Baby Oscar Diet

[t_h_e_s_a_c_k]

I just got a baby oscar for my new 55g tank. He's about 2.5" and I wan't to know what the healthiest diet would be for him.
I've been feeding him 5-6 mini size pellets 3 times a day, and frozen blood worms every few days.
I know the more live food I feed it the more agressive it will get. When would be a good time to start feeding it feeders? What else should I include in it's diet?

[Zack]

Pretty much anything anytime, Mine loved, fresh fish,feeders,bloodworms,brineshrimp,shrimp pellets,cichlid pellets,freeze dried bloodworms,fresh shrimp,beef heart,earthworms,algae tablets, and just about anything else i fed him, i baught him at around three inches so hes wasnt much older than yours and i didnt feed him any differently than i would have a full grown oscar (except the size of the food and feedings). Good luck.

[DarthV]

I wouldn't start using live food. There really isn't too much point...and it can definitely be a good way to introduce disease into your aquarium. If you were breeding your own fish for feeders, then sure go ahead, but I know I wouldn't buy feeders that are cramped in a LFS tank.

I stick with a staple pellet for most meals and mix in all kinds of other food a couple times a week. Fresh shrimp, freeze dried bloodworms & shrimp, peas and color enhancing pellets.

[net_shark512]

I agree with Darth. I used to feed mine feeders about once a month. He got ick several times and he got Hole in the Head and died shortly after.(he got the HITH after about 2 years lived another year after) I don't know if feeding feeders is the proven cause of Hole in the head, but alot of people seem to think it is. Oscars are very prone to this. He just loved them so much I felt bad not giving him any. I wouldn't ever do it again though.

[scott]

First off I do not believe I have ever read or heard anything about feeders rasing aggression levels, it could be true, I've just never heard it and it doesn't really make any sense to me.
Next HITH is caused either by a bacteria or by poor water quality not by feeders. Most often poor water quality is the culprit and the disease can actually be reversed by frequent large water changes over a period of months. Oscars are very sensitive fish and that is why they are prone to HITH (that and the abundant line and inbreeding that makes them so sensitive) and high nitrates will have a drastic effect. Other fish can get HITH.
I agree with all of Darth V's suggestions on food and you can throw in flake as well as a variety of frozen (pretty much anything but I would stay away from the beef heart). They make krill, shrimp, blood woorms, spirulina and my favorite cichlid chow. As far as live food I would stay away from feeder fish as they can introduce disease in to the aquarium but from what I have read ghost shrimp are far far far less likely as they are crustaceans and the same diseases generally don't affect them. Earthworms are another nice live treat because lets face it the coolest part about owning a predator is watching them prey.

[optix]

Just to add to a well advised post by scott, I'll just add that oscars also LOVE ramshorn snails :D

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

[i]Next HITH is caused either by a bacteria or by poor water quality not by feeders.[/B]

feeder are know carriers ofbacteria=HITH also if you feed your oscars feeder fish they useally toy with them kill them then lose interest dead fish=fungal=ammonia=poor water quality so feeding feeder fish can result in HITH

i use to feed my oscars feeders and i still feed my acaras,jewels and peacocks feeder but i quarentin them in melachite green for a 2-3 days before i feed them i do that cause my oscar died from a internal bacteria which is apparently untreatable from all known fish treatments and i belive that feeder fish introduced it.

[optix]

why do you medicate a food item:confused:. I don't know about anyone else but I tend to just keep my feeders in a tank with heated water and good filtration for at least a week to see if anything shows. I feed them well and fatten them up and if there are no signs of disease then I feed them. I've been doing that for quite some time although now I breed my own. I don't see the point in medicating a potential healthy fish in risk of damaging them let alone wasting the med. Besides that if I have a feeder that is sick im not wasting a 6 dollar bottle of maracide to cure a few fish that will probably die anyway and are going to be fed to another fish. besides the fact that I could just go get another dozen for .10 cents a piece and try again

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

well apart from avoiding internal paracite infestation its faster a.

I get a 2L bottle of broadspecturm treat once a year for $20 cheap as in my eyes and a few mls wont harm the budget lol
and treating say a healthy fish wont hurt it who told you that when my sleepy cod was ill i treated it and it didnt affect my barcoo grunter 1 bit:) :eek: fancy that

[optix]

not arguing but I never said it would definatly hurt a healthy fish, but there are chances you take when medicating an aquatic animal. I said theres a risk in doing so. If you want to medicate your feeder fish that is your way, nothing wrong with that. I just don't feel it necessary for myself.

[scott]

if you feed your oscars feeder fish they useally toy with them kill them then lose interest dead fish=fungal=ammonia=poor water quality so feeding feeder fish can result in HITH

I see the logic but honestly, how long do you let dead fish float in your aquarium? It's not like a dead fish instantly grows fungus and starts breaking down. Lastly, as I was unclear. HITH is caused by a specific bacteria and flagellated protozoan not just any old bacteria. Sorry for the miscommunication.
It is however mostly caused by poor water quality over an extended period of time. Feeding a feeder is not going to deteriorate your water quality the instant it hits the water and keep it deteriorated long enough for HITH to start.

[dave76]

I just use earthworms as feeders, My gold saum LOVES them and consumes them with extreme prejudice :) My dog and I sit and watch him eat almost every night but he only gets those every once in a while. Ghost shrimp work as well, when I buy them I just toss in about 8 or 9, I think I still have one floating around in there somewhere, it can take them a while to catch ghost shrimp, they are very quick.

[Fish Hunter]

Just to let you all know. What causes HITH has never really been proven. Yes some say its nitrates while others say parasites from feeder fish. The most interesting thing I ever read was a guy did a study I forgot his name. Where he was trying to prove that its a vitamin defeicency in the fish. He claimed to have cured even the more severer causes using a human liquid multi-vitamin. Soaking the food in it. He claimed Oscars are lacking the most in vitamins thus why they are more prone to it. I wish I still had or remember the site where I read that. Has anyone else ever read this?

[optix]

Originally posted by Fish Hunter
Just to let you all know. What causes HITH has never really been proven. Yes some say its nitrates while others say parasites from feeder fish. The most interesting thing I ever read was a guy did a study I forgot his name. Where he was trying to prove that its a vitamin defeicency in the fish. He claimed to have cured even the more severer causes using a human liquid multi-vitamin. Soaking the food in it. He claimed Oscars are lacking the most in vitamins thus why they are more prone to it. I wish I still had or remember the site where I read that. Has anyone else ever read this?

yes fish hunter actually I have for a long time now thought that was the #1 reason behind the disease. I heard it was an intestinal tract infection that caused it, and then heard it was more along the lines of vitamin deficiency