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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Cichlids / April 2004oscar food
i've tried 3-4 different brands of cichlid food, currently hikari cichlid staple. my oscares seem less than impressed, only a couple bites eaten it seems. what can i use/try? they all loved the flakes. but that seems a poor choice. Try these if you are in the UK. http://www.wcsaquatics.co.uk/storefront/Cichlidblk.htm They do a complete range of Oscar foods > i've tried 3-4 different brands of cichlid food, currently hikari > cichlid staple. my oscares seem less than impressed, only a couple > bites eaten it seems. what can i use/try? they all loved the flakes. > but that seems a poor choice. Try Goldfish,Guppies, tadpoles.. If you wanna keep Oscars, your gunna have to feed them correctly, and bloody flakes for a predatory fish, is like trying to feed minced steak to a vegetarian. Talking about minced steak, also try chopped Liver.. bassett > Try these if you are in the UK. > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > bites eaten it seems. what can i use/try? they all loved the flakes. > > but that seems a poor choice. i have 4 beautiful oscars (each about a foot long). i have never fed them live feeder fish but what i do feed them i get at the local supermarket. i buy small popcorn shrimp from the meat department. they are small, uncooked and they love them. they eat better than i do. they will jump several inches out of the water to take it from my hand. i have raised these four guys since they were about 2-3 inches long. they also like frozen krill (and freeze dried). > i've tried 3-4 different brands of cichlid food, currently hikari > cichlid staple. my oscares seem less than impressed, only a couple > bites eaten it seems. what can i use/try? they all loved the flakes. > but that seems a poor choice. forgot to mention. . . . I purchased my oscar at the begining of March 2004 and he was 4 inches long. Now he is 5 1/4 inches long! I guess his diet has been ok for him to grow that fast. He is still growing too! Regards, Cookie My brother in law has had great success with insects of all kinds especially crickets and grasshoppers, earth worms (they virtually leap out of the aquarium for worms) it all depends of the size of your fish and the availability of live food. Check out your local bait shop they might be cheaper their also don't forget minnows. Ray > i've tried 3-4 different brands of cichlid food, currently hikari > cichlid staple. my oscares seem less than impressed, only a couple > bites eaten it seems. what can i use/try? they all loved the flakes. > but that seems a poor choice. > i've tried 3-4 different brands of cichlid food, currently hikari > cichlid staple. my oscares seem less than impressed, only a couple > bites eaten it seems. what can i use/try? they all loved the flakes. > but that seems a poor choice. Hikari seems like a good name, but I've never had any luck with any of my cichlids*peacocks* taking to any of Hikari foods, instead, I get the Wardley sinking pellets, granules, even tetra makes a good sinking food, and they all go nuts for it... Feeding Oscars live foods, can create an aggresiveness that you'll probably not like.. Sometimes it can be a bad thing to feed live fish, maybe beefheart, and some homemade foods...  SignatureRedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike streetfighter!!! ========================== 2003 TRX450ES 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale) '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted.... ========================== ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø is that better?? > Hikari seems like a good name, but I've never had any luck with any of my > cichlids*peacocks* taking to any of Hikari foods, instead, I get the Wardley [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > not like.. Sometimes it can be a bad thing to feed live fish, maybe > beefheart, and some homemade foods... Any Oscar I've ever owned will only eat Hikari the first couple of times it's fed to them, after that they turn up their noses. However, they go crazy for the Wardly pellets-- I have three of my old ten gallon tanks out in the garage. I keep them about 25% filled with oatmeal and raise monster mealworms. The only time I feed them feeders is when my wife has the Girl Scout troop at the house here -- little kids love watching Oscars stalk and consume Rosy Reds! --Mark > Any Oscar I've ever owned will only eat Hikari the first couple of > times it's fed to them, after that they turn up their noses. However, > they go crazy for the Wardly pellets-- You've noticed that too, huh?? I wonder if the Hikari is just not as 'tasty'... wanna try some and see??? hahaha!!! SignatureRedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike streetfighter!!! ========================== 2003 TRX450ES 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale) '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted.... ========================== ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø is