Just how much do I feed my O? Obviously he is still tiny and needs to grow loads, but he always seems hungry even though I feed him properly once a day which usually consists of a singe red worm, 2 medium crickets, small piece of frozen bloodworm and ox heart and a pellet. After such a session he pretty much looks like a swimming balloon but he always seems hungry.

you didn't say what size your oscar is? from very small to about 6-8" (thats baby to 6months ish) you need to feed 2 or even 3 times a day. small amounts just enough that the fish will eat all the food in 2 minutes ish. remove any thats left. if you feed 3 times then I would give a little less so the fish isn't totally full at each feed. at 6-8" you can feed once a day, same as before all the fish will eat in 2 mins. at full grown 12months+ once every 2 days is ok. or feed daily and miss a day or 2 on occasions. some people also use a 3 minute feed time, again thtas ok as long as no food remains. it takes a bit of time to understand how your particular fish feeds. but the above is a general rule that works fairly well.

x2, xxx

marcus wrote:


Thanks he is about 6 - 8 cm now. The problem isn't overfeeding or food un-left the problem is he keeps on eating everything you drop into the tank like a vacuum cleaner. I know certain dog breeds if given the chance will eat themselves to death and become obese, dont know about fish tho.

I basically feed him till I can see his belly going round then I stop and feed him the next day again.

Hi Larch and welcome.

You can feed your fish exactly as Marcus said. The golden rule is make sure your fish eats all the food u give him and nothing is left to rot. Small and often as they say and you can do this 3-4 times a day when they are small.
My fish is at the point that when I feed them they are back at the tank 15 mintues later swimming like I have'nt fed them for a day. Just ignore this, normal behaviour for an animal
Having a tank large enough for a ground feeder as well is a good thing picking up little bits of food that gets to the bottom.

Do as marcus says. If you feed more your oscar will eat it. The problem with feeding more is that your water quality will get bad and your fish will get ill unless you increase your tank maintainence, your filter will need cleaning more often and you will have to do loads more water changes. Best stick to the 2mins rule

I bout my little o big daddy when he was around three inches
he is now over seven inches and every time he sees
me he gets excited and i feed him so i would say i feed my oscar over three
times a day i use hikari small sized pellets worked sence my os were
babies

3 times a day is too much for a 6 inch plus oscar unless you are putting in very small amounts each time. Too much food will send your water quality bad. Can you test your water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate so we can check what your water is like