So one of my Oscars - Red - has started to spit about 1/2 of what he is eating out through his gills. It doesn't matter what he is eating either, feeders, pellets, blood worms etc. I have tried slowing down the amount that we put in at one time. In other words, only dropping 2 pellets, waiting for them to eat that and then putting in more. It doesn't seem to matter. Granted the Pleco is enjoying the droppings but I don't understand why he is doing this.

Thoughts???

This isn't uncommon. What you could try doing is withdrawing food for a couple of days. Occasionally Oscars get bored with their food and will just chew it up and spit it back out again. I think think you've got anything to worry about, I've seen it happen with my Oscars on occasions. I don't think there is any miracle cure to stop them doing it, maybe just make them hungry and see what happens

I think they're hungry.
And this is the main reason for O's to be called "Messy fish"
It's not esp. the poo, but messing with food!
Lol, i got my sd's and plecs eating the scraps.
I just know that my O's both can "Waste " a lot of food.
My biggest will eat so greedy that the whole pellets come out through his gills!
imo it's just O's greedy eating behaviour.

i agree with Noddy they are just messy, if they are really hungry they'd eat the scraps as well... sometimes fish get complaisant, and know they will get as much food as they want so arent bothered if they waste it.. as OFL said another idea is to stop feeding them for a bit..

as for the scraps, my plec gets NO OTHER food then what he can scavange from the oscars leftovers and from algae in the tank, and hes growing FAST, so the oscars must be really messy lol..

T

TonyT wrote:


I found out lately that since i feed pellets the pleco's really seem to like the Hikari Gold, for they even start eating the leftovers before they start with their own zuchinni
A chinese dialect calls the pleco the "Eat shit fish"
But i suggest allways to provide some fresh veggies from time to time, like zuchinni.
Mine will eat a quarter of a zuchinni A DAY!
Allways when we go for groceries, i'm picking the zuchinni at first hand before my own food....
Fishfreak....

i'll give that a try noddy, altho the way my plec shits more fibre isnt what he needs lol lol

T

LOL, but you won't have the long trails of poo, for if the pleco eats zuchinni, they poop green small pieces, which my sd's will eat.
Fr#@kin underwaterworld!lol

hey Brooksie, you should be happy that the gill plate of your oscar
are still functional

kidding aside... that is normal to oscar... my o spit out the shell of all
the shrimp they could chomp in any feeding... that is all expel in the side
of the gill plates.

hi!

i agree with OFL. stop feeding for a couple of days and see what happens. when i feed my oscars with larger pellets,they crush them and most food comes through the gills. i prefer feeding my oscars with shrimps. it doesn't get that messy.

hi!

i agree with OFL. stop feeding for a couple of days and see what happens. when i feed my oscars with larger pellets,they crush them and most food comes through the gills. i prefer feeding my oscars with shrimps. it doesn't get that messy.

thanks for asking this Brooksie! glad to hear it's normal.

my only other observation about this is it seems to happen more when they stuff their mouths (i.e. with a larger bloodworm chunk) - it's like they can't choke it all down so some comes out.

messy eaters indeed! my clown loaches make good little brooms and the O's tolerate them hanging out by their faces waiting for the snacks to come out;) I should try and get a video of it sometime, as it's pretty funny to watch.

Thanks to all.... I didn't think it was anything to worry about. Sometimes I think they just have so much in their mouths that there isn't enough room for it. My love the Gold too Noddy... but the Pleco still isn't interested in any of the veggies I've tried and the Oscars eat the algae pellets even after lights out. They hear that "plop" and wake up. The Plec is growing and pooping so I'm happy.

All-in-all, after the problems I have had. My tank and fish are happy. Which of course makes me HAPPY !!!!