that better?? > You've noticed that too, huh?? I wonder if the Hikari is just not as > 'tasty'... wanna try some and see??? hahaha!!! No thanks. After the great Tetra Incident of '95 I can't -- that dam taste is still in my mouth! -- >> You've noticed that too, huh?? I wonder if the Hikari is just not as >> 'tasty'... wanna try some and see??? hahaha!!! > > No thanks. After the great Tetra Incident of '95 I can't -- that dam > taste is still in my mouth! -- That's hilarious... Good stuff.... hahaha!!! SignatureRedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike streetfighter!!! ========================== 2003 TRX450ES 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale) '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted.... ========================== ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø is that better?? Which Hikari products are you guys talking about? I feed my Oscars Hikari "staple" daily and they eat it up just like anything else that falls into the tank. I think it's called staple. It's the green bag. The cheap stuff. The bag even has an Oscar printed on it if I recall. (I'm at work and can't look at the bag right now.) They go pretty nuts for the stuff actually. If I drop a pellet on the top of the tank and don't notice the damn fish will start smashing their heads into the top trying to get it. I notice this when I hear the thuds. I feed them pellets once a day and feeders more or less once a week. Feeders are mostly to show off for my nephews. > > Any Oscar I've ever owned will only eat Hikari the first couple of > > times it's fed to them, after that they turn up their noses. However, > > they go crazy for the Wardly pellets-- > > You've noticed that too, huh?? I wonder if the Hikari is just not as > 'tasty'... wanna try some and see??? hahaha!!! yep, the green bag... > I feed my Oscars Hikari "staple" daily and they eat it up just like > anything else that falls into the tank. I think it's called staple. > It's the green bag. The cheap stuff. SignatureRedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike streetfighter!!! ========================== 2003 TRX450ES 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale) '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted.... ========================== ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø is that better?? My Oscar's new trick is to jump out of the water to grab food from my fingers. He (she?) will do this for cichlid sticks, crickets, and earthworms. Limnophile Oh yeah, my Oscars will just jump at my fingers while I'm cleaning the tank. If they catch you off guard it's a good shock. They've associated the hand with food obviously. The other large cichlids I have aren't nearly as animated when it comes to feedings. They have good appetites but jumping out of the tank or taking food from my hand only happens with the Oscars for the most part. Anyone else notice this? > My Oscar's new trick is to jump out of the water to grab food from my > fingers. > He (she?) will do this for cichlid sticks, crickets, and earthworms. > > Limnophile I have two Oscars, vicarious eaters as you describe. I want to put them in with my six Red Devils but they are shy eaters. Tank is a 220gal. My guess is the Oscars will gobble up all the food before the RD's get any. Anyone out there had success with this type of combination? ...Kodiak > Oh yeah, my Oscars will just jump at my fingers while I'm cleaning the tank. > If they catch you off guard it's a good shock. They've associated the hand [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > > > Limnophile > Oh yeah, my Oscars will just jump at my fingers while I'm cleaning the > tank. If they catch you off guard it's a good shock. They've associated > the hand with food obviously. That happened to me as I was a bit slow in releasing the pellets. Can an Oscar do any damamge to fingers, as it would be pretty cool to get them used to hand feeding (which I know is possible) just thta I don't want any injured fingers Trev One time in 15 years I got a small cut from one of my oscars. It was the same as a paper cut. The damndest thing since Oscars don't have teeth too. Scared me more than it hurt and made me afraid to put my hand in that tank for a little while. Other first with teeth are an entirely different story. My red devils get me good sometimes if they're in the mood.. usually if they're trying to spawn. Those little teeth leave what I equate to little cat scratches.. usually on my knuckles. > > Oh yeah, my Oscars will just jump at my fingers while I'm cleaning the > > tank. If they catch you off guard it's a good shock. They've associated [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Trev Do you keep your RD's in the same tank with the Oscars? Don't the oscars eat all the food before the RD's get any? ...Kodiak > One time in 15 years I got a small cut from one of my oscars. It was the > same as a paper cut. The damndest thing since Oscars don't have teeth too. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > > > Trev > Oh yeah, my Oscars will just jump at my fingers while I'm cleaning the tank. > If they catch you off guard it's a good shock. They've associated the hand [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Anyone else notice this? Don't you just love Oscars? I mean, really, don't you just love them? Not to avoid your question but really, is there a more perfect fish? > > Oh yeah, my Oscars will just jump at my fingers while I'm cleaning the > tank. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Don't you just love Oscars? I mean, really, don't you just love them? Not to > avoid your question but really, is there a more perfect fish? Now if only they would stay small, so you could keep them in a reasonable-sized tank. My oscar is my favorite too, but I wish he would be ok in something smaller than a 40 gallon tank. Limnophile > Now if only they would stay small, so you could keep them in a > reasonable-sized tank. > My oscar is my favorite too, but I wish he would be ok in something smaller > than a 40 gallon tank. > > Limnophile Einstien tells us that all things are relative -- i guess that's true. I picture a 200 gal tank as "reasonable", larger than that as "large" and a mere 40 as uncomfortably small. One thing about large aquariums, and I ain't kidding here, is that they are *much* easier to maintain than small tanks. I think it's because their size increases their stability -- they are less likely to have sudden temperature and water condition changes. Once their cycled and stocked, they're bulletproof (so to speak) with some simple maintenance and much less likely to have problems. --Mark > > Now if only they would stay small, so you could keep them in a > > reasonable-sized tank. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > --Mark I agree in principle, but to me "large" is based on whether I can have it in my apartment without it crashing through the floor. So 40 gallons is "large" to me. I'm thinking of replacing the 40 with a 75, but not sure if the floor will hold it. Oscars are great, but it seems that having only one fish in my biggest tank is somewhat of a waste. My second largest tank is a 29 gallon, which has about 45 small fish. ( Overstocked, I know, but well - maintained) Limnophile > I agree in principle, but to me "large" is based on whether I can have it in > my apartment without it crashing through the floor. So 40 gallons is "large" [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Limnophile What you need to do is hunt up some Oscar literature from the 1960s and earlier. Oscars have been a very popular aquarium fish for a long time, and before the advent of silicone aquarium sealant in the 60s an aquarium larger than 30 gallons in a home was very, very expensive and rare. So, people kept Oscars and Oscar pairs in what we consider now to be very cramped quarters. Thing is, they did it successfully and with healthy and happy fish. As a matter of fact, Axelrod moved his Oscars to his "large" 30g to mate them from their smaller tanks. How is this possible, you ask, when these days we flame people for keping Oscar pairs in anything less than a 75? It's a complicated procedure requiring very exacting aquarium maintenance, plus a special way to arrange aquarium decorations and -- get this -- a special way to arrange the furniture in the aquarium room! Apparently it is possible to "fool" an Oscar into thinking he is in a much larger space than he really is, thereby reducing stress. Anyhow, I wouldn't recommend it these days with inexpensive 150s and 200s for sale down at PetSmart, but it's interesting to look at how Oscars were kept in them olden days. --Mark <lots of good stuff, ending with ....> > Anyhow, I wouldn't > recommend it these days with inexpensive 150s and 200s for sale down > at PetSmart, but it's interesting to look at how Oscars were kept in > them olden days. --Mark The problem isn't really the price. I live in an older apartment building on the second floor, and I don't want my shiny new tank paying my downstairs neighbor an unexpected visit. :-( I've done a little research, and according to an architect my floor "should probably" hold 1,600 pounds. Minus safety factor = about 120 gallons. Since I will still have the 40, The biggest tank I can really get is a 75. Or I could sell the 40 too and just buy a 120 gallon .... hmmmm ? Should I keep my Oscar in the 40 breeder, and have a 75 planted community tank - or give away the Oscar and have a 120 planted tank ? Decisions, decisions... (either way, I'm keeping my 20 long in the kitchen for quarantine / hospital) Limnophile have you tried freeze dried Krills or Crickets? I have some large severums which love these kinds of foods. Is it possible that somewhere along the way that you offered them a specialty food, and now they are being picky? I've heard that discus will do that. Brad > i've tried 3-4 different brands of cichlid food, currently hikari > cichlid staple. my oscares seem less than impressed, only a couple > bites eaten it seems. what can i use/try? they all loved the flakes. > but that seems a poor choice. |
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