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New to Oscar care
11/5/12 Baby Albino Oscar not eating or growing
properly 3/28/12 Astronotus; diet,
health 1/8/12 Oscars; sys., fdg.,
hlth. 7/14/11 My Oscar won't eat floating
pellets 9/10/10 OSCAR QUERY... issues, not eating... no
reading 5/5/10 Not Eating - Oscar 4/2/10 Re: More re: Oscars and some sort of parasite infestation!
(fish lice)? Oscar Can't Eat -- 11/17/2009 Dwarf Freshwater Puffers and Oscars (fdg.)
09/15/09 my Oscar crazy 7/27/09 Feeding Flies To Oscars 7/11/09 Oscar cichlid eating issue 05/26/09 Fresh produce can I feed bananas to Oscars
05/23/09 Re: Follow-up to the follow-up 05/21/09 Oscar and shrimp question, fdg.
5/4/09 Questions regarding a new filter system.
3/31/09 Re: Questions regarding a new filter system.
4/2/09 Oscar Diet 3/23/09 Oscars are not eating 12/13/08 Hai this is pavan from India. I have bought two Oscars two weeks ago. They are not eating food. tried pellets and dried worms. had ich and i used medicine and cured it. today they are looking dull. What to do. please do the help. Thank u waiting for reply <Pavan... likely the medicine is at fault here... It may have caused the fish to go off food directly by a sort of poisoning... or more indirectly by killing off your biological filter. Do you have tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? If you have another established system with room, I would move these cichlids to it... If nothing else, I would start doing serial water changes (10-20%) every day and use some activated carbon in the system's filter/flow path. Please see WWM re (the search tool), if you have questions. Bob Fenner> An Oscar's diet... 7/18/08 Thank you so very much for the information your site provides! I have been overwhelmed with all that I have learned in the last couple of weeks. Neale has answered some questions and my transplant tank for my Oscar is coming along nicely. I wish the friend who gave me the aquarium with the Oscar would have read this site so I wouldn't have had to spend so much $$ to ensure "SharkBait" would have a happy/healthy life! (Upgrading from a 35 gallon hex with a single Emperor 280 to a 75 gallon with two Emperor 280's and an Eheim 2217) <We're glad to help, and I'm pleased to hear about all these positive changes.> My friend also told me that all I had to do was buy these Cichlid Pellets and feed him twice a day. Reading over your FAQs, I see that SharkBait should have meat in his diet. I live in S. Florida and we have had lots of rain lately...the frogs have been very busy and I have 100s of tiny frogs hoping about the yard...are these safe to feed to an Oscar? (I have read and searched the FAQs and I see that crustaceans (shrimp) and veggies (shelled peas) are recommended.) <Oscars certainly will eat small amphibians in the wild. But do be careful, because some amphibians are toxic. Here in England for example, the common toad contains Bufotoxin, and I once had a cat that bit one and then spent the rest of the day frothing from the mouth like it had rabies. So you have to be careful. Personally, I wouldn't take the risk. Oscars feed primarily on fish and arthropods, especially crayfish and small crabs. The second most common part of their diet is plant matter, something aquarists don't always realise. So rather than worrying about "one" perfect food item, I always recommend people come up with as diverse a menu as possible for feeding Oscars. There is a good reason to avoid live foods though, beyond the risks of poisons/parasites, and that's the infamous Oscar Hunger Strike. Some Oscars are prone to accepting just one favourite food item. This causes major problems in the long term. So you want to be offering something different every day or two, so bad habits can't form. Do take care not to overfeed your fish too; Oscars are consummate animal psychologists that are very good at training humans to provide them with food on demand. Resist their mind games! A healthy Oscar should be lean, and with a just-filled abdomen rather than looking stuffed.> Thank you again for all the time the crew has put into this site and answering questions like this one. The information is invaluable to we who do not know and need to learn. <Thanks for the kind words. Oscars are lovely fish, perhaps THE most intelligent fish in the hobby, and make amazingly good pets. Time used researching your fish is time well spent. Cheers, Neale.> Oscars and flies as food 2/13/08 Hi, I had read on here as well as other sites that flies are good for Oscars. <Most fish love them. Natural food for many species.> My question is how many is to many? <You'll get bored catching them LONG before the fish does.> how fresh should they be? <Fish definitely prefer them alive! But I sometimes squish them for the smaller fish.> Can they be frozen? <I suppose.> Can they cause illness? <Parasites aren't likely to be a problem, but a fly that's picked up insecticide is obviously not a good thing. So if someone goes about spraying flies in your house or garden, you might choose not to use them.> Etc... Basically, what is the rule of the thumb when feeding flies? <Catch, feed, enjoy!> Thanks Tracy <Cheers, Neale.> Another Oscar eating question -- 1/28/08 Hi Guys, I've read through a lot of the question and answers, but just didn't find anything that quite covered my question. I have a 20gal tank full of Black and Potbellied Mollies, and as we all know they can really produce the babies. Their tank conditions are pristine. Can my two Oscars (Hurri ) and ( Cane ) eat these babies. I know they will eat them, but I have yet to hear anyone mention feeding them Mollies. I didn't know if they might be to fatty like goldfish? One other thing I know the two minute rule, but is there a specific number of pea's I should let them have in a feeding? Thanks, Tracy <Hi Tracy. Home-bred (as opposed to store-bought) livebearers are the only reliably safe feeder fish for any predatory fish, whether freshwater or marine. Goldfish, minnows, etc. are not at all safe, as you rightly observe. So provided the Molly fry are kept in clean conditions and free of disease, you can use them. HOWEVER, there is absolutely no need to give live fish to your Oscar; your Oscar will live perfectly well on prepared and frozen foods. In addition, the feeding of live fish to predatory fish has been frequently associated with that predatory fish becoming more aggressive. Quite how or why this happens is unknown. As for the number of peas, the short answer is let your Oscar eat as many as he wants. Vegetables generally have a lower protein content than meaty or prepared foods, so the risk of overloading the filter is far less. Being quite fibrous, the Oscar will probably feel full long before there's any risk of overfeeding. As you say, fish should only receive as much food as they can consume in a few minutes, and anything uneaten should be removed. But better indicators of how much to feed a fish come from the shape of the fish and the water quality. A healthy fish will have a gently rounded abdomen. If it has anything like a paunch, it's been fed too much. Same as humans, really! Fish don't die from being overfed itself -- they die because water quality suffers when they are overfed. So the other clue is water quality. If there's zero ammonia and nitrite, and a moderate amount of nitrate (ideally, less than 20 mg/l and certainly less than 50 mg/l) then you're fine. Cheers, Neale.> Re: Another Oscar eating question Thank you so much, wow that was an amazingly fast reply. <You're welcome! Cheers, Neale.>
Oscars Not Eating 12/4/07 My Oscars are not eating. For the last week or so I was away and when I returned the wife told me they were not eating the food...(coy flakes or pellets) it has happened before and I would change water and all is well in a couple of days . The thing is water was changed two days before I left and they were ok (eating and all) right now the water is clean and so are the filters. The tank has two penguin Bio wheel 350 filters and two large air stones, the four Oscars are 8 to 10 ins about 1 1/2 yrs , one is a red tiger the other three are Albino (those yellowish/orange fellas) no sand or gravel in the tank. Tank is approx 18" x 28" x48" and has a single small piece of driftwood and ah 10" long 4" piece of PVC pipe in it . Can you kindly assist me with this problem? Thanks in advance < Check the water temp. It should be around 80 F. They probably all got overfed and may have an intestinal blockage. Don't feed them for a couple of days until they start to act like they are hungry. If they don't eat then treat with Metronidazole for internal infections.-Chuck> Oscar Out Of Water 10/04/2007 Hello. I have 3 tiger Oscars. They are approx. 3-4 years old, and range from 6 to 9 inches long. I bought them at Wal-Mart when they were just an inch or so long. They are now way too crowded in their 29 gallon tank, so I bought a 55 gallon for them, and am going to give my dad my smaller Oscar to put in his 55 gallon, so that she may live by herself, peacefully. In the meantime, we are moving, so I can't set up my new tank until we are done with that..........My question is, I have noticed for about a week now that my one middle sized Oscar is swimming at the top of the tank with his back out of the water. When I reach in and gently "push" him down, he seems to swim funny, as if one of his fins may be damaged, but they appear to be fine physically. He eats normal, and seems to be fine otherwise, but I can't figure out why he is swimming partly out of the water the way he is. My best guess is that the larger "meanie" may have picked on him and done some kind of damage to one of his fins or something. <Hmm... swimming problems can have multiple causes. Constipation is one. People often feed Oscars too much soft food. They need fiber. Unshelled prawns or whole crayfish are ideal. Crickets and frozen krill will also work well. Some Oscars also enjoy tinned peas, and these are excellent for this. Oscars eat quite a bit of plant material in the wild, and so you need to make sure they eat at least some in captivity. Another problem is poor diet. The single worst food for Oscars is live fish, especially goldfish. Goldfish contain a lot of fat, and this messes up their internal organs. Goldfish also contain Thiaminase which destroys vitamin B1. But the biggest problem with live feeder fish is the risk of disease. No responsible fishkeeper recommends using cheap feeder fish. So if you're using live feeder fish, stop. If the "laxative" option doesn't help, then treating for internal bacterial infections would be my second course of action.