this is my fault, i was told not to give him too much blood worm as he will refuse to anything else, but was unsure what was too much, i gave him 2-3 cubes a week and now he won't eat anything else is there any way i can get him back on pellets? if not is it ok to feed him on just blood worm and other frozen foods?
2007-01-03 00:28:43 · 11 answers · asked by lee p 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
Whatever you do, don't start feeding him feeder fish from the pet stores. Those guppies and small goldfish are raised in ponds by the thousands and are responsible for many, many deaths of prized fresh and saltwater carnivorous fish due to the parasites and diseases that come with them (feeder fish).
Your oscar will grow to 15" and eat you out of house and home if all you feed him is frozen foods....they are expensive! Just stop feeding him for 5-6 days until he is meeting you at the front of the tank every time you walk in the room. Then toss in 2-3 pellets. If he doesn't eat them, net them out and leave the room. Come back in a half hour and give him a few more. Eventually he will become hungry enough to eat them. It may take 7-10 days or longer. Oscars are stubborn. You have to be firm and not back down or he will be the boss in your house.
I fed my oscars large dog food pellets for years (5 of them in a 125 gallon). Just make sure it is a good quality pellet with high protein (40-45%). They would come up and take them from my fingers and let me touch them. Just do it slowly. Frozen foods were treats that they got maybe twice a month.
You could also set up another tank (20 g) and buy a pair of convicts if you want to feed him live food. Convicts are hard to stop breeding once they start and the young will be parasite and disease free because you know where they come from....
2007-01-03 07:57:15 · answer #1 · answered by 8 In the corner 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Oscars are carnivorous, thats why they are going for the bloodworms and not the veges. You can try some shrimp or bits of raw fish from the supermarket. Freeze it in pieces and just defrost enough to feed the fish each time. Mix that with your pellets and bloodworms and you should have a pretty good balanced diet. If they aren't interested in the pellets, dont feed them for a day or two, the pellets will look a lot better to them when they are hungry. Ian
2016-03-14 01:01:54 · answer #2 · answered by Danielle 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All fish need a variety of foods in their diet. Oscars are no different. Your oscar will be fine if you dont feed him for a few days. Wait a few days and give him a very small amount of the pellets. If he is hungry he will eat them. All fish are much happier if fed a variety of different foods, their colors will be much more vibrant and they will be healthier in general. Feeding him the blood worms is great but dont keep feeding him the same thing. How would you like to eat spagetti every day, day after day, after day. You would get bored with it and any change would be very welcome. He has obviously acquired a taste for the blood worms so make sure atleast 1 feed a week is worms and spread the variety around for the other feeding days. :)
2007-01-03 01:08:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Big Oscars can certainly pack away the grub!. Why not give him some nice juicy earthworms? Just make sure you don't get the worms from a compost heap. Once he is onto an alternate food, you can them begin to introduce cockle or mussel (frozen or fresh), shelled prawns, oily fish pieces, but no meat as this can cause fatty tissue to build up around the internal organs. Bloodworm (red mosquito larvae) contains very little nutriment, but all types of fish seem attracted by it's red colour & motion in the water.
2007-01-03 04:43:07 · answer #4 · answered by ispooky2 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
sounds like you feed him everyday take two to three days off of not feeding him and you will find that he is hungry and will eat just about anything. Also if two or three cubes of blood worms is making him not want anything else cut down to about 1 a week or every other week the rest of the week give him other things like pellets, earth worms, flake foods, veggies, shrimps, and small insects.
2007-01-03 01:22:07 · answer #5 · answered by C live 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You oscar won't starve if you stop feeding him blood worms. Offer him a few pellets at feeding time,if they don't get eaten after twenty minutes or so net them out and try angain tomorrow. One of my full grown oscars went on a 6 month,yes I said 6 month, hunger strike after a filter accident drained all but a couple of inches of water out of his tank. He survived quite well,living about 10 more years after resuming his regular diet. Don't let your oscar train you. Have fun, PeeTee
2007-01-03 05:32:43 · answer #6 · answered by PeeTee 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
cut it down on blood worms and other foods.he may start to take pellets
2007-01-03 06:01:23 · answer #7 · answered by stephen eblue eyes 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i had a foot long Oscar for about 8 years and i used to feed it goldfish. i know i,m gonna get flamed for being a fish murderer
but hey i never had a problem of it refusing to eat so flame away .
2007-01-03 11:15:34 · answer #8 · answered by lee f 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
http://www.hbhpet.com/Products/oscargrowshow1.htm
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/printthread.php?t=39846
2007-01-03 00:33:03 · answer #9 · answered by smartkid37138 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He needs other stuff too.
Get "feeders" at the fish store.
They're cheep.
tc
2007-01-03 00:31:01 · answer #10 · answered by timc_fla 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