trouble with Oscar fish?

Question

i have six oscars in a 55gal tank they are about 4in each i will be getting a 180 or 200 gal tank in the next few months i am trying to get a breeding pair the
the trouble im haveing is the only thing they will eat are live foods they wount eat flakes,blood worms,nothing but live food is it ok to feed them just live foods or if there is a flake food that they will eat let me know the live foods i feed are rosey red minows,ghost shrimp and earthworms,grasshoppers will they be ok is i feed them just live foods

Answer 1

Most of the foods your feeding are fine accept the feeders. Feeder fish should never be chosen as a primary food source because they have virtually no nutritional value. In addition feeders contain the enzyme thaimase which breaks down thiamine. Thiamine is an important vitamin and if you use feeders as a large portion of your fish’s diet it WILL develop a thiamine deficiency. Fish fed exclusively or largely diets of feeder fish are extremely likely to develop HITH. They are also in high risk of contracting other diseases, such as ich, numerous other parasites, or fungal infections.

Don't mistake a fat fish with a healthy fish, just as you wouldn't mistake a fat person for a healthy person. Simply eating food is not good enough; it has to be the right food. A link has been found between the development of HITH and a lack of calcium, phosphorous, and vitamins C & D. Many of the common fish foods sold in the hobby today are enriched with vitamins to make them more balanced, though supplemental vitamins can be added to them as well.

Try to get them switched over to a good pellet food, you can also make your own at home, I'll post a link for you to a good recipe. And you need to get the larger tank as soon as possibe. Good luck with your oscars and the breeding.

Answer 2

Everything on that list is fine to feed them, and recomended except the feeders. Unless you breed your own, pet store feeders are usually not kept in the best of conditions and are a good way to transmit disease, parasites, algae into your tank. I would do away with the feeders altogether. The other stuff has more nutritional value for them.

When fish are accustomed to eating live food, it can be difficult to acclimate them to another type. Have you tried pellet food? That would be better for them then the flakes. Also, try some frozen(and thawed in a small bowl of tank water before feeding) bloodworms, frozen krill, cut up pieces of shrimp or squid, frozen beefheart. Try some of those to help vary up their diet.

Answer 3

You could try some of the Hikari pellet foods,like Cichlid Gold, flakes are difficult with Oscars.
Live foods are OK,probably better than pellets, if they are properly "gut loaded", but they can get to be hard to find in the winter.
Perhaps you could try culturing worms or other sorts of live foods for the Oscars.They can become really stubborn about their foods,but they can also go for a very long time without eating. You must be more stubborn if you want to train them.

Answer 4

i never feed flake to my Oscars. try pellets. live food is always eaten but can get the tank dirty. if you with hold food for a day then try pellets, they should hit them fine.

Answer 5

haha.. oscar can be taught to eat freeze dried food, and will easily accept frozen food too.. as long as it is chunky.. oscar can get very dirty especially with live food.. oscars have real personality.. so it will depend on your oscar to accept pellets after it is used to live food.. no matter what.. oscar r great pets..cheers!

Answer 6

Live foods is their main diet in the wild, and if fed a variety they can get most if not all their needed nutrient from them.