> My other question is, when we move, what would be the best way to move fish of that size without stressing them out too much? The house we are moving to is approx. 15 minutes away. Thank you for your help. ~T~ <Moving fish isn't usually a problem. For a fish this size, get a nice big bucket with a lid. I use 5 gallon buckets from DIY stores, used for mixing paint and such. Put a bit of water in there, enough to cover the fish, but otherwise leave air in the rest of the bucket. Place the fish in the bucket, and keep the lid on. Normally, fish settle right down. One fish per bucket. Once you get to the new place, dribble water from the new tank into the bucket, and after 30 minutes catch the fish and place in the new aquarium. Don't put the polluted water in the bucket into the new aquarium. Hope this helps, Neale> Bait shrimp for Oscar 8/26/07 Hello to all at WWW, I've read time and again about feeding shrimp to Oscars. I envisioned those nice, pink, fat, little shrimp they sell at the grocery store. My husband passed a bait shop today and (thinking of my Oscar) brought home a box of frozen shrimp. But these are *whole* disgusting looking shrimp, complete with shells, tails, guts, whiskers, everything. I went ahead and cleaned them under cold water and cut them up (yuck) bagged them and put them in the freezer (while fighting off 4 cats and some very interested dogs). Can these shrimp be fed to an Oscar? It's highly unlikely they were raised under clean or parasite-free conditions considering they were raised for fish bait. It's the potential disease or parasite exposure that has me concerned. I know Oscars in the wild eat them, but they're probably also considerably more resistance to parasites. Does freezing them make them safe for aquarium fish to eat? If you deem them safe, can the Oscar get a very tiny chunk every day in since it's part of his natural diet (he's only 3" now). I've been looking through the FAQ's for references to 'bait shrimp' without any luck so far, will continue looking. Thank you for all you do. You all have the patience of Saints! Mitzi <Should be fine. As a broad rule, marine animals make safe food for predatory freshwater fish because relatively parasites can infect both marine and freshwater fishes. Feeding freshwater animals to marine fish is (broadly) safe too, but there are specific problems with using freshwater *fish* as food for predatory marine fish because of nutritional imbalances. You're correct about wild fish being less troubled by parasites, though the reasons for this are more to do with population biology and epidemiology than resistance. Freezing doesn't necessarily kill parasites though it may do. Regardless, your Oscar will certainly enjoy the whole shrimp, and the extra fibre will do him good. Just make sure you balance the diet with other things: shrimps contain a lot of Thiaminase, and long term this causes problems with Vitamin B1 availability. So use them a couple of times a week, and augment the diet with other things, such as shelled mussels (an excellent staple for most fish), earthworms, and a good quality cichlid pellet. Some green foods are also important, either as algae wafers or things like tinned peas. Cheers, Neale.> Re: Bait shrimp for Oscar -- 08/26/07 WWW Crew (Neale), Very thought-provoking, thank you. The idea of feeding the entire shrimp makes perfect sense. I'd read another Crew member's recommendation to take the shells off 1st because of big pieces of shell causing swallowing or digestion problems. I'll chop them up with the food processor (and not tell my family lol!) into coarse chunks and freeze them and just thaw out a chunk a few times a week for him. The shelled mussels are an excellent idea and I'll do that also. Thanks to the WWW website he's got quite a buffet in the freezer right now of peas, earthworms, his shrimp, frozen bloodworms, tadpoles & crickets, twice a day he gets 1 pre-soaked medium Hikari Cichlid Gold pellet. I only give him less than a 1/4" chunk of 2 of these frozen foods twice a week but he sure works for them begging non-stop. My 11 yr old son is disgusted and demoted me to the bottom shelf of the freezer-ha! I'd written to you a few wks ago about putting a similar sized blue crayfish in a 90 gal tank with the Oscar and got mixed opinions. Just to update you-the crayfish is still in his 20 gal quarantine tank, I've decided to just keep him there by himself (he's so funny!) and get another tank for quarantine. This is exactly what happens to all my quarantine tanks :-/ The 90 gal is going through a fishless cycle (thanks to WWW also) so the 3" Oscar is still in his 47 gal. I'd bought it as a "40 gal breeder tank" but when I did the math on it with several different size/gallon converters it measured out to 47 gallons. Not sure why they marked it as 40 gal (it's 36" x 18" X 17" tall). Interesting also. I'm grateful beyond words for this website. I've learned more through this website than I did from the endless other websites and books I've read. Thank you! Mitzi <Hello Mitzi. Glad we could help. Obviously whether or not you remove the shells from the shrimps depends upon the relative sizes of shrimp and Oscar! An adult Oscar (30 cm+) can handle unshelled shrimps around the 5 cm length without any fuss at all, and the shells will do him good. But a juvenile Oscar trying to swallow a shrimp almost as big as he is... well, that's not so sensible, and shopping the shrimp up makes sense. So use your discretion there. Oscars *are* crustacean eaters though, and they have the mouthparts to handle them. Because fish can't really choke as such, assuming the prey fits into a fish's mouth, it can usually swallow it, even if it takes a long time to do so. Sometimes aquarists get confused by watching the prey seemingly stay in the throat for long periods. Fish have "pharyngeal teeth" in the throat used to process food. Cichlids in particular have very sophisticated pharyngeal teeth that explain part of their success at being able to evolve into a bewildering variety of types able to eat everything from snails to plants. It's also why most cichlids are such opportunistic feeders, as you're discovering. Most cichlids will eat a wide variety of foods, and while some are specialists, most are omnivores feeding on whatever animals, plants, or organic detritus they can find. So your approach of "a little of everything" is just about perfect. Don't forget to try and add some greens to your Oscar's diet -- most cichlids eat some green food, whether algae, live plants, or decaying plant material. As for your aquarium: it contains 6.3 cubic feet, which is 39.2 Imperial gallons but 47 US gallons. I'm guessing the manufacturers labeled the tank using Imperial rather than US measurements. Everything is easier when people switch to the Metric system, because a litre is a litre is a litre wherever you live. (And it's so much easier to work out weights and lengths, too! One 10 cm cube of water weighs one Kilogram and has a one Litre volume. Idiot-proof.) Good luck, Neale.> Finicky Oscar, fdg. 8/13/07 I have a 2 1/2 yr old Oscar who has become quite finicky about what he eats. I have tried all the different brands of pellets, flakes, etc. as well as fresh shrimp and fish. The only thing he will eat is Fancy Feast cat food- the tuna & ocean whitefish. <Interesting> I only feed him once a day. I have tried the "if he's hungry, he'll eat it" approach with the pellets, but he will go several days without eating until I break down and give him his Fancy Feast. It makes a mess of the tank. What do you suggest? He is very healthy and about 10". Thanks, Susan <Mmm, I would switch to the "Spectrum" brand of pelleted foods... and try mixing some of these in with the Cat food in higher and higher percentage, till the latter is no more. Spectrum is nutritionally complete and very palatable... Bob Fenner> Bait Minnows Makes Oscar Sick 5/20/07 Hi, I have a question about my Tiger Oscar "Luka", he has been very sick for about a week and a half, and it's my fault, you see Ludka enjoys chasing and eating feeder fish, Ludka is a year old, and about 5" long, he was in a 35 gallon hexagon tank ( I know that it's too small of a tank, we are going to provide him a tank of 75-100 gallon when our living room is finished remodeling) his tank-mates are a Blood-Parrot Cichlid( Mugsy ), 2 sharks, not sure of species but they are very friendly, 1 smaller cichlid and our lobster ( crawfish ) Thor. Recently we took a couple minnows that we had left-over from fishing and let them lose in our tank so that the fish could have fun, I wasn't thinking at the time, and now I regret it. Ludka ate some along with the cichlids and Thor, about 4 days later Ludka started to bang himself along anything that he could find, and he really did a number on himself, then he would lay at the bottom of his tank and not move. His body started to get this white cloud-like look to it, he no longer greeted me when I came into the room, and his eyes started to cloud over. I did research on the net and found out that I probably infected him with parasites from the minnows. I did end up losing one of my smaller cichlids, and almost lost Ludka. I isolated him into a 30 gallon tank with a brand-new filtration system and started to treat him with parasite killer, I also started treatment to my main tank. Now he looks like the pet of Freddy Kruger, his fins have dissolved away leaving the Freddy Kruger look, his color went from beautiful black with the red, to an ugly shade of sick gray, he no longer will eat for me, his eye cloud is getting better though and he is no longer laying on his side, he does recognize me when I talk to him and try to get him to have some food but he just doesn't seem interested. I feel so bad for doing this to my baby. My question is how long will he go with out eating? He was a big eater before and has not lost any weight. How long does it takes to recover from this? Is there is a food that I can offer to help him in his recovery? I