Feeder fish to oscars?

If you want a safe feeder to feed your oscars, raise convict cichlids. That's what I do. But I only give them to my oscars and other predatory cichlids as treats and they do not make up a large part of their diets. I agree with the varied diet as well. Buy some crickets, earthworms, mealworms and feed them these more often then live fish.
 
I would say they never 'need' them.

if you must, raising your own is safest, as store bought feeders carry a very high risk of disease.
 
I feed mine whiteclouds right now they are very cheap here, like 12 for 3 bucks or sumthing i just quarantine them for a while and the put them all in the tank, he just eats them whenver he feels like it he mostly just eats the bloodworms and pellets i feed him, maybe even prefers them so a dozen will last like a month. He is only 2 inches right now. I also raise my own convicts for feeders
 
In today's hobby I agree that a well balanced diet can be achieved through many different means. But, I believe you must also consider what this fish in it's native waters eats on a daily basis. Yes, most of all Oscars as well as many other species of fish are tank or farm raised, but they still have natural tendancies bred into them that they retain in captivity. I was one of the proponents of feeding cichlids commercial foods for a long time. However, when I saw how enthusiastically my Oscars chased live food I just couldn't take away the chase instinct that they naturally have. I just read an article in TFH that stated that Oscars that were checked for food content of their stomachs had about 90% fish in them. Now this was indeed wild Oscars, but why not give them what they like and were programmed for? These guys will each just about anything you give them and they take advantage of seasonal foods in the wild which gives them a very varied diet indeed. Asking an Oscar to never eat fish is like asking a bird dog to not chase birds. All that being said, you don't have to keep you Oscars on a regular live feed regimen. Just make sure every once in a while you give them an oportunity to be Oscars.
 
I never really fed my oscar feeder fish from the LFS. I would feed him baby convicts that bred in my other tank, before I dropped them in the oscar tank I would feed them a bunch of food so the oscar would get more nutrients.

I fed them a staple of NLS/HIkari pellets, 3 or 4 times a week. Sometimes I would get earthworms from the bait shop and drop a couple in. I also fed him tree frogs and lizards on occasion, not more than 1 every couple weeks.
 
Mij said:
In today's hobby I agree that a well balanced diet can be achieved through many different means. But, I believe you must also consider what this fish in it's native waters eats on a daily basis. Yes, most of all Oscars as well as many other species of fish are tank or farm raised, but they still have natural tendancies bred into them that they retain in captivity. I was one of the proponents of feeding cichlids commercial foods for a long time. However, when I saw how enthusiastically my Oscars chased live food I just couldn't take away the chase instinct that they naturally have. I just read an article in TFH that stated that Oscars that were checked for food content of their stomachs had about 90% fish in them. Now this was indeed wild Oscars, but why not give them what they like and were programmed for? These guys will each just about anything you give them and they take advantage of seasonal foods in the wild which gives them a very varied diet indeed. Asking an Oscar to never eat fish is like asking a bird dog to not chase birds. All that being said, you don't have to keep you Oscars on a regular live feed regimen. Just make sure every once in a while you give them an oportunity to be Oscars.
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its a fair point well made mij
 
Mij said:
In today's hobby I agree that a well balanced diet can be achieved through many different means. But, I believe you must also consider what this fish in it's native waters eats on a daily basis. Yes, most of all Oscars as well as many other species of fish are tank or farm raised, but they still have natural tendancies bred into them that they retain in captivity. I was one of the proponents of feeding cichlids commercial foods for a long time. However, when I saw how enthusiastically my Oscars chased live food I just couldn't take away the chase instinct that they naturally have. I just read an article in TFH that stated that Oscars that were checked for food content of their stomachs had about 90% fish in them. Now this was indeed wild Oscars, but why not give them what they like and were programmed for? These guys will each just about anything you give them and they take advantage of seasonal foods in the wild which gives them a very varied diet indeed. Asking an Oscar to never eat fish is like asking a bird dog to not chase birds. All that being said, you don't have to keep you Oscars on a regular live feed regimen. Just make sure every once in a while you give them an oportunity to be Oscars.
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actually fish are opportunistic feeders meaning they will feed on what is available at the time. in the case of oscars it's whatever they can fit in their mouths.

if you do decide to feed them feeder fish( I am still not convinced that it is programmed)
you may want to add vitamins to the diet of the feeders.
 
If you want variety, feed them several different things. My oscar's loved feeders, plus it's fun to watch. I also liked giving them butterflies, and moths and mosquito hawks and worms, and well you get the idea. Bugs are free, and easy to catch. Oscars are fun fish to feed. They eat ANYTHING. I always fed mine pellets and plants also. They like a little green in their diet too.
 
oscars are not strict piscivores in nature, so I don't think they need feeder fish at all. If you have convict fry or something that you breed then by all means use it occasionally as a treat, but otherwise it is more natural to them to eat insects and other invertebrates.
 
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