I bought 25 rosey reds yesterday and put them in a seperate tank with a small filter and a tube connected to my air pump just to keep them alive. I fed my oscars some last night went to work today got home and something smelled awful all but 3-5 of the feeder fish were dead. I got rid of all of them just incase. Any ideas on what cause this I cleaned the tank filter and got a new air stone before a refilled it. When should i put feeders in it again? thanks - Jon

Fish tanks usually smell really bad when they have ammonia present. If this tank was newly set up or didnt have fish in for a few days that could be a reason for the smell and the fish dying(the tank wasnt cycled). The smell could be caused by the dead fish decaying. If the fish died because of a disease that disease may have been passed on to your oscars so keep a close eye on them for a week or so

If you are going to feed live fish to your oscars, quarantine them for 2 weeks or even better breed your own fish (guppies are particularly easy to breed). This should remove the risk of passing diseases to your oscars. Only feed as a treat though

I personally dont feed live fish to my oscars as i think its cruel, however lots of people do feed live fish to their oscars. It up to the individual.

The place where I get them breeds them my friend who got me into oscars has gotten them there for years without incedent so I think maybe amonia like you said. I like that they breed there own instead of getting them in shipments cuts down on stress and disease.

If its a new tank the problem will be because the tank isnt cylced. I would suggest that you add the fish slowly, 3 or 4 at a time every 2 weeks. Then once you have a decent amount in the tank and you start feeding them to your oscars, replace them with new ones. That way you will keep the numbers up and hopefully wont end up with the same problem again.

Thats sounds good to me, thanks - Jon

hi,im new to oscar keeping and have a question about feeder fish.i got some from the shop and have been giving him 1 every week or 2.but im not keen on buying them,im wondering whats the best way to breed them my self,cheers

Get a tank full of guppies, they breed like rabbits