plan on keeping him in his own tank until we have a large enough tank to house all of our babies together. My family misses Ludka and so do our visitors, he is the main attraction in our home, he even does a "trick". I wet a large brine shrimp and place it on the inside of the tank lid and close the lid, Ludka would look at it, get positioned, and with a thrust of his tail he would jump to the lid and get his favorite treat, the lid would knock as he hit his mark. Ludka would also dance with us. We would stand at the tank and sway back and forth and he would do the same. Any suggestions on how to get our Ludka back to health would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Bonnie < The minnows probably caused an internal blockage. The thrashing about was your Oscar probably trying to dislodge the blockage. The whitish film could be a bacterial infection or fungus growing on the damaged tissues. I would recommend doing a 50% water change, vacuuming the gravel and cleaning the filter. Treat the tank with a combination of Metronidazole and Nitrofuranace. The Metro takes care of internal protozoan problems while the Nitro handles the bacteria and fungal issues. Treat every other day for three treatments. Change 50% of the water in between treatments. After the treatment try and find a medicated food with Metronidazole in it. You may have to go online. When your fish starts to eat it is getting better. Fish can usually go a couple of weeks without eating before they start to look ill. If the damaged fins have fungused back to the body then the fins will probably not grow back. Damaged fins will recover but they will not look as nice or as straight as the original undamaged fins.-Chuck> Keeping Oscars - 4/7/07 Hey there. I was just wondering about the conditions of my Oscars. I have five 2-3 inch Oscars in a 56 gallon tank. I know, its bad. I have two tigers and three albinos. I had 6 Oscars to begin with, but I lost that one to a bad condition of fin rot. I didn't know if it was my fault, or if it was just there when I bought him. My tigers keep growing and one of my albinos remain the same size, except one. And that one is a little smaller then my biggest tiger, and he has gashes on his head, and I was wondering if that was fighting or was hole-in-the-head? I do put in about 30-40 feeders every two weeks about. I know that's really bad too, but I am only fourteen, so my parents insist on buying feeders for them. What is the best food for them, and do you have any recommendations for me? Thanks =] < You already know you have many problems with this tank. At fourteen you are old enough to understand what is needed and hopefully will follow my recommendations for the sake of the animals. Lets start with water changes. You need to be changing at least 30% of the water weekly. While changing the water you should gravel vac half the tank to remove the mulm that has accumulated there. Clean the filters every other week. The filter should be pumping at least 200 GPH. Feeder fish introduce diseases and have very little nutritional value. Try feeding high quality pellet food instead. For a treat give them washed earthworms, mealworms, kingworms and crickets. They are healthy, do not introduce diseases and kind of fun to watch the Oscars eat them. Conventional fish foods like flake and frozen are also very good for them. As conditions improve you Oscars should be growing strong and healthy. The gashes on the head of the Oscars may start to heal up. If not try to feed them medicated foods with Metronidazole in it.-Chuck> Oscar Can't Eat 2/16/07 Hello, My name is Emily and I have a 4 foot tank with three Oscars one tiger one albino and one blue Oscar. I have had them since babies and they are now getting quite big. My tiger Oscar has always been the most dominant one they share the tank with a silver dollar angel fish a salmon tail cat fish and feather fin cat fish. My tiger Oscar is usually the pig but lately when I feed him he can't seem to eat. He holds the food in his mouth and then spits it out this goes on for a while then he seems to give up. Also, I have noticed that his scales are coming off and his colour is fading. I don't want him to die, he is my pride and joy can you please me? Thank you < He could have an internal infection that is blocking up his digestive system. Do a 50% water change, vacuum the gravel and clean the filter. Do not feed the tank. Treat with a combination of Nitrofuranace and Metronidazole, or Clout. When he acts hungry you can do a 50% water change, add carbon to the filter and slowly add a little food every day. The medication may affect the biological filtration so watch for ammonia spikes. Next time please check you grammar so I don't have to spend so much time fixing your question and can spend more time helping aquarists keep their animals alive. Thanks-Chuck> Oscar Stressed By Over Feeding 10/5/06 Hi, I hope you can help. I have a tiger Oscar only a few months old in a 55 gallon tank. Lately I have noticed quite a few things go wrong pretty quickly and I'm on info overload after reading everything. < Thanks for looking first.> First, there are pink bits of his poo with white almost fur like things on it all the time. I do 30% water changes at least every week cleaning the gravel as I go but it just doesn't seem to go. Then I noticed some white spots on him which have gone now without any treatment, however with the life cycle of ich I think I may need to treat! Which I will start tomorrow. Today I noticed his poo was yellow/light green and he is really worrying me. I think he has hole in the head but I'm not sure. He has two small (about 1mm diameter) holes between his mouth and his eyes. Please help, I've become really close to him and I want to make him well again! I feed him on 'cichlid gold' regularly a pellet at a time until he stops eating about twice a day. I do pH checks which are normal, but no nitrate checks. I have a Fluval 3 filter in the tank that I clean in the tank water every week (I remove some water and clean it in that then throw the water away!) hope you can help Rachel < Feed you Oscar once a day and only enough food so that all of it is gone in two minutes. Remove all leftover food. The stress of him being overfed is taking a toll on his digestive tract. Do a 50% water change, vacuum the gravel and clean the filter. Add some variety to his diet by adding some chopped earthworms, brine shrimp or Spectrum Pellets.-Chuck> My Oscars are living in spite of me 8/25/06 I have a display tank in my office ( 13 inches across, 9 inched deep, 48 inches high - 30 gallons) and 2 new Oscars ( a tiger and a red Oscar) <Not enough room...> My clients told me to get Oscars... they told me to give them feeder fish. <A very poor idea> They told me not to worry about cleaning the filter too much , or changing the water every week. I've listened to them , and the Oscars are fine ( I thought swimming up and down would be a problem, by they are fine) After reading the faq's , I see I'm doing everything wrong. I only have time on Sundays to do anything more than 5 minutes of work. Where should I start? ;-)avi <Regular water changes... weekly, stop feeding feeders for all the reasons stated on WWM... Look into larger quarters... Bob Fenner> Oscar fdg., health, 8/8/06 Hello, <<Hello, Paige. Tom with you this morning.>> I have had an Oscar for 2+years and he has fought a fungus quite often. Which I am thinking might be because of the feeder fish. <<One of the several problems with using feeder fish, unfortunately.>> But the Jungle fungus eliminator seems to work great. For the last two days he has started swimming around with his mouth wide open. I treated him last night with Binox and also ich treatment. <<More than "fungus" going on with your Oscar? The open mouth isn't related to a fungal infection, Paige.>> What would cause the gaping mouth? <<Smart money? A stone/foreign object caught in the animal's mouth or throat. Not uncommon with Cichlids and Goldfish since both almost constantly pull gravel into their mouths. Once in a while, a piece gets stuck.>> Is there a better course of treatment? <<No real treatment here, Paige. I don't know if your Oscar will sit by and let you pick around in his mouth (no fingers, please!). Typically, the blockage will move in one direction or the other of its own accord.>> I have put salt into the tank but I don't want to hurt the catfish. <<Won't help or harm in this case.>> I also have a south American redtail cat that is about 1+ year and he is the reason I feed the feeder fish because he loves them. <<And given the enormous size these fish can reach, I suppose it's prudent to give him whatever he wants. :) Seriously, you do realize these fish can reach up to four feet in length! Gorgeous animals but better left to very, very large aquariums that can provide the room they need. I'd also keep an eye on your Oscar. A hungry Red-Tailed Catfish isn't likely to be "sentimental" about a tank mate.>> Is there an alternate food source I could get for him? I have tried sinking carnivore tablets but he doesn't even bother with them. <<Not hungry enough, perhaps. These fish are fairly indiscriminate about what they'll chow down on. You do need to get some variety into him though. Prawns and crabs are generally taken well. Bloodworms and earthworms are also good choices at the juvenile stage but your fish should be in the 16"-20" range by now and will need more than an earthworm or two to feed on. Probably best if you can find some meaty foods other than the feeders such as frozen foods. The feeder fish may be his favorite but it's not good to continually medicate your tank because of what they're bringing along with them.>> Thank you for your time and insight, Paige <<You're welcome, Paige. Tom>> Feeding Oscars - 07/03/04 Hello, <Hi Mark, Pufferpunk here> I have a Tiger Oscar I believe. Actually he is my wife's. Can we feed him luncheon meats, lettuce and human food? What is the best food for him? Flakes vs. pellets vs. feeders vs. human food? He never loses his appetite... he will eat anything you give him. <They should not eat processed human food--way too fatty. If you want to feed him veggies, try shelled peas (frozen, then defrosted, before feeding). Cichlid pellets, people shrimp, small pieces of fish, all are good foods. Please refrain from feeding nasty, diseased feeder fish to your Oscar--worst thing you can feed a pet fish!