As someone who has kept Oscars for many years i would like to know what everybody feeds their Oscars. over the years i have helped out many Oscar owners with digestion problem. In a very high percentage of these cases i have found that their fish have been fed solely on Oscar pellets of one form or another. A change in diet of these fish has seen a very good proportion of them recover from whatever ailment they were suffering. It is my humble opinion that these pellets are not good for Oscars if fed on a regular basis. I have never fed my oscars these. With the array of food available in our gardens that Oscars can eat there should never be any problems on what to feed them especially at this time of year. After all wild Oscars survive smaller fish and insects washed into the Amazon river especially in the rainy season which is when spawning is triggered in the wild. It therefore follows that the insects we have in the garden should be a much better choice for our fish I am talking about earthworms , snails,woodlice crickets and lots of other insects that can be found. There are all the fresh and frozen fishy delights like: cockles, prawns, any white fish or even live river shrimps which are a brilliant colour enhancer. You can even buy crickets, beetles and meal worms to feed your Oscars so why the need for pellets. Throw a hand full of pellets into a bucket full of water and watch them swell up after a while. This could be what happens in the gut of the fish causing problems when the fish are overfed. Ive seen Oscars launch themselves at pellets that have been in the water for a few minutes only to see them disintegrate into tiny fragments that are left floating around in the tank to decay.So with an abundance of food to feed to our fish what does everyone else think?

I have to say that I do put my trust in such companies as Ocean nutrition, Hikara and Tetra. My Oscars get these pellets as their balanced diet. Not so much Tetra dorimin lately as they make such a bloody mess. The Oscars I have at the moment 6 inches long and I've dropped down to feeding just once a day. One of the reasons being is my 125 gallon tank isn't big enough for them. Hopefully my 300 gallon tank won't be very long off being finished. Like most Oscars, mine always seemed starving and eat everything they are given, so I have got no problem with waste food. Apart from the pellets, I'll give them shrimp, Lance Fish from the fish shop. They always get to feed on blood worm because I give the clown loach these. My Oscars like mealworms a lot. The only problem I find with mealworms is that they seem to pass through the Oscars and make one hell of a mess, so I've not not given them these too much. The little bugs that come from mealworms are excellent. Earthworms are fantastic and they often get them from my compost bin. I saw some live crickets in the shop the other day, never given them to my Oscars before, I might give it a go.

I've ever been to the Amazon and observed Oscars feeding. But just watching them in my tank you can see that they are made to feed off the surface. There are very much like carp in the way they feed. I can imagine all those little bugs and critters falling out of trees and all the Oscars gathering underneath waiting to catch them.

I saw an angling programme some years ago that came from somewhere in the Amazon, I think the guy was using bread, there was a huge school of tiny Oscar just waiting for every cast, it was quite amusing to watch them all jumping at the bait.

I've never had an Oscar that has had a problem with digestion. I definitely think a balanced diet is better than feeding one type of feed all the time. However, I still think a good quality pellet should play quite a big part of their diet. Having talked to various people who keep koi, they stand by the pellets they use and certainly have got a lot to lose if things go wrong.

The other thing you have to bear in mind that not everybody is happy about collecting creepy crawlies. I can't imagine my sister lifting up the stone to see what is underneath it:lol:

My food collection consists of dried brine shrimp, dried blood worms and pellets. I'm really not big on keeping live insects in my dorm for obvious reasons.

