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September 8th, 2008
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Fish Bum
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I Want My Oscars to GROW
Hey everyone I am brand new to this forum and I wanted to go ahead and ask my first question.
I have 2 tiger oscars in a 55 Gal and they are about 2-3 inches long. Little guys. Anyway, they eat SO WELL and are always swimming around when I approach the tank. I know the number one mistake beginners make is over-feeding fish. However, I want these guys to get optimal levels of food so I can see them grow into beautiful fish.
What would you reccomend feeding for these guys? I feed them twice a day now, and catch insects outside my door when I am bored. And also, is over-feeding a mistake because of nitrite/ammonia levels or a mistake because the fish could over-eat?
Thanks for the advice!
Jake  |
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September 8th, 2008
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King of Curt
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Fish could over eat and shorten their lifespans by being obese.
I would do a variety of foods. Cichlid pellets, some type of veggie/algae pellet, live foods such as baby livebearers, dwarf shrimp (ghost shrimp), etc.
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September 8th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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Oscarfishlover.com has a good article on feeding oscars, with the following quote:
Quote:
So, how much food should you give your Oscar? Baby Oscars fill themselves up very quickly. You will notice that their bellies become slightly rounded, this is the time to stop feeding. As your Oscar grows, distinguishing how much they eat by looking at their bellies is not always that easy. I've found that as the Oscar gets bigger, it can eat a lot of food and you won't notice any difference in their stomach size. For this reason, if I am feeling pellets, I now like to work by the two or three minute rule. Basically, this means dropping three or four pellets in for up to three minutes, and then stop. If in that three-minute period, the Oscars start expelling food from their mouths and gills, cease feeding straight away, even if they haven't had that much.
Okay, what about if you are feeding other types of food, insects, fish, shrimps or krill. If your Oscars are still babies, I should avoid trying to feed them on big fish, by all means chop the fish/shrimps into pieces, just don't give them this food whole, all that will happen is they will swim around for a couple of hours with it sticking out of their mouths which could cause stress. Once your fish starts growing, you can start feeding this type of food whole. For instance, I would give one of my 8 inch Oscars, at least three Lance Fish, these could be up to 3 inches long. I find that this is more than enough for one meal. When it comes to different types of food such as fish, shrimps or cockles, depending on how big they are, just use your discretion. Three or four medium size shrimps would be more than enough for an Oscar that is 6 inches upwards. If we are talking about Oscars in excess of 12 inches long, you could give them four or five.
http://www.oscarfishlover.com/index.php/Oscar-fish-food/Oscar-fish-food.html
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That said, please note that one oscar will outgrow a 55g, let alone two oscars and two other fish. |
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September 8th, 2008
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Fish Bum
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mathas
That said, please note that one oscar will outgrow a 55g, let alone two oscars and two other fish.
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Yep  I am planning on getting a bigger tank for them when they begin to outgrow it. I am just so darn impatient... Thanks for that quote
Last edited by Chief_waterchanger; September 8th, 2008 at 09:28 PM.
Reason: language
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September 8th, 2008
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King of Curt
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Watch the language, please.
We have a lot of children on this site, so we have to keep it family friendly.
Thanks for your cooperation. |
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September 9th, 2008
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Fish Bum
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chief_waterchanger
Watch the language, please.
We have a lot of children on this site, so we have to keep it family friendly.
Thanks for your cooperation. |
Woops, I am too used to other forums. Thanks sorry 'bout that. |
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