> Thank you for any help you can give. Mark Cone P.S. The pellets we have been giving him which is supposed to be composed of the same nutrients he would get from feeders... it seems he spits 1/2 of it out while trying to eat it. It makes more of a mess in his tank than what gets into his stomach. <Yes, Oscars are one of the messiest fish around--fishy garbage cans. This is why they need large tanks (55g minimum for 1 fish, 75g better) & huge weekly water changes (50% minimum). ~PP> Feeding Guppies To Oscars - 05/20/2006 Hey, I have been reading your FAQs for about 3 hrs now and have learned a lot but I see you don't suggest feeder fish. But what if I have raised the guppies now for 6 yrs or so as well as the Oscar? I have been feeding them to 'mostly as a treat'. They get frozen food, pellets 3 types, and live worms as a regular diet. I have seen the more live food they eat the more aggressive they get . My question is, if I know the guppies have a good diet and are not ill then is it still bad in your opinion to use fish as a food? < You have eliminated the reasons for not feeding them. They will be very good for your Oscars.-Chuck> Cichlids Competing For Food 4/6/06 I have a 4" inch Oscar in with a 10" tilapia and they get along fine, except that the Oscar goes into such a frenzy when being fed it is constantly injuring itself by darting to a piece of food right as the tilapia is going for it and getting ripped up. I've been working on avoiding this... with some success. Do have any suggestions? And what do you feel the best way to treat the wounds is? < Your big tilapia can eat quite a bit while your Oscar is striving to get anything that is left. Try feeding pellets at different ends of the tank at the same time. keep the tank clean and add Bio-Coat to the water. If it gets infected place the fish in a hospital tank and treat with Nitrofurazone.-Chuck> Food For Albino Oscar 3/18/06 Thank you for the quick reply, the food that I'm feeding him is Hikari Cichlid Gold Food. Is this a good food, or do you recommend anything else? LeeAnn Hathaway Anderson < It is pretty good food, but it does have color enhancers they may be causing the blackened fins. Try another name brand food with out the color enhancers and see if the black goes away.-Chuck> Oscar Not Eating 2/22/06 Hi I'm Gertrude from Malta. I have two Oscars they are two years old. About four months ago they started always to fight and then they stopped eating so I had to make another aquarium to separate them. One of them is ok, after some days she started to eat again but the other one still not eating. I'm very worried cause now it's been a long time since she ate. I wonder how is she still alive. I would appreciate if you tell me what more I can do for her. Thanks < Improve the conditions of the aquarium. Do a 50% water change, vacuum the gravel and clean the filter. Raise the water temp to 82 F. Offer live food like washed earthworms, mealworms, insects etc... If this still does not work then there may be an internal bacterial infection. Try treating with Metronidazole.-Chuck> Re: HELP!!! For my 11 inch Oscars- sick! Oscars Won't Eat 2/14/06 It's just me again with the third, and hopefully, last question. We have done all that we could, with your help and suggestions 2 times. The Oscars (at times only), seem slightly or moderately interested finally in eating, yet when they eat a pellet or prawn, it flies back out of their mouth. (The pellets are in pieces, but they cannot be digesting them). They must be hungry- haven't eaten right in weeks, for a week or more nothing. They seem to want to eat, why cannot they keep the food in them? I offer it to them 2 times a day, sometimes they are interested once a day, sometimes two times, but never eat more than one or 2, and usually spit it back out almost immediately in pieces.......I get very upset, they have to eat to live- they may be 12 inches now, really good size. And other than a few old? HITH scars, they look good I think. Thanks again in advance for your past help!- Diana D. < The fact that they are not eating is not a good sign. They are probably infected with an intestinal bacteria. If Metronidazole alone will not work then it is time to get a little more aggressive with the treatment. Do a 50% water change, vacuum the gravel and clean the filter. Treat on day one with Metronidazole and Nitrofuranace. On day two do a 50% water change and add one tablespoon of rock salt per 5 gallons of water. Day three, treat as per day one. Day 4 treat as per day two. Day 5, treat as per day one. Day 6 treat as per day 2. After treatment to a 50% water change and offer them some food. If they are eating then start them off very slowly. You have probably removed much of the good bacteria in their gut and they need to get that going again. Add carbon to remove any remaining medication. Then add Bio-Spira to get the tank cycled quickly. Slowly increase their feeding to normal over a week.-Chuck> Big Oscar that won't eat 11/21/05 Hi I have a ten inch Oscar in a 60 gallon tank that just doesn't seem to be interested in food. I just set up this new tank, but I don't think that that is the problem, since he wasn't eating well before the move. My temp. is fine <Fine?> and water conditions optimal, <What? Then I guess... all is "good"> I have tried a variety of foods now to peak his interest including, krill, his usual pellet food, and some other variety of Hikari cichlid food. I even tried some beef heart that a friend of mine had. Previous to this past week he was a voracious eater. He shows no signs of disease and acts quite normal except for the not eating part. I have heard of internal parasites, but what could be signs of that? <Maybe... or could have swallowed a "bug" from outside, but most likely is "just in a funk" over being moved. I would raise the water temperature to the low eighties F., and check your water quality for ammonia, nitrite, and keep offering different foods daily> Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for the help. Jason <Have you read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/oscarfdgfaqs.htm. Bob Fenner> Bigger Oscar Has Become a Bully 10/22/05 The website seems much more organized since the last time I visited. Thank you! Much easier to find information without wading through pages of emails... Now, I need some advice on a tiger Oscar. Let me start by saying that I've had two tigers since they were the size of half dollars, and they are the newest additions to the tank. They live in a 75 gallon tank, with a four-inch armored catfish and an 8" Pleco. The Oscars are both slightly over 6". I run two 60 gallon Whisper filters and do a 25% water change every 7-10 days. They eat everything to Cichlid pellets to worms, crickets, and chicken. < Chicken?> <<Land mammal and poultry meats should never be offered as food to fish, with the exception of beef heart only in certain extreme cases. -SCF>> For the last couple of months, the two tigers have been lip locking and pushing one another around the tank. There are no sharp edges, and neither of them get beat up (minus a scale or two I find vacuuming). For the last week, the seemingly dominant tiger, has been bullying around the other roommates as well. Surprisingly, it has even been going after the Pleco, which has always been larger than itself. Now, when I clean the tank, it is charging and biting me, as well as the vacuum, plants, and even water drippings from the carbon filters as I pull them over the top of the tank. Although I find this slightly amusing and no one is getting physically hurt, I am beginning to be concerned for the psychological well being of the other tank mates. Should I move that Oscar to a tank of its own? < Your Oscar has now determined that this tank is his territory and that he is in charge. He will defend his territory against all intruders.> Will it become lonely? < No , he will start interacting with people walking by the tank or even in the same room.> Can this behavior be from diet related issues? or perhaps the vacation that I went on when I didn't change the water for 13 days? < This is actually pretty normal for every large New World cichlid.> Also, I've been thinking about buying a separation screen for the catfish so that it can eat without the Oscars snatching up everything. How long should I give it to eat before removing the screen? < Most fish I recommend leaving the food in for no more than two minutes. But with the Pleco I would make sure that he is eating for about 15 minutes each day. Vegetable fish food is high in fiber and not much protein, so they need to eat a lot of it to get enough nutrition.> It will not eat pelleted food for catfishes or anything that floats. I'm concerned that I'm not providing a wide enough arrangement of food with chicken, earthworms, and blood worms. Any suggestions? Beef doesn't seem to work in any form: hamburger, steak, or heart. Thank you very much for your time, Chris < Go with commercially prepared sinking pellets for algae eating fish and stay away from the grocery store. Try Spectrum, Hikari, OSI or Marineland pellets. You fish will learn to eat them after a few tries.-Chuck> Angry Oscar Needs His Space 10/22/05 Thank you for the timely response to my last email. Should I make a new tank for the aggressive Oscar? <This would be best for all of your fish.-Chuck> Oscar Illness? - 10/18/2005 I recently purchased two tiger Oscars, both of them are about 2 to 3 inches. Currently they share an 80 gallon tank with community fish (I figured they eat them when they got big enough, and they'd have the tank to themselves) <Uhh, can't say as I agree with or endorse this....> In the last two days, my Oscars have both been laying at the bottom of the tank. They both come up to eat (bloodworms, beef heart) <Do not feed them land mammal meats.... even beef heart.... this can really lead to serious nutritional disease with time. An occasional bit is probably not a big deal, but why take the risk, eh?> They do not have any visible parasites. <Do they have any other symptoms?