Feeding feeders

[Lynsey]

Feeding Feeders??

I have an oscar and a Bp in a 75 gallon tank. I don't currently feed feeders. I was wondering, if there is any benefit of feeding feeders? Will this make my Oscar more aggressive towards my BP? I have a hospital tank that I could quarentine the feeders in so they don't introduce disease. If feeders are beneficial, how long should I keep the feeders in a quarentine tank? How many feeders should I feed (Oscar 9")?

I currently feed a varied diet of pellets, shrimp, dried krill, brine shrimp, blood worms, and a beefheart mixture that includes shrimp, whitefish, spinach, peas, etc. Also, are crickets a good diet for Oscars as a treat?

 

[Anton Wernher]

Lynsey,
Your current dietary offerings are great! I wouldn’t change a thing. While Oscars do eat fish in the wild it makes up a very small part of its diet.. so small in fact that fish seem to only end up as food when the opportunity is to easy to pass up. Feeders will probably only lead to problems in your tank and have no real nutritional benefit to your Oscar. If you do want to feed this fish feeders for whatever reason I recommend that you forgo any store bought fish in favor of fry you cull from your own stock.

 

[Mcdaphnia]

As Anton said, you offerings are fine and feeder fish are not beneficial. Crickets are fine as a treat food. They will also eat veggies, so they can learn to eat blanched zucchini, although at first they won't know what it is. Use whole shrimp and a lot of it in that beefheart mixture you make. You can also feed them crayfish. Something is in whole crustaceans that oscars need to develop fully.