food ideas for an oscar?

[BettaFishMommy]

hey all, i'm looking for new ideas on what to feed my oscar. he's pushing 11 inches now and pellets just aren't cutting it any more......

i'm currently feeding frozen cube food (various varieties), silversides, omega cichlid pellets, the occasional shrimp (the kind you get in a ring at the grocery store), crisps (kinda like flakes but better), and he gets the odd 'cookie' (algae wafer, lol).

please give me some ideas on what i could pick up in the grocery store to give my O some nutritious and delicious options. i've read that tilapia is a good choice, but is there a specific brand to look for?

what about imitation crab meat? i know it is pretty much flavoured pollock but would the salt content be harmful?

and i have basa fillets in the freezer, think he'd like some chunks off those? and just feed them raw, eh?

thanks in advance for advice/ideas!

[Vitaminz]

I feed my Oscar some tilapia and cod from the freezer, I just defrost chunks from the freezer and feed it to him using a chop stick. Never thought of the imitation crab meat, but wouldn't be worried about the salt content in it, because they like to be in brakish water. It really depends on your oscar and how tempermental he or she is, just like kids I swear! lol

[The-Influence]

Beef heart ! Or go to the fishing hole and pick up a tub of worms ... My Oscar when I had him loved them ! So did my clown knife

Blake

[AvianAquatics]

I wouldn't recommended beef heart, they are just too fattening. It's fine if you feed as an occasional treat like twice a month or something but if do it regularly he'll die of heart failure (from what I read). You should also give him so frozen/fresh peas whenever you cook them, they are nutritional and is known to help prevent/cure swim bladder disease (For me bettas are like the only ones that gets them, but just in case).

[BettaFishMommy]

........... but wouldn't be worried about the salt content in it, because they like to be in brakish water.

last i read oscars are purely a freshwater fish, not brackish at all. where did you get your information?

[Darren88]

probably not the healthiest idea but my buddy used to feed his some raw ground beef or garlic sausage

[BettaFishMommy]

i would be strongly hesitant to feed any sort of sausage, hot dog, etc. the amount of preservatives alone keeps me from eating those things, and if i won't eat it due to that reason, my finkids aren't eating it either, lol.

[Vitaminz]

........... but wouldn't be worried about the salt content in it, because they like to be in brakish water.

last i read oscars are purely a freshwater fish, not brackish at all. where did you get your information?

"Keeping a salt level in the water seems to be essential part of Oscar keeping. The addition of salt when a pair of Oscars has a spawning seems to ensure a greater hatch rate for the eggs"

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Taylor_Oscars.html

[fairdeal]

When I had my pair of ruby reds I got them onto smelts - the kind for human consumption. I think a 1 kg. bag at the superstore was about $5 back then. One thing about the bigger fish - fill them up and you don't have to feed every day. I only fed mine every 3rd day or so and they were perfectly fine. It takes a while for them to digest the heavier food like meat. For treats they got the big shrimps and dew worms about twice a month. I also gave them a big slice of zucchini once a week.

[BettaFishMommy]

that article does not state that oscars are to be kept in brackish water, it just says 'salt level'. i have never added salt to my O's tank and he is growing well and has never been ill a day in his life (knock on wood!).

i have a firm stance of 'freshwater fish like FRESH water'. as in, no salt.

i read through that article and while there is some good info in it, it doesn't go into very much detail on the various aspects of oscar keeping. more of a general overview, IMO.

[BettaFishMommy]

When I had my pair of ruby reds I got them onto smelts - the kind for human consumption. I think a 1 kg. bag at the superstore was about $5 back then. One thing about the bigger fish - fill them up and you don't have to feed every day. I only fed mine every 3rd day or so and they were perfectly fine. It takes a while for them to digest the heavier food like meat. For treats they got the big shrimps and dew worms about twice a month. I also gave them a big slice of zucchini once a week.

i'll have to smell for smelts, lol, next time i'm at the 'stupidstore'.

i've tried to feed him veggies (zucchini, cucumber, green beans, etc) time and time again but he is insistent that veggies are not edible, lol. he sure did like the snail jello i tossed in a while back as an experiment though! (snail jello - homemade food for inverts).

[Evolution]

........... but wouldn't be worried about the salt content in it, because they like to be in brakish water.

last i read oscars are purely a freshwater fish, not brackish at all. where did you get your information?