> I talked to a person at the pet store where I purchased the Oscars, she suggested putting Parasite Clear in the tank, which I did. Today I did a 25% water change. I have had the Oscars for about two weeks and this is the second water change since I've had them. I changed my filter, and my water levels are good. <"Good" is subjective.... What levels specifically? If ammonia and nitrite are not ZERO, or nitrate is above 20ppm, rectify with water changes.> This behavior is new for these Oscars, any suggestions? <Too little information to go off, here, I'm afraid. Test your water, maintain optimal water quality.... and be on the lookout for any other symptoms whatsoever.> Thanks, -Sean <Wishing you well, -Sabrina> Oscars Are Eating Pleco's Wafers 9/19.5/05 A friend of mine has a problem with his Oscars and asked me to send you guys a message because I have used your guys' services before and have gotten many problems solved. He has a pair of young albino Oscars and a medium sized Plecostomus. He typically feeds the Oscars Hikari Cichlid Staple pellets and supplements that with Rosy Red Minnows once every week or so. He feeds his Plecostomus Hikari algae wafers but his Oscars always eat the wafer. I told him that I thought it was because of the Oscars being used to eating the Cichlid Staple that is so high in vegetable matter and that the wafers probably taste very similar. My friend would like to know why his Oscars continuously eat his pleco's food and if there is any way to get them to stop doing so. Thank you so much for your help. < Oscars are pretty intelligent for fish. They know that these wafers are good food and don't mind eating them as soon as they hit the water. This is a problem with many aquarists trying to feed bottom dwelling fish. Pleco's are mostly nocturnal while Oscars are mainly diurnal. So turn out the room and fish tank lights about an hour before you go to bed. Just before you go to bed you can throw in the algae wafers. The Oscars should be asleep and the Plecos will be up and eating.-Chuck> Sulking Oscars 9/3/05 I have two large red tiger Oscars about eleven inches in length. They have a very healthy appetite for dried food, frozen food, and live food such as guppies, goldfish, and earth worms. I've had them for about one year and two years. One of them is just sulking around the tank. All of the sudden, this monster that eats twenty-four hours a day hasn't eaten in three days. It has no apparent sores or illnesses, it is just weird that it doesn't move or eat all of the sudden. Please send me back some suggestions on what may be wrong with it or what I can do to fix it. Thank you very much. Eric Messenger Thank you very much P.S. Maybe is the breeding cycle setting in or beginning, I know nothing about the breeding of Oscars. Thanks < Try a couple of things. Do a 30% water change and vacuum the gravel while you are at it. Clean the filters. This would normally get them fired up. If this doesn't work then it may be a more serious matter. With no external symptoms then we have to think that maybe he has an internal bacterial infection or a damaged pharyngeal jaws. Not much you can do about the jaws so treat with Metronidazole as per the directions on the package.-Chuck> Oscars Act Like They Are Starving 8/31/05 First off. Love the site. Have learned a lot from it. I have 2 Oscars (Pedro & Napoleon) in a 75 gallon. Pedro is about 5 inches, while Napoleon is about 4. My problem is that they like to leap out of the water when I feed them. If I open up the lid and hold my hand over the water with food they will jump up to my hand (Pedro has been about 90% out of the water). And they splash water all over the place! I even got nipped once. It didn't hurt....Do you think they'd bite hard enough to hurt me? < They don't really have teeth but they will get larger and may develop some then.> I like my fingers and want to keep them. One time Pedro must have hit the side of the lid on his way back in, because I saw a section of his scales floating in the water. Maybe he'll learn his lesson? :) Is there anyway to stop them from jumping? I try to open the tank lid really quick and throw the food in and close it fast! But it's kind of difficult because I have a 2nd lid above it on my canopy. By the time the canopy lid is open, they are up top awaiting my feeding hands. Suggestions, comments, or jokes would be greatly appreciated...Dave < Lower the water temp and that will slow them down. Mid to upper 70s F will slow down their metabolism and they won't be starved all the time.-Chuck> Oscars and "Feeders" - 08/17/2005 I have 2 large Oscars (one red and one tiger) in a 55 gallon tank with no other fish except a Plecostomus. <Too small for these animals....> I recently did a full water change/tank cleaning and gave them some feeders (I only do this every couple of months). <The full water change is rarely a good approach - on your tank, I would recommend weekly water changes of about 30%, or more/more frequently, depending upon your nitrate levels and how quickly they build up. Err, and NEVER feed your fish unquarantined live "feeder" fish!! This is almost a 100% guarantee that you will introduce parasites, bacteria, or other disease to your animals.> Now my red has developed a bulge on his left side (there is a slight protrusion on the right but not as prominent) and he is mouthing like he is having a hard time breathing. <A number of possibilities.... if he is not defecating, I would suspect he may be constipated. I would add Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) to the water at a rate of 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons.> He is also not eating his usual pellets which he is usually very excited to get. The tiger is showing none of these symptoms. I have had these two for almost six years, since they were babies, and have never seen anything like this. I did a lot of reading and searching for fish with these symptoms and from everything that you have said (in answer to others questions) this could be an internal infection?? The people at the fish store don't seem to informed about Oscars and their behavior and told me that he is possibly is having a hard time digesting the feeders?? That just doesn't seem right? <Mm, possibly right, to an extent.... Feeder goldfish are a horrible nutrition for an Oscar (or most other fish, for that fact). I would not be surprised if the Oscar has a gut blockage from this sort of a meal. Be pleased if that's the only problem from it.... and be on the lookout for parasitic infestation, bacterial illness....> Please help. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, -Trouble in Jersey <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/goldfshfd.htm and the links, in blue, at the top of that page, for more information. Wishing you well, -Sabrina> Oscar Not Eating 8/15/05 My Oscar has not been eating. I have changed & checked water conditions. Everything is alright. He ate live fish for a few days, but now he is no longer interested in anything. I have noticed that his tail is shaking occasionally. What is wrong with my Oscar? Thank you, AK < He might have caught an internal bacterial infection from the feeders. Do a 30% water change, vacuum the gravel and clean the filter. Treat with Metronidazole. If you cannot find it then try Clout or a double dose of Nitrofurazone. The metro works the best if the disease is caught early.-Chuck> Feeding Oscars Feeders 8/15/05 Hi, I have two Tiger Oscars. They are just over 4 inches long. Currently I am feeding them mini granules for cichlids and gold fish flakes for color. My question is at what size can I begin feeding them feeder fish. Thank you, Branden Osburn < While feeder fish are somewhat entertaining to watch getting eaten for some people, they really aren't that great a food item. They are poorly treated and poorly fed because they are cheap. Many times they often carry diseases into your aquarium that can be very expensive and potentially very deadly for your fishes. As a rule of thumb I would not feed any item to a cichlid that was any longer than one quarter it's total body length. So a inch feeder goldfish or guppy would be fine. To really make your feeders safe and a better food item for you Oscars you should do a few things to prevent problems. First, all feeders should be placed in a quarantine tank for at least two weeks. They should be treated if needed and cured prior to being used as a feeder. In the meantime they should be fed a very high quality food to make them more nutritious. Finally, only feed them enough so that the feeder is totally consumed in two minutes once each day. Don't put all the feeders in at once and watch the poor Oscars overfeed and kill themselves.-Chuck> Oscars eating Worms 7/27/05 What do you know about Melafix? < This is a derivative of the Melaleuca plant (Bottlebrush Family). Stores have been promoting it lately like it will cure everything. But based on the feedback we get here at WWM it does not seem as effective as antibiotics to cure diseases.> Can you tell me the pros or cons of feeding the Tiger Oscar Canadian Nightcrawlers? These are the kinds of worms I purchased at Wal-Mart yesterday, but do not want to use them (when he does start eating again) if it will get him sick again. < This is a great food in moderation. These Nightcrawlers can be pretty big so I would use a night crawler no longer than one quarter the size of the Oscar. So a 4 inch Oscar would get a one inch piece of Nightcrawlers two to three times a week.-Chuck> Oscars eating everything 7/21/05 I am currently housing Oscars, i have about 6 of them approximately 1 to 2 inches long, they been eating carrot , turnip, cabbage, green peas, figgy duff, <What is?> also wieners , blood puddings, hamburger meat, and salami, pork loins and liver all chopped fine of course, my question is, is there anything these fish will not eat or should not eat? <Heeeee. I'd avoid fatty animal foods. Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/oscarfdgfaqs.htm> they rush right to the top when i approach the tank, so I'm assuming they really love these foods. should i or should i not be feeding them this type of food , they are growing very rapidly, any suggestions? what's next ? .........bacon and eggs? thanks again for your help! George! <I'd settle on a steady pelleted diet, augmented... avoid live freshwater fish as food. Bob Fenner> DIY Fish Food 7/19/05 Hi there Chuck . Thank you so much for your prompt and very insightful reply. The information is a great help. < Glad you found the info useful.