I can see how some people would not want feed insects especially if they are a bit squeemish but there are a lot of alternatives as i listed in previous post. im not questioning the nutritional value of the pellets just the way many people have come to rely on them as a first food. as part of a balanced diet i'm sure they sure fine but as a main food day after day because people cant be bothered to go and get something else they will almost certainly cause dietry problems because of the way they are made and react when wet. Also insects dont have to be kept alive indoors it takes minutes to go out and dig some earthworms or find some woodlice, snails can easily be found when it is raining and they can be fed straight to the Oscars. It is really easy to feed Oscars something different everyday of the week.

dinger454 wrote:


I am in total agreement with you. How many times have I heard of people whose Oscar will not eat anything but pellets? It's not surprising if that's all they ever get fed. I have found that as Oscars get older, they can become more fussy with their food. The adult Oscars I had a couple of years ago could be extremely fussy and wouldn't touch certain things. One of them just wouldn't go anywhere near Lance Fish. These new Oscars I've got will eat anything I put in the tank. Giving them a varied diet from a very young age is something I would recommend everyone to do. Doing that hopefully will make them less fussy as you get older.

Personally speaking, searching the garden for enough of woodlice to feed an Oscar is something I really haven't got time for. For a couple of quid, I can buy a box full of cricket/meal worm that will last me a week, more than a week. I'd rather do that than spend a couple of hours looking for five cricket

I am not very big on pellets as a main food source for any kind of insect/meat eating fish. This is from my experience raising betta who absolutely refuse to touch flakes or pellets. I prefer the freeze-dried route because of the ease to store and less of a mess.

Speaking of, what sized portions do you recommend of blood worms(misquote larvae) in one feeding. I'm well aware that most fish will eat until bloated if you let them.

spimoles wrote:


Actually, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe bloodworm is actually the larvae of the midge fly. I know it says mosquito on the packet, I just had a conversation about three years ago about this and someone reliably informed me that it wasn't the actual mosquito.

I can see different answers being given here. Do you know something? This is quite difficult question. I have never actually fed Oscars just on bloodworm. My Oscars absolutely love them because I feed them to the other fish. I purchased the frozen ones that come in blocks. I always thaw them out so when I put them in the tank, there are literally thousands of separate bloodworm floating around the tank. Your question is a bit vague as it does depend on the size of the Oscar. It is a reasonably small Oscar, let's say no bigger than 4 inches, then one block would suffice. If it is a very large Oscar, I would probably give it three blocks. What I really like about feeding bloodworm is the fish have to forage for it. It's not just a case of them taking stuff off the surface. Personally speaking, I wouldn't feed bloodworm to an adult Oscar as its main meal. I would give it something a little more substantial.

I very rarely feed mine on blood worm as it is quite an expensive way of feeding them especially when you've got a brood on the go. I tend to feed my smaller ones a beef heart mix.

Check these little guys out, they are meal worms, oscars absolutely love them, they can't get enough. Where I live, they cost £2.50. The worms will eventually change into little black bugs which Oscars adore as well.

I try to vary my oscars diet. Here is what i feed them

Monday - Maggots
tuesday - Maggots
Wednesday- Shelled prawns(from supermarket or fresh fish shop)
Thursday - Pond pellets
Friday - Hikari cichlid gold pellets
Saturday - Pond pellets
Sunday - Nothing except a few peas

Whenever the conditions are right to harvest worms(see my members article) they get these instead of that mentioned above

Also if I come across any insects they go in the tank. Daddy long legs are good but you got to pull a wing off or they fly away. I didnt snails could be fed to oscars. I would of thought the shell might damage then and too slimy. Also what about slugs- too slimy too?

I am curious about snails also. Are these the larger apple or mystery snails? Or the tiny pond snails? Also How well are Oscar able to eat things such as mussels, cockles, etc... A buddy of mine used to own a puffer that would crack these in its beak. Can the Oscar handle these fine in its mouth?

A couple of years ago, I had a infestation of Malaysian trumpet snails, I was amazed one day to see my big red Oscar picking them off the glass and eating them. Mind you, I don't think they would bother with a very large apple snail.

Oscars love cockles and mussels (minus the salt and vinegar) you can buy them frozen in blocks at the fish store. They wouldn't be able to eat one in its shell though, Oscars have got teeth in their throats, but they wouldn't be able to handle one of the large muscles. A very tiny one probably, but that wouldn't give them much food.