........... but wouldn't be worried about the salt content in it, because they like to be in brakish water.

last i read oscars are purely a freshwater fish, not brackish at all. where did you get your information?

"Keeping a salt level in the water seems to be essential part of Oscar keeping. The addition of salt when a pair of Oscars has a spawning seems to ensure a greater hatch rate for the eggs"

http://www.aquarticl...lor_Oscars.html

that article does not state that oscars are to be kept in brackish water, it just says 'salt level'. i have never added salt to my O's tank and he is growing well and has never been ill a day in his life (knock on wood!).

i have a firm stance of 'freshwater fish like FRESH water'. as in, no salt.

i read through that article and while there is some good info in it, it doesn't go into very much detail on the various aspects of oscar keeping. more of a general overview, IMO.

From the article "Keeping a salt level in the water seems to be essential part of Oscar keeping. The addition of salt when a pair of Oscars has a spawning seems to ensure a greater hatch rate for the eggs."

Seems to be essential to part of keeping oscars, but no reason is given at all other than a greater hatch rate. Poor wording and poor information and clearly detrimental to the well being of any oscars in the care of anyone who uses that information.

Oscars themselves do not require salt in the water. The article was writen by someone in Australia and we have no idea if the water the person is using is acid or alkaline. Often salt is used in locations where the water used for tank water is acid and has a low pH such as the lower mainland, BC. Oscars evolved in BLACK water rivers of South America and these waters have almost no conductivity (alkalinity). Spawning usually takes place in these waters after the rains, when the rivers are high and the water current is strong, which inturn has a lower organic concentration and a faster current keeping the eggs in less harms way from fungus and sediment build up. The salt added to an oscar tank only aids in keeping fungus off the eggs. The oscar doesn't benifit at all from the addition of salt.

Feeding. I feed all my large fish- rays, cichlids, piranhas, electric eel, lungfish, polyterus and so on a frozen thawed shmorgishborg from a local asian market. It includes smelts, scalops, snails, muscles, clams, shrimp of all sizes, eels, various fish meats and so on. I prewash all the foods and feed raw. I also feed a bit of beef that has no vaccines, hormones and antibiotics.

[Vitaminz]

http://www.fishforums.com/forum/cichlids-south-america/4934-oscar.html

"SALINITY - Freshwater. Likes a little aquarium salt in the tank. No more then 1 tsp per 5 gal"

Seems to be mixed information, seems to be constant with this fish keeping hobby. You will read a book or an article on something, and you will always find somebody with the opposite view. Reading more into it, I do admit I used the term Brackish wrong, I assumed anything between fresh water and marine tank, was considered brackish.

My 120 gallon tank that is dominated by africans, I DO add aquarium salt to it, that is just my preference and my opinion.....

My Ice Blue Zebras spawn in the tank all the time, so my Oscar seems to fancy that as a snack.

Jeff

[Evolution]

http://www.fishforum...4934-oscar.html

"SALINITY - Freshwater. Likes a little aquarium salt in the tank. No more then 1 tsp per 5 gal"

That being said by a person who said this...

"DO NOT PUT THEM IN A 30 GALLON OR LESS TANK THEY WILL GET A "HOLLOW BELLY". Hollow belly is when the Oscars insides grow but its spine doesn't,and the organs become bloated leading to a very slow and incredibly painful death."

This is my 6" oscar in a 7 gallon tank.

and said this...

"GOLDFISH COME FROM ASIA OSCARS COME FROM SOUTH AMERICA DO NOT FEED THEM GOLDFISH. Also the massive amount of protein and indigestible bones can-and will-lead to intestinal blockage. In captivity their diet should consist of: brine shrimp"

and this...

"NOTE: Oscars will not eat until they explode like chickens. They will eat until their scales pop out on their bellies but no more."

and this...

"PHOTOPERIOD - Spawns during the rainy season."

[Vitaminz]

The point I was trying to make, was people in this hobby seem to have their own way to raise their fish, and you know what, who are we to say if they are wrong or right, as long as the fish are happy and healthy. This hobby isn't an exact science, everybody has there own way of doing this. It is just like raising kids, everybody give advice, but ultimatly you will have to live with the concequences of your actions. Take what you want from this, doesn't really matter, my fish are health and fine with salt, end of story...