> Sadly one of the Tigers has died and the other one is on his way out. Do you know if raw chicken is safe and I also heard about a guy feeding his Oscars raw stock fish from the fish and chips shop with great results . Do you know anything about feeding them raw fish meat ? <The best DIY fish food recipe can be found in the book "Enjoying Cichlids " by Ad Konings. It is a combination of frozen peas and shrimp. Check out the book and see for yourself. Others have experimented with many different things with mixed results. Any time you add raw protein your tank has the potential to go through an ammonia explosion if overfed. Try the Konings recipe first. I am sure it will work for you.-Chuck> Thanks once again for your help Regards Trevor. Oscars Need No Heart 7/17/05 Hi there. Maybe you guys can help because the shop owners around here are pretty useless. I have a four foot tank with largish Oscars and it is going great I also have a three foot and it is the tank where my big Oscars all started out in with great success. All the other fish are thriving (Cats , Plecos Knife fish Eels Black Ghosts) I mean really thriving all growing well. The PH and water conditions are fine . On three occasions I have attempted to buy more babies (2 inches or so) and even though I they all started out well I lost 7 of 8 and 4 of 6 for no apparent reason (While the rest of the fish are thriving). The only thing I can put it down to is I am feeding them raw ox heart from the butcher and I think they might be picking up parasite from the meat. The ones that survive thrive and grow and behave like Oscars are supposed to. I am in the process now of watching two slowly die and the other two grow and flourish , all in the same tank. I am completely stumped and don't know what to do and any advise would be greatly appreciated Thanks and thanks for a great site Regards Trevor < The bacteria in your new Oscars gut is not accustomed to you ox heart mixture. It sits in their gut and rots. Eventually some will develop this bacteria but you will lose a lot of fish in the meantime. I don't recommend mammalian protein for my fish but I know many people that swear by it. If you are going to stick with the ox/beef heart then try very little bits at first. Slowly increase the amount of heart over a long time. Eventually the bacteria will develop.-Chuck> Re: Please help with my Oscar Thank you a million times, I removed the shells, changed a lot of water and treated the fish. He is now swimming normally, and eating. I couldn't find the medication you mentioned, I have been told it was pulled from the shelves because of people using it for other than fish. So I bought a product called Fungus Eliminator by Jungle. It said it treats swim bladder disease, and in about 3 days it did! I also used something called MelaFix. One more question... My large Oscar likes to eat crickets, are they ok for him? <Yes, very good. Bob Fenner> Oscar systems, feeding, Gage's go Hello there, Thank you for your web-site it is an easy to navigate wealth of knowledge. I have spent over an hour reading trying to narrow down my problem I have, what I believe is, an albino Oscar. He/She is white with an orange "knot" on s/he head and tips of fins. He is about 6 inches tall and about 10" long. I have had him for 5yrs now, and bought him when he was about 2". (He was sold to me as a semi aggressive). He has since killed all the other semi aggressive that I had! So he is now the only one in the tank. No matter what he is, I just adore him, he is our pet, and I have become concerned with his well being. From the readings, there is a lot I should be doing that I have lucked out and never had to. I am just concerned on where I should start. I did a complete water change last week. I also replaced the air tubing for the underground filter system, and bought a new over the tank filter. Lots of changes here, so I wonder if I haven't stressed him out. As a treat, only the third time I have ever offered, I put in 12 feeder gold fish. If he has eaten any of them it was only one, as I now count 11. But I don't know if that was done here or at the store. The water was cloudy on the first day after the change so I added some Stress coat to my 50 gal tank. The water cleared up beautifully. Now I want to give my fish a hug. He seems depressed almost afraid of the gold fish. He has always been "moody" after a water change, but only for a few hours. I changed his water last Tuesday and he has not snapped out of it. He mingles at the bottom of the tank in one corner or another. He still comes up to see me for feeding, but he is not nearly as perky and playful as usual. After eating about 5 pellets he meanders back to the bottom. He is not playing with the goldfish at all...the goldfish are not even afraid to go eat his pellets in front of him!! It is almost as though the goldfish are bullying my Oscar!! I see suggestions of Epsom salt, live worms, and water testing. I have never done any of those things. Where should I start??? I do not see any visible fungus, or sickness. His eyes and fins look good at this point, although the water seems to be getting a little cloudy again. By the look of the water, it seems like maybe his natural slime is falling off?? He still comes up and "kisses" at me and my children when he is visited. He just seems sad and sluggish. I want to catch whatever it is before it becomes a bigger problem. Please advise on where I should start to diagnose our pet. Thank you so very much for your time and your website. I look forward to hearing from you. Jessica <Hi Jessica, glad to hear you are learning what is best for your fish and correcting past mistakes. Most likely the 100% water change is what stressed out the fish, that is a pretty big shock. The slimy weirdness in the water may be from the stress coat. Feeder goldfish are not a good idea, for a treat I might pick up some frozen krill from the pet store, or even yummier big fat worms from a bait shop or a hole in the back yard. Feeders can introduce parasites, fungus, all around nastiness to your tank. Just keep up on weekly to bi-weekly water changes and watch for signs of sickness (fuzziness, weird spots, open wounds, etc.). He should return to his normal behavior in no time. Best regards, Gage> Oscar systems, feeding, Bob's try Hello there, Thank you for your web-site it is an easy to navigate wealth of knowledge. I have spent over an hour reading trying to narrow down my problem I have, what I believe is, an albino Oscar. He/She is white with an orange "knot" on s/he head and tips of fins. He is about 6 inches tall and about 10" long. I have had him for 5yrs now, and bought him when he was about 2". (He was sold to me as a semi aggressive). He has since killed all the other semi aggressives that I had! So he is now the only one in the tank. No matter what he is, I just adore him, he is our pet, and I have become concerned with his well being. From the readings, there is a lot I should be doing that I have lucked out and never had to. I am just concerned on where I should start. I did a complete water change last week. <Mmm, best to avoid such complete change-outs... restrict these to a good 20-25% maximum... too much change too soon is bad... and source water can be dangerously variable in quality> I also replaced the air tubing for the underground filter system, and bought a new over the tank filter. Lots of changes here, so I wonder if I haven't stressed him out. <Possibly> As a treat, only the third time I have ever offered, I put in 12 feeder gold fish. <Not a good idea... real trouble as a source/vector for disease...> If he has eaten any of them it was only one, as I now count 11. But I don't know if that was done here or at the store. The water was cloudy on the first day after the change so I added some Stress coat to my 50 gal tank. The water cleared up beautifully. Now I want to give my fish a hug. He seems depressed almost afraid of the gold fish. He has always been "moody" after a water change, but only for a few hours. I changed his water last Tuesday and he has not snapped out of it. He mingles at the bottom of the tank in one corner or another. He still comes up to see me for feeding, but he is not nearly as perky and playful as usual. After eating about 5 pellets he meanders back to the bottom. He is not playing with the goldfish at all... the goldfish are not even afraid to go eat his pellets in front of him!! It is almost as though the goldfish are bullying my Oscar!! <Happens> I see suggestions of Epsom salt, live worms, and water testing. I have never done any of those things. Where should I start??? <Reading further> I do not see any visible fungus, or sickness. His eyes and fins look good at this point, although the water seems to be getting a little cloudy again. By the look of the water, it seems like maybe his natural slime is falling off?? <Possibly... the water change, possible disease from the goldfish...> He still comes up and "kisses" at me and my children when he is visited. He just seems sad and sluggish. I want to catch whatever it is before it becomes a bigger problem. Please advise on where I should start to diagnose our pet. Thank you so very much for your time and your website. I look forward to hearing from you. Jessica <Mmm, keep reading, on WWM re feeder goldfish, all the Oscar FAQs. Bob Fenner> Re: Oscar Looks Like a Red Devil, Chuck's input Hello there, and thank you so much for your prompt response. My gut feeling is to remove these goldfish, of which I will do today. I have since been to the library and have found that I don't have an Oscar, but a Cichlasoma citrinellum (Midas Cichlid). < Go to fishbase.org and search for red devil. There are a couple of fish that look similar.> I have also learned he is indeed a male. :o) He is a beautiful fish and I plan to search your website for info on him. Do you have any tips on this type of fish?? < You seem to have learned a lot and I think you are already on the right track.> He seems to have a lot of the same characteristics of the Oscar is there any definite differences? <The are both new world cichlids. The Oscar comes from South America and the Red Devil type comes from Central America. They are both one of the top predators in their natural habitat.