of him. I don't think anyhting is wrong I just wanted to know how much to feed him a day. He will suck up 2 or 3 minnows in the morning and then 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Is that to much. I also feed them flakes, pellets, and I think that's it. Is he missing something in his diet to make him want to eat so much? B)

 

[valleyrich]

How big is he? Oscars do eat an awful lot. How much you feed will have an effect on his growth. Watch out for constipation. throw in something green from time to time. Hope this helps.

 

[dcj38]

Yeah my three beasts in my pond eat like pigs! The second you throw something in its gone. Oscars are known to eat and eat and eat and eat!... Where do you get the minnows you are feeding him? Feeder fish arnt very good at all because they normally have disease, and can cause HITH especially if you get them from the lfs where they are bunched up in small tanks. Also feeding them feeder fish is just like a human eating lard. The diet you described is a good diet except from the feeders, but if you quarantine the feeder fish to ensure no disease i recommend feeding a couple every week, not everyday. As valleyrich said watch out for constipation, otherwise good luck with the oscar!

 

[sake]

Thanks for the info. I just wanted to make sure that he was getting everything he needed. I know some things eat everything for the lack of something. What kind of greens?

 

[dcj38]

Thanks for the info. I just wanted to make sure that he was getting everything he needed. I know some things eat everything for the lack of something. What kind of greens?

You could take the covering of peas and throw then in to the tank... He will eat that.

 

[sake]

He ate one of my bala sharks last night!

 

[valleyrich]

Oh the joys of keeping oscars! Sorry about your shark

 

[dcj38]

How big is your oscar? and How big was your shark? My prediction is getting your oscar used to feeder fish might cause him to mistake his fellow tank mates as food.

 

[guppymonkey]

Feeding live fish will definately make an oscar much more aggressive. A lot of people say that their oscar won't eat pellets and only eats live food and that their oscar is very aggressive. Oscars will eat anything that fits in their mouth and if they won't touch pellets its most likely because they have been spoiled on live food. Its like a kid that turns his nose up at vegetables because he likes McDonalds better. No oscar has ever starved itself for much longer than a couple of days (at least voluntarily).

I feed my oscar homegrown feeder fish maybe once every week or two. He gets pellets and frozen food the rest of the time. He is not really very aggressive most of the time. He is only really aggressive when he tries to attack his reflection or when I put in tiny feeder fish for him to chase around. What is sort of strange though is that he refuses to eat one little female convict that I put in as a feeder for him. He will eat every other convict I put in there but completely ignores this one pink convict female that is about an inch long. Its been three weeks now and he still refuses to touch her. Odd isn't it?