oscar food? i need some info on what they can eat. . .

Hey i have a 4 or 5 inch oscar and its a real pig. I feel bad feeding it the same things all the time. I was wondering what i can feed him other then store bought fish food.
like can i feed him stuff like what i eat?
if you have any info please let me know
thanks

 

hmmm i used to have a piggy oscar also..i forgot if i ever gave him any of my own food..I think there is some u can give then but i am not 4sure wut so dont try anythign yet lol... I would also like to hear the answer to this.. maybe bacon bits?? I know u can feed him insects and worms.

 

Yeah i do know some stuff that you can feed them
i feed mine um
raw fish
cril
blood worms
flakes
shrimp

but there is also
scallops
insects
i heard someone fed their oscar cat food
raw meat
but yea

 

The best thing for an oscar is good quality pelleted food such as Hikari, Omega One, New Life Spectrum, or HBH. That should be the main part of the fish's diet.

As occasional treats (like once a week), you can give him things like earthworms, crickets, meal worms, shrimp, krill, beefheart and just any insect that isn't poisonous or may have come in contact with pesticides. I just discovered I have dragonfly nymphs in my pond and my oscar loves them.

A couple things about feeder fish: NEVER give your fish feeders from the store unless they've been quarantined for AT LEAST 2 weeks (or you can raise your own feeders, but most times it's not worth the time, space, or effort). NEVER make feeders a staple part of the diet. I wouldn't recommend more than a dozen in a month. Feeders have very little nutritional value for oscars. Store bought feeders are the #1 way of introducing all kinds of nasty diseases & parasites into your tank. And feeder goldfish can actually cause a vitamin deficiency which can lead to HITH disease.

NEVER feed fish mammal or poultry meat (so that's a big NO on the bacon bits). Fish do not have a high enough body temperature to digest mammal fat. It get's stored in the liver and will eventually kill the fish. The only exception is heart because it has almost 0 fat content.

Some oscars will also eat veggies (mine thinks I'm poisoning her if I try giving her veggies :roll: ) . Occasional cooked, shelled peas are good because they act as a laxative and will help "keep the pipes clean."

-Chelle

 

I know u and me have argued about this lol for awhile about the mammal meat and i agree it is not good for fish but my dad knew a guy with a 150 gallon tank with 6 piranha in it and since it was at the bar he fed them chicken and steak and whatknot everynight... they lived 8 years is that normal?? wut u mean ur oscar think u poisoning him? lol

 

She spits it out and makes a "yucky" face (or as good of a yucky face as a fish can manage).

If you agree that mammal/poultry meat is not good for fish, then why are you still arguing the point and recommending it? I think your friend was very lucky his fish lasted that long, and I bet their livers didn't look too great when they died.

-Chelle

 

i'm not argueing with u i am just asking if anyone has an explanation for it.......

 

My bad. It was ktjustin that mentioned the raw meat. I got your two posts mixed up. Sorry.

-Chelle

 

That's fine.

 

As Fishkin's story sort of said, my brother had oscars and piranhas and when they were somewhat smaller he gave them pellets and bloodworms and all that, but when they got bigger he mostly feed them live foods like home raised feeders and beefheart (for fish) and bloodworms and his fish lived healthy for a very long time. I'm not agreeing with it 100%, but, I'm just trying to say that I know where Fishkin is coming from when he questions that someones fish isn't always going to be sick or herribly unhealthy if it has a large meaty diet.