> I also purchased a heater, and thermometer for his tank, he has never had one before, but I want him to be comfortable. Dang, I forgot that water tester equipment that you advised! Back to the pet store. Thanks again for your advise and your website. I appreciate your time and your help. Jessica < This is what Wetwebmedia is here for.-Chuck> HUNGRY OSCAR I get up in the morning at 4:00 am I feed my Tiger Oscar, whom is about 3 1/2 inches long, 5 medium pellets and they are gone before I leave. My husband gets up at 6:00am and feeds him 4 more which are gone in no time. When my husband gets home from work at 4:00 pm he feeds him about 4-5 more, and about 7:00pm we feed him about 5 more and wait till he's finished, and cut off his light for bed. But in between times he still seems hungry, popping bubbles at the top of the tank. Are we not giving him enough for his size? And when is it going to be time to get another tank?? He is in a 10 gallon now...Thanks.... < Little Oscars seem like eating machines. I would recommend that you feed him once a day only enough food so that all of it is gone in two minutes. You will have to learn to ignore him the rest of the day. Sounds like he already is getting you well trained. The Oscar can get up to a foot long in as little time as a year under the right conditions a 50 to 55 gallon tank should be fine with proper filtration.-Chuck> Starving Oscar Hi, I've just bought a medium tiger Oscar a few days ago and it won't eat. And it's always hiding in the shadow but its alone in a 20 gallon tank. < Sometimes fish get "Imprinted" on certain foods and can be difficult to get to switch to other foods. Ask the store where you bought him what they had been feeding him. If he wasn't eating at the store then you need to try different foods until you find the one he will eat. Look at flake and pelleted foods to start. Try live black worms, meal worms and washed earthworms. It is important to clean up any un eaten food after a couple minutes. Don't let the food sit in the tank all day and pollute the tank.-Chuck> OSCAR ON HUNGER STRIKE - II? Hi again, I asked the store manager about the food today and they told me it was the same kind of food they fed. So I was wondering if I could feed it some feeder guppies? < I really don't like to use feeder guppies unless nothing else will work. They carry disease and are usually not a very good nutritional source. If you must feed guppies then place them in their own tank and treat them for any diseases like you would with a new tropical fish for a couple of weeks. Feed them nutritional food so that they themselves will be nutritional to your Oscar.-Chuck> Oscar Feeding? Hello, My name is Courtney and I am wondering what types of food can I feed my Oscars and my cichlids? <Mmm, all sorts of pellets, sticks... cut meats (freshwater, marine... beef heart and liver... worms, bug larvae like meal worms...> Now, I have 3 Oscars ranging from 8" to 12", and an Red devil cichlid about 7", and two smaller ones a jewel and a zebra cichlid ranging about 2". The question that I am really trying to ask is well, what kinds of veggies and fruits can I feed them? I already feed them peas and lettuce and they love it. But what other types of fruits and veggies can I feed them????? <Really, the "sky is the limit"... and there are no hard and fast rules... these animals can be quite individualistic... so, it is suggested that you experiment. Tough terrestrial greens may be better blanched or lightly microwaved before offering...> All I want to do is maybe give them more of a variety. There diets consist of beef heart, cichlid sticks and pellets, lettuce, and peas. Now, When I feed them of course I don't give this all to them at once. I very it as I do the feedings. The only thing that I will not do is feed my fish, is feeder fish. <Good> They mean too much to me and well, I am very attached to them, I don't know what I would do if they got sick and I lost them. I am also able to feed my fish by placing my fingers in the tank and they come up and take the food out of my fingers, I am also able to pet them. They are very friendly fish when I am around, but they have become protective. All I would like to know is what other types of food can I feed them????? Veggies, fruits what ever it may be. Thank you for the time and I hope you will be able to answer my questions. Courtney <Do consider earthworms... mealworms and other insect fare. Otherwise, you are doing fine. Bob Fenner> Black Oscar advice, please First off, thank you in advance for the guidance you have offered all of us. I have been able to extrapolate and apply information from your previously posted suggestions and ideas to maintain a "successful" tank. <Welcome> I appreciate all the help you have given me through responses to other writers... now I would like to ask for help. <Go ahead> I have an 8", 6 month old Black Oscar who shares identical eating behaviors as those of previous writers. When he is fed, he will chew the food one or two times and spit it out. As well, that which he does not spit out appears to pass through his gills. This behavior has gone on for at least 4 or 5 weeks now. He is regularly fed Hikari Gold Cichlid Pellets, which has never been varied from. <Not unnatural behavior... may seem kind of strange, but your Oscar is mainly bored with the pellets... do look into earthworms, cut meats...> Over this period of time, I have tried giving him small pellets, but he just spits those out without even attempting to chew. I have tried the large pellets which he does chew up 4 or 5 times, but this is when the food comes through the gills, then he spits the rest out. I have tried soaking the pellets first, with the same result. I have tried blood worms, but he does not appear interested in these. <Too little> I have also gone as far as to treat as if he had an internal parasite, using Metronidazole (which he attempted to eat during the first treatment, but hadn't touched during the balance of the treatment) and still the same eating behavior. <I would leave off dealing with this dangerous medication> I have also followed your previously posted advice to remove him from the tank and look into his mouth and throat with a flashlight. I found nothing. I have also not fed him for 5 days, hoping this would work... but it did not. <... do try other large meaty foods... water changes... likely nothing organically wrong with your fish> Aside from his not eating, he appears to be 100% healthy. He has NOT thinned up at all in this period. He displays normal activity at all times. He is attentive to feeding time and continues to show excitement when attempting to feed. He does not scratch or scrape rocks. He does not hide or just lay on the bottom. He has no territorial issues with his tank mates. Breathing and fin activity are normal. He has no pits, lesions, cuts, "fraying", discolorations, or external parasites. One weird thing to note though, I have not seen him (to put nicely) excrete digestive waste in this same 4 to 5 week period. <Good, and good info.> He lives in a well aerated 50 gallon tank with 4 other small cichlids (rainbow, black convict, 2 lemon), all of whom are healthy and active eaters. I do very regular water changes of 20 to 25% every 5th day, with regular maintenance on the gravel and filtration system. My temperature is a constant 79 degrees. pH is right at 7.8 or 7.9. Ammonia and nitrites always read as 0 and nitrates are regularly in the 20 to 25 range. <All sounds good> I am at a complete loss of what to do now. Please help. Please suggest anything that I could try. I will do anything as I have grown quite attached to this fish. Paul <Don't despair my friend... the Oscar is just in a bit of a mental funk... will turn around... Do go hunting for earth-, meal worms... a cocktail shrimp... sans sauce. Bob Fenner> Feeding Oscars I have had a tiger Oscar for about a month now and I love it to bits. I just want to make sure that I am feeding it properly, it seems to always be hungry! I have been feeding him various sizes of floating pellets and occasionally a few live fish. What else can they eat? how much and how often should I feed him? he is 5 inches long and is very happy and active, he lives alone in a 30 gallon tank and I plan to get a bigger tank this summer I have read the articles/comments on your site and it seems that people feed them everything from pellets to table scraps and I want to make sure that is healthy. < I would recommend a varied diet with lots of shrimp and worms. Live fish may carry disease and really aren't that great nutritionally for the Oscars. Feed them only enough food so that all of it is entirely gone in two minutes each day. Don't give in no matter how hard he begs.-Chuck> thanks for your help, Jen Re: feeding Oscars just one more question, could you clarify on the shrimp and worms, do you mean earth worms or brine/blood worms. and what kind of shrimp? thanks for answering my rookie questions < As far as worms go I like to feed earthworms, black worms, meal worms and king worms. As far as shrimp, I like to use some brine shrimp, krill and plankton.-Chuck> Oscar spitting food Hi! Three weeks ago I was given a four year old male Red Oscar. He lives in a 6o gallon hexagon aquarium with two Bala Sharks, whom he seems to get along with just swimmingly. The problem I'm having is that the Oscar (Henry) begs for food (I feed him JumboMin sticks), he eats the food, but then spits out pretty much everything. So much food comes back out of his mouth and gills, that he couldn't possibly be swallowing enough. His previous owner told me that he is a very picky eater. I've tried several other kinds of food, I've even tried gut-loaded feeder goldfish, but he only likes the sticks. I'm already quit attached to him. Do you think he's spitting everything out because there's something wrong? Please help! Thanks, Jillian < I suspect that he has probably imprinted on one kind of food from a previous owner reluctant to vary his diet early and often. To get him back on track do not feed him for a week. After a week offer him only enough food so that all of is gone in two minutes. If any food remains then net it or siphon it out. Eventually he will get hungry enough and learn that if he does not eat when it is offered then he will not get to eat at all.