Are Feeder Fish Safe

[007_gaz]

hi. is it ok to feed fish to oscar? i see at searches people say yes to minnows but alot of no's to goldfish. u see at times i have an odd small fish die and instead of flushing it i kept thinking would oscar eat that. i guess it would fit in their mouth lol but where fish had died could it harm or pass anything over to oscar? im just checking if its safe i never feed oscar fish yet.

 

[dbanner]

In general no, it's not safe. This is because a lot of feeder fish (no matter which kind they are) may carry diseases. These diseases can then be passed on to the fish your feeding them to.. So in this case, your Oscar.

Also there is no reason to feed live fish anyway. There is no nutritional value in feeder fish for your Oscar and will do more harm than good. For the best results feed your Oscar a good quality cichlid pellet, hikari and new life spectrum are both good choices. Then you can occasionally feed him/ her things like frozen fish (smelt), frozen bloodworm cubes (or live bloodworm), shrimp, krill and frozen market prawns. Pellets should be fed daily (or twice daily) whilst the other things iv mentioned are a once or twice a week treat.

Iv owned lots of big cichlids like oscars, jaguars, dovii's, red devil, red terror and so on and know I have a flowerhorn. Iv also had red belly piranhas, birchirs, snakeheads and Lima shovelnose catfish... Never have I had the need to feed any of them live fish and all have grown very well with no problems

 

[sadguppy]

I would say a huge NO. It is one thing to feed live, healthy fish - many will say it is cruel and unecessary but others will say it is nature. That's not the debate here though.

However if a fish is dead, there will be a reason. Unless it is of old age then it will have died through disease, poisoning etc and there is a huge risk that it will pass something dodgy on to the larger fish. Just don't risk it.

Perhaps you need to ask yourself why you have fish dying?

 

[007_gaz]

ok thanks for advices. my oscar takes those pellets and mealworms and bloodworms. thats about it really he rejects flakes and sinking fish treats he will spit out again. i have tried prawns before he enjoyed that. hey how about fish from shop like salmon?

 

[Skal]

Home bred fish are great feeders store bought can have dieases. I have given my fish store bought feeders but first I put them in a seaparate tank and wait two weeks so I can see if any of the fish are sick and which ones aren't sick. I then feed the healthy feeders to my fish. Don't feed sick feeders to your fish because it will cause your fish most likely to become sick too. They are good treats though.

Normal fish cut up are good too. Like you were saying but I think it's safest to feed freshwater fish to them in small cut up pieces.

 

[garyspence84]

You must really love your Oscar to want to feed it salmon

I'd be keeping the salmon for myself and feeding the Oscar the odd earth worm or something.

 

[dbanner]

Not sure about salmon and such as iv not tried it but mealworms will be ok.

 

[Baccus]

From a legal view, I am pretty sure that feeding live fish to another fish is considered cruelty by officials. I know it is commonly done and not only fish are used, and in nature the predatory fish feed off all sorts of fish and other live foods. However in a tank environment an introduced "food" fish has no real escape or chance of survival. Which is where the cruelty comes from.
From experience predatory fish that have been given live foods are then a lot harder to get to take prepared foods again, therefore even as a "treat" I would not advise giving live foods.
There are other options as well as food for your oscar such as mussels, white bait and prawns. Earthworms are also an option many oscars and catfish gladly eat, and a lot of gardening shops and bait shops sell live worms for gardens/ compost heaps and fishing. If you chose to use worms you collected from your own garden, just be very careful of any chemical residues that may be in the soil and the worms may have eaten.
And always remeber any live foods carry the potential for disease and parasites being introduced to your tank.

 

[Mikey1]

if your fish are 100% healthy and in a healthy environment, they will not get a disease no matter what you feed them,

just because a fish eats a fish with a disease, that does not mean the predator fish will get that disease,

healthy fish are very unlikely to aquire diseases, even if they are in the same tank as a diseased fish,

i dont get the flu just because i spend a day in a room with somebody who has the flu, fish have immune systems, just like us

i have fed arrowannas and piranhas goldfish for YEARS, never one disease

they are called predators for a reason, and that reason is not to eat flakes or fish sticks

 

[007_gaz]

this is intresting thanks. i see that in the wild oscars can get the odd treat that falls in water like insects and bits of fruit. is it me or is does oscar like any food lol it might be where they call oscar the river dog. im sure i heard that feeder fish have no real nutriants for oscar so i think ill skip that. my oscar is about 2 years old now.

 

[dbanner]

this is intresting thanks. i see that in the wild oscars can get the odd treat that falls in water like insects and bits of fruit. is it me or is does oscar like any food lol it might be where they call oscar the river dog. im sure i heard that feeder fish have no real nutriants for oscar so i think ill skip that. my oscar is about 2 years old now.

Yes oscars will eat just about anything and your right in saying feeder fish don't have any good nutrients. Which is why I said that there really is no point in using feeder fish in my reply further up the page Your oscars will be far better on a good diet that consists of a good quality floating pellet. Floating pellets are good for oscars as they are generally too lazy to pick up food off the bottom of the tank lol

So just feed floating pellets (daily), bloodworm (once or twice a week),maybe try some frozen fish like smelt (once a week) and then occasionally a frozen prawn

Good luck

 

[Mikey1]

your right in saying feeder fish don't have any good nutrients. Which is why I said that there really is no point in using feeder fish

what do you think fish eat in the wild?

blood worms? fish flakes? frozen brine shrimp? fish pellets?

NO!!!

they eat OTHER FISH!!!!

so to say a fish has "no nutritional value" or does not have "any good nutrients" is completely ignorant

 

[twofish]

you're right and that does make scense. However, what is "natural" or in the "wild" about being confined to a fish tank? Wouldn't there be some sort of exception to the rule? Bloodworms or pellets? Just wondering...

 

[dbanner]

your right in saying feeder fish don't have any good nutrients. Which is why I said that there really is no point in using feeder fish

what do you think fish eat in the wild?

blood worms? fish flakes? frozen brine shrimp? fish pellets?

NO!!!

they eat OTHER FISH!!!!

so to say a fish has "no nutritional value" or does not have "any good nutrients" is completely ignorant

It's a known fact that feeding live fish in an aquarium environment is not as good or nowhere near as good as feeding a good staple diet like pellets (or flake if need be)

Many members on this forum with sufficient experience (which most here have) will agree. Just look at other threads on here regarding this subject and you will soon see.

 

[Mikey1]

It's a known fact that feeding live fish in an aquarium environment is not as good or nowhere near as good as feeding a good staple diet like pellets (or flake if need be)

if its a "known fact" then prove it with facts, not opinions,

there is a big difference between peoples opinions and "known facts"

so where are these "known facts" that you speak of? i would like to see them, please do share

Many members on this forum with sufficient experience (which most here have) will agree. Just look at other threads on here regarding this subject and you will soon see.

those are opinions....not facts!








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