I'm making a thread here to help people learn about all the great things you can feed your oscar & what is a proper diet plus much more. Additional input is more than welcome, too.
THE STAPLE
Generally, you should be feeding your oscar something called a 'staple' diet. A staple diet is what most of your oscar's diet should consist of (generally somewhere around 50-80%). Many oscar keepers prefer a good quality pellet food, as these last fairly long and are also cheap, plus they contain most nutrients your oscar needs. Now, you ask, which pellet brand should i choose? Well, this is up to you. I prefer to use Hikari's Cichlid Gold, as this covers all essential nutrients, and it also contains Astaxanthin (more about that later). Remember to buy the right size pellet, too.
GOODIES
Of course, you can't just feed your oscar pellets 24/7, ya got to give him some treats (healthy ones, too). This is the rest of your oscar's diet. Remember, try and give your oscar the most varied diet possible. Here are some suggestions for you:
Shrimp: Available at your local market, shrimp are quick, yummy treats for most O's. Assuming your oscar is big enough, give him the hard tail part too. The tail is the best part, because it contains tons of astaxanthin- not only is this 'chemical' very healthy for your oscar, but it also brings out lots of red coloration.
Naturally, oscars eat lots of crayfish, in fact this what much of their diet is made up of, and shrimp are an easily-available treat that just like what they get in the wild. If you can find some, real crayfish are great too (live ones included)
Fruits & Seeds: You can even feed your oscar some mixed fruit and even some seeds! In the wild oscars eat lots of fruit that falls from overhanging branches. Apples, cantaloupe and pineapple are all great.
Sprininula: Popular in the tablet form (do not confuse with 'algae' tablets). These also promote good coloration. Naturally, oscars feed on Echinochloa polystachya, a semi-aquatic plant native to south-america and the southern us (plus mexico). Here's a quick pic:
Insects: If you can, pick up some crickets at your local pet shop. Keep them in a 'cricket keeper' and feed them some carrots or "cricket food", then toss them in your O's tank- O's love insects.
Earthworms: After a rain, go pick up some earthworms from the ground. Just don't 'harvest' from areas that have had decaying vegetation OR farmland- these worms could have harmful chemicals in them. Even better yet, pick some up at the bait shop.
Blood-worms: Freeze dried or frozen, these are a favorite of many O's. You don't have to thaw the frozen ones, just toss 'em in there.
Seafood:
Pick it up, toss it in. Squid, fish, you name it, oscars love it. (well most do, anyways)
Hikari Massivore: These are large tablets used to feed predacious fish, and make good treats for O's.
-necromancer
WHAT NOT TO FEED YOUR OSCAR
Gold-fish/feeder: While it may be fun to watch your oscar snatch up an unsuspecting goldie, this is really not a good idea. Why? There's three reasons i can think of:
1) high in fat
2) thiamiase- goldfish are high in this chemical, which destroys viatmin b1 (thiamine), a nutrient essential to oscar growth.
3) feeder goldfish are often kept in extremely poor conditions and can easily pick up something bad. You can quarantine them, but you'll never know if they have an internal parasite, or something in the very early stages.
Mice:
On youtube you'll find several videos of mice-eating oscars. Mice are NOT healthy at all, all the build up of fats will harm your oscar in the long run.
The obvious:
If it sounds like a bad idea, it probably is. Don't waste your time.
Cat/dog food: For some annoying reason some people seem to think this it a good idea. It's not. Way too fatty for oscars.
Beef-heart: I've seen many recipes online for this popular fish food, but it is not a nutritious meal at all, way to fatty, really.
HOW MUCH DO I FEED/WHEN
Most oscars will eat until they die. There is a time to stop. When oscars are young, discontinue feeding when they're belly becomes rounded, or after about two minutes. When babies, about 35% of what oscars eat stays with them. Yeah, they grow fast.
You can feed you baby oscars two to three times a day, once they get larger (5-8'') you can slow it down to just once.
The time does not matter, but it is rather beneficial too feed each day at the same time, whatever time that may be. If you have a sucker fish (plecostomus) you may want to feed a nite, so he will get some food too, as they are nocturnal feeders.
MY OSCAR WON'T EAT
If your oscar one day decides he won't eat, or just will eat a certain food, there are two things to do:
1) Just keep feeding, and hope he'll eventually come around. 90% (or more) of oscars do, they often just get bored or something, i dunno.
2) Add a couple drops of garlic juice to each pellet. This gives of a pungent smell that hopefully the oscar won't be able to resist.
If the above fail, biggamehunter came up with the idea to use ultrabite fish bait (general course fish type). this has a pheromone that triggers fish into a feeding frenzy..., just soak your pellets of whatever in it. more info here:
www.oscarfishlover.com/index.php?option=...atid=13&id=26266
the end
hth
-art
