My young Oscar "Oskies" (Yes, that's his name ya wanna fight about it? JK!) seems to be a real fuss-pot when it comes to food. Now, here's his diet he will eat Tetra Cichlid Sticks (they came with the tank and thats what I started with) and that along with frozen brine shrimp and freeze dried bloodworms seem to be his staple. He will not eat: freeze dried krill, frozen Hikari Mega-Tropical, shelled peas, Frozen Bloodworms, Spirulina, or really any other pellets. He's healthy and active and growing, just fussy. Any thoughts?
Oh, sometimes he eats half a krill and I would really like him to eat the Mega-Tropical stuff as it seems good for him. I'm about to go try some pineapple cuz I just read in a posting that they like it and it's good for them. I'll tell you how it went.

Thank you for you help/ideas!

Pineapple is a no go.

nah! don't give her foods for 2 days, she will grab anything that drops on water.
fussy eater needs fussy treatment

My Oscar Leo seems to go through phases..One day he wants to eat everything in sight the next day he'll eat only half of his usual entree.

"Oscars can be very fussy about food. I have found them to be unlike any other fish I have kept. For instance, my Jade Eyed Cichlid will eat whatever she's given. There is no fussiness and never any food left behind. Oscars are a little like little children. One day they can't get enough of Hikari pellets, the next day they treat them like it's the worst food they had ever tasted. If your Oscar turns his nose up to a certain kind of food, don't go out and buy some more. If he won't eat his dinner, let him go hungry. This may sound excessive, and even cruel but you sometimes have to force Oscars into submission by starving them. Believe me, I have done quite a few times before and nine times out of 10 it works. If he's healthy, he will eat ."

OK!!! I found this ^^^ in one of the spotlighted posts. OFL said this like 2 years ago so did Paul in the first reply. So thanx guys, I just kind of give in every time I see him wiggling at the glass and give him what he wants. Time to make him submit. Grrr! :angry:

my arowana has gone without food for a wk now. dam,is this fish stubborn. makes oscars look like dustbins ))). if it isn't crickets it don't eat. will take 1 or 2 lob worm and a few meal worm but that's it. so the fight has began. I have the food and its pellets or nothing until it eats them. once it eats pellets for a few wks I will mix it with crickets/lobs/meals and maybe prawns/cockles if it will take them. i have never had a fish that won't eat blood worm but this thing won't.

My piranhas are known to be very picky about eatting, especialy infront of you. My one Serra went 2 months refusing to eat. I hate feeding live foods (dirty, infected things they are) so I just waited it out. Someone told me "a fish will never starve itself" and its true! So i would wait 2-3 days and offer something, if she eats great if not, wait 2-3 days more and offer again.

marcus wrote:

hey marcus, iwas told that aro needs something that moves. they love to hunt...
i am afraid i have to tolerate my wife's caprice getting feeders or live grass shrimp.
he is very active, competing with the oscars for the moving target.

My Betta hates bloodworms now for some reason!?!? They used to be his favorite snack, now... I started feeding him HBH Betta Bites and he lost his taste for anything else. Weirdo fish.

Starve him.
It's like a human wants a big pork roast everyday and he's not eating nothing else?
If he doesnt get it, he's gonna eat something different.
Just try it 1 or 2 day's.
You should of got him of a good diet of the start but.
Don't just feed him 1 thing all the time, He'll get hooked on it.

I used to think that starving was the key to getting Oscars to eat what you want them to. However I've now come to realise that this does not work in every case. Remember that fish are cold-blooded which is why they can go for a long time without eating. I've found that if an Oscar doesn't like a certain type of food, it doesn't matter how hard you try, it will just not eat it.

I've got one Oscar that won't eat pellets, it used to, but it doesn't any more. When I feed the other fish, this particular Oscar is not interested in eating and just sits behind a piece of wood and sulks. As soon as I put a lance fish in the tank, it is on it like flies around dog crap. So, if you've got a fish that won't eat a particular type of pellet, try another food and you may find that it will start eating again.

Starving is the key but you have to be very strong and it can be difficult to see a fish go without food especially when you offer them food and they dont eat for a week, then feed what they will eat and then nothing for a week again. Have you tried maggots and worms and other insects

Well, I found a way to get him eating the hikari mega tropical - I don't thaw it out and drop it in frozen and he ate it like that last night. I've switched to hikari cichlid gold since eveyone here seems to like it and he eats that too, not Pan tho, my greenT. Like I said, I'm still new so experimenting and asking Q's is the way to learn best! As far as worms go I've seen these "Butter Worms and Super Worms" as well as Meal Worms. They all good to feed? I'm sure they are but these fish are my babies now I'm like a over-protective parent. .....I make myself sick, ugh.