-Chuck> Oscar Eating Habits I have two tiger Oscars. They are about 9 inches a piece. I feed them 20 large cichlid pellets a day (for both of them). I use the large bag. When the bag is empty, I starve them for two days, then feed them a dozen large feeder goldfish. For the past several months, they eat a few fish and then no more. I usually flush the remainder of the fish after about two days (as no more fish are eaten) and continue on with the pellets. Is this healthy? < Feeder fish in general really are not healthy for them. Feeders are fed very poor food which in turn makes them poor food for other fish. Next time place the extra feeders in a plastic container with an airstone and feed them a good quality flake food.> How long do I continue to let the goldfish in the tank if they are ignoring them? < Place one goldfish in the tank. If it is not eaten or he is not trying them remove it in two minutes. Try again the next day.> Do I leave the goldfish in the tank without feeding them pellets until they eat the remaining goldfish? < Pellets or goldfish, whatever you place in the tank remove any excess food in two minutes.> How do I get them back to eating goldfish? They used to be aggressive when I would put goldfish in the tank, now not so much. Please let me know. < They are probably bored with them and need a break. Try earthworms, king worms, mealworms or crickets to get them looking forward to eating again.-Chuck> Feeding my Oscar I also have one more question about feeding them. I feed them medium sized cichlid pellets and they both eat one and then they don't eat any more. I don't know if there getting the right amount of food I do that twice a day. after they eat they just go to the corner by the heater and sit there for about 5 min.s then there swimming around fine I want to know if I'm feeding them too much or too less <Only feed them enough food that they will entirely eat in a few minutes. The extra pellets floating around the tank will just end up in the filter and cause maintenance problems. Keep in mind that these pellets may expand when wet. This may be the case with your Oscars. Try soaking them in a small dish with water or better yet vitamins until they expand and then feed them and see if there is any difference.-Chuck> Sean New Oscar I just purchased a 1 inch red tiger Oscar 3 days ago and he is in a 120 gal tank and he hasn't eaten yet. I called the pet store where I got him and they said to give him another day or two and if he isn't eating to bring him back to exchange him. I really don't want to take him back for another. I'm trying to feed him the cichlid gold mini pellets. There is a 18 inch Pleco in the tank with him. I had an 8 year old albino Oscar in there until a month ago when he died. Please any advice. < New fish can be a little temperamental until they get use to their new surroundings. Ask the store what they were feeding it. That should get him started. I wouldn't be really worried until after a week or so.-Chuck> Thanks Fred Tiger Oscar Hi Again; This is my second message of today but I forgot to add another question. Like I said I feed my nearly 3 inch Tiger Oscar Cichlid Floating Pellets (Medium) made from Wardley. I fed him one pellet before I went to bed (10:30 Pm). I woke up the next day ( 7:20 Am) and it was gone ( Not sure when he exactly he ate it although it had to have been between 10:30 Pm - 7:20 Am). I got dressed and got ready to go to school and before I left I put another pellet in ( 8:20 AM ). I came back from school and fed him another pellet at 6:30 Pm but he went up to it an put it in his mouth and spit it out without chewing it. I took it out and I thought I'd just feed him before I go to bed. I was just wondering if he maybe he is full since he is a small Oscar and as you know, new to the tank so he hasn't been very active. Also I wanted to know if I'm feeding him at good times or should if I should change the schedule and the amount of times he is fed. I also wanted to know how long I should leave a pellet in before I take it out of the tank because some people say to take it out right away since it may cloud the water- although there's only one Oscar in it. Sorry for the two messages in the same day. < I don't think it is a good idea to leave the food in all the time. Eventually it will become lodged in the filter where the fish can't get to it. Put the pellet it and then take it out when you leave. If he is hungry then he will eat. Keep in mind that the pellets swell when wet.-Chuck> White bellies on my Tigers I have two small Tiger Oscars. Fat Man has been turning a grey green and now his belly scales are turning white. There are no wounds, no lost scales and no fuzz. He is eating and behaving normally, just turning albino. I feed them pellets, meal worms, shrimp, and worms from my garden. Now Little Boy is staying orange on his body but his belly is turning white too. < Tiger Oscars are a line bred fish in Asia bred for their colors. Tiger Oscars are not found in the wild. If your fish is not in distress then I would assume that it is part of his coloration and may be with him his whole life. If some symptoms do occur then we may be able to do something. Another approach may be to feed some color enhancing food that may give you Oscar a less whitish appearance. Try some Marineland Bio-Blend food or some Spectrum fish food . If there are any color cells left then these foods will bring them out. Neither one has hormones that will affect the growth or reproductive capabilities of your fish.-Chuck> Pleco feeding hi, Thanks for your help. I took your advice and got two pleco's to go in my tank with my Oscars and Severums. Everyone is still quite small ( Oscars are already bigger than the rest ). I never see the pleco's eating ( one is Gibbiceps Pleco and the other is a Gold Nugget ), so at night night I place some algae wafers and cucumber slices in the tank. <Good idea. Do you have a bit of sunken "driftwood" in the tank? A very useful adjunct to these Suckermouth South American Catfishes nutrition.> I noticed the Oscars and Severums like these foods as well and my question is : Am I over feeding the Oscars and Severums by leaving large pieces vegetables in tank overnight ? <No worries... these materials won't cause them trouble (unless there's so much in the system that it rots)> I know about the 5 minute rule...but I'm worried about the pleco's not having a chance to eat if I don't leave the food in overnight. The tank is a newly cycled tank and is very clean. Thanks, Adam <Do keep an eye on ammonia for a few weeks more... and start in with regular (weekly, biweekly...) gravel vacuum, water changing, etc. Bob Fenner> My Oscar Bob, I just fed my Oscar's some goldfish and while one was going after a goldfish it accidentally swallowed a piece of the gravel at the bottom of tank. the fish is about 4 inches long and about 3 months old. I was wondering if he was going to die or if he will digest the rock? if you could respond I would appreciate it. thanks <In all likelihood "this too shall pass". Happens quite often with these gluttonous feeders. I would not be overly concerned. Bob Fenner> Re: my Oscar Bob I just wanted to thank you for responding to my email. I really appreciate it. <You are welcome my friend. Glad to be of assistance. Bob Fenner> Oscar Won't Eat 10/14/03 He's about 8inches and in a 55 Gallon tank with a 6 to 7 inch Plecostomus (a Snow King Pleco or Hypostomus plecostomus [it looks like both I got it at a local Wal-Mart]), 2.5 inch and a 3 inch electric blue African Cichlids, and a 3 inch Opaline Gourami. <Most aquarists agree that a 55 US gallon tank is the absolute minimum tank size to house an adult Oscar. This is because a smaller tank simply does not have enough water in it to dilute the waste produced by the Oscar. It is also because a smaller tank simply does not have enough room for the Oscar to swim. A standard 55 gal tank is about 4 feet long and one foot wide. Since an average Oscar grows to about 12 inches a 55 gal barely provides room to turn, and provides a straight line swimming distance of about 4 body lengths, which is not much. Never mind a common Pleco, which can grow twice as large as an Oscar.> I'm not sure on the tank chemistry as I've never had reason to check it so haven't bothered to get any tests. <As I believe you tank is overstocked with 2 very messy fish (Oscars & Plecos are poop machines) I am almost sure you will find your water parameters are way off. Without hefty (50-80%) & often (weekly-biweekly) water changes, I don't see how they can't be.> It is filtered with a BioWheel filter and an undergravel filter which gets vacuumed weekly. I feed Medium Cichlid pellets and tropical fish granules. <I suggest a larger variety of foods. Large pieces of krill & pieces of fish or smelt from your grocery store fish dept. can be offered.> Every thing in the tank is eating but the Oscar. The Oscar hasn't eaten for about 2 or 3 days now. <I still think your ammonia/nitrates/nitrites may be off. This could cause your fish not to eat.> The only thing I've noticed different lately is the Plecostomus started eating the cichlid pellets about a week ago. Previously only the Oscar was eating them. I've put in extra since the Plecostomus started eating them too. <What was the Pleco eating before?> I hope you can help. <Have your water tested, or better yet, get your own test kit. You can buy a Master Test Kit for around $10 at www.bigalsonline.com. Either way, have your LFS test it tomorrow. As long as these fish are in that small of a tank, you are going to keep a close eye on the water parameters.> I'm rather attached to him. <I totally understand. Get him a bigger tank. Pufferpunk> My Oscar won't eat..... I had bought my fish under the impression that an inch of fish for every gallon of water was the general rule of thumb to go by. <That rule is only for small, thin fish like guppies, Neons, etc. Imagine 10 1" Neons, or 5 2" guppies in a 10g tank. Sounds ok? Now imagine a 10" Oscar in that same 10g tank. Kind of crowded for that fish. Got it?> The Pleco was eating algae before. <Now he'll be eating algae wafers, right?> Ok, Thanks for your Help. <You're welcome--Pufferpunk> |
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