can someone Help me with my Oscar's problem?

[Zorgo]

Hello to all that read this.
I am writeing this cause I need help with my Oscar's (AKA Bruce) eating habbits. He refuses to eat his food the only things he will eat are live fish and krill. I started out back in Feb with Bruce feeding him small pellets and flacks and a feeder fish once a week now he has grown from a little 2in fish to almost 9in and he has gotten vary picky with his food refuseing to eat pellets and stick food he just spits it out. he loves live fish and thinks krill is alright. I do not want to feed him to much live fish. I know that can make him sick. Is there anyway I can get him to eat the foods he needs to eat, or am I stuck with him only likeing live fish?
If anyone can help me I would be greatful..Thanks

 

[ChicoRaton]

a picky oscar? wow hehe... You might be able to get him to eat some beef-heart or shrimp based food. you can make it yourself really inexpensively. search for it on these forums and google, you should be able to find a recipe.

 

[Cearbhaill]

To entice picky (or horribly spoiled ) fish to eat, we usually start by mixing a small portion of a new food into his old food. He will undoubtedly encounter it while eating and this will help him get familiar with it. They usually avoid foods they have no experience with so familiarity is a good start.
If he ate pellets initially then obviously familiarity isn't the problem- he's just spoiled and indulged.

First I would discontinue using feeders altogether and over a period of a couple of weeks mix new food with his krill gradually increasing the new fare and reducing the amount of krill. You could even pulverize the krill to make a paste with a bit of water and soak his pellets in it.

A little hunger is a good thing- most of us overfeed terribly both in amounts and frequency. Your fish is not going to starve to death in two weeks so hang on to your resolve and stick with your plan. You have complete control over what goes into his tank so just stay firm and do what is best for him in the long run. Variety in a diet is extremely important so you are on the right track.
Just don't feel sorry for him and cave.

 

[N8DOGG]

Also if you just DON'T feed him for a day or two he'll be hungry and be ready to take anthing you give him. Also this will not hurt him I myself have done this along with a lot of other people out there.
N8

 

[daveedka]

I have adopted a couple of picky fish over the years, Also As a side note, Oscars tend to be more picky when the water quality is not as it should be. If you haven't already, you may want to check NitrAte levels to make sure they are well below 40 ppm.

Water quality aside, When I've had picky fish I run them through a few simple steps.
1. Withhold all food for 5-7 days. As said above, this will not hurt your fish and on the contrary may be good for him.
2. after 5-7 days feed the foods he refuses to eat only, and feed them in small quantities so he stays reasonably hungry.
3. as soon as he will consistantly eat whatever you offer, start mixing it up, feed something different every other day or so but continue to avoid the favorites like krill and feeder guppies.
4. After 4-5 weeks when the Oscar is back to eating what you offer, then you can occasionally add feeder treats or Krill back in.

As Cearbhaill said, stay on track, your fish will not starve, and they will be healthier if you do what you must to break the bad eating habits. This is no different than Mom and Dad making a child eat their veggies.

I feed my cichlid tank at the most 3 times a week. and nev4er feed them the same thing twice in a row.
Dave