First, please save lectures about feeding O's feeders. I'm aware they should be treats not regular.

Second, thanks in advance for your suggestions!

So, here is my question, what do you feed your Oscars and what about your Jack Dempsey's?

Currently goldfish feeders and mealworms are all that I have tried. But I know there are a bunch of other alternatives. I have yet to see my JD eat a goldfish but he FREAKED over the meal worms. I want to give these guys a great variety - currently pellets are being totally ignored (4 days straight!).

Also, if you feed crickets to yours or any jumping bug... how the heck do you keep them in the tank???

I have 2 oscars and one ebjd and I feed them live guppies from the pond and crickets. The crickets don't sit in the tank long enough to jump away. The fish get them right away. Just only put a few in at a time and you shouldn't have any problems.

I used to feed my o mealworms or morios, earthworms, maibugs, crickets, grasshoppers, maggots and they never refused anything, except for the 2" grasshoppers from the baitshop.
They were a bit too big for my o at the time.
But cricket are a no-go for my Oscars now, after some escaped and kept chirping VERY LOUD ALL NIGHT LONG!!!
VERY ANNOYING and i had a hard time getting rid of them.
My initial idea was to leave to door open at night so the cricket could get out .
Think again, cause in the morning i had 3 of them istead of one that had escaped before.
He lured some others over, instead of getting out of my home and the bunch of them drove me mad! :angry:
Plus my arachnofobic wife does not like the sight of the big crickets running through our home after they escape...
You can pull of some of the crickets legs to keep them from jumping, but that's not my thing.

and no lectures, just some info on thiaminase, to help you make up your mind on feeding goldfish to your Oscar.

www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_1/thiaminase.htm

I feed mine live mollies once a month, I also breed them myself.

i have fed my oscars nightcrawlers, grubbs,pillbugs,flies, crawdads... but believe it or not neither one of my oscars would eat firemouth fry at all! but bubbles did have a feast on a bushynose pleco that i thought he would leave alone and proved me wrong lol

FJvamp wrote:


I was thinking of a feeder tank... I have this 2nd tank (29 gal) hanging around and I do worry about the feeders from the store.
Suggestions on how many to purchase to start?
How fast do mollies breed?
What type of mollies?
Can you mix mollies and the feeder goldfish?

Hope you don't mind the questions.

not sure if you can mix goldfish with mollies, but I started with 6 in a 20 gallon tank 2 males and 4 females, now i have so many that i cant count them. They do breed really fast imo. Ill take a video soon and show u

Any particular types of mollies? I'm not familiar with them... they are cute though!

if you wanna know more about them
www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Mollies.htm

mine love earthworms, mealworms, wax worms, krill, tubifex worms, blood worms, pellets, and especially the occasional feeders!! and my severum eats all these too,except the feeders. i tried frozen silver sides too, but only my crawdad will eat them. the oscar and the severum won't go near the silversides and i thought that was weird. figured they would be all over them.

i try to raise mollies but i cant keep them alive i have all most 15 diff kinds of fish and they r the only one that i have a probelm with. i dont no what im doing wrong

i try to raise mollies but i cant keep them alive i have all most 15 diff kinds of fish and they r the only one that i have a probelm with. i dont no what im doing wrong