Not to offend goldfish lovers:S

[drobbins27]

I found this big, plastic "tub" think which we use to put our koi in when we clean the water out of our large pond. We havent used the little tub for a while, and I got an idea.

Im thinkin I might hook up an old filter and then fill it with hose water, then put some goldfish or livebearers in there (with live bearere id have to hook up a heater also) so I can use them as feeders for my Oscar. Do goldfish (feeders probably) breed easily? Also, what are some problems id be facing?

 

[Sorrell]

You would have to do constant water changes if you kept goldfish in there. At the store that I managed, we had to do like 50-75% daily on our feeder goldfish and they were in a huge cattle trough with major filtration. I don't know how many you would be housing, but convenience wise, it might be easier to just buy them.
Plus goldfish aren't the healthiest thing to feed, they're kind of fillers with no nutrients.
I think theorectically it sounds like a good idea, but probably not worth the hassle.

 

[vantgE]

have eyou thought about whiteclouds they are coldwater livebearers that breed easy but our fry always get eaten, they are much smaller than goldfish though, and they like every other fish is cleaner than a goldfidsh

 

[drobbins27]

have eyou thought about whiteclouds they are coldwater livebearers that breed easy but our fry always get eaten, they are much smaller than goldfish though, and they like every other fish is cleaner than a goldfidsh

Do whiteclouds eath there young? I owuldnt want to have to constanly check for fry?

 

[rollntider]

have eyou thought about whiteclouds they are coldwater livebearers that breed easy but our fry always get eaten, they are much smaller than goldfish though, and they like every other fish is cleaner than a goldfidsh

http/groups.msn.com/Breedingtropicalfish...hiteclouds.msnw
i always thought whiteclouds were egg layers

 

[heresmike]

have eyou thought about whiteclouds they are coldwater livebearers that breed easy but our fry always get eaten, they are much smaller than goldfish though, and they like every other fish is cleaner than a goldfidsh

Do whiteclouds eath there young? I owuldnt want to have to constanly check for fry?

If you're talking about white cloud mountain minnow... they're egg layers. And, no, they don't eat their young.

They're supposed to be the easiest egg-layer to breed, but they like having plants to spawn on.

 

[vantgE]

ooops i just assumed it was the adult livebearers cause the frogs are so fat and barely move
i always thuought they were live bearers

we thought that was just some dirt or algase on the leaves maybe it was eggs but we still get alot of fry so i'm sure they'd work

 

[LoveMyOscar]

...

 

[Dragonslair]

Drobbins, why not turn the tub into a useful pond? Sink it in your garden or yard fill it with water, let the water age a while, put in a few plants and then a couple of fish.

 

[drobbins27]

Feeders are not a good idea. Oscars need a balenced diet with lots of good nutrition because of diseases like HITH (hole in the head). Some people even soak their oscars pellets in vitamins before feeding. If you want a healthy happy long living oscar you need to feed some kind of cichlid pellets, with worms/grubs, insects, beef heart or other lean meat, etc. as treats. I have fed my oscar feeders probably all of 3-5 times since I got him last October. If my friend can't sell or give away her guppy and convict babies I get the overflow. I know these fish are not diseased and that is the only reason he gets feeders. I would NEVER EVER EVER buy feeder fish from the stores. It is just too risky.

Me niether, I just wanted to add some fun for the Oscar, make it feel more like its in its natural habitat. Of course I would still feed it Cichlid pellets, shrimp pellets, white shrimp, bloodworms, some flake....etc.

I just want some kind of easy fish that could breed in this little tub, which I owuldnt need to check on for fry all the time. I odnt trust feeder gold fish, always diseased. The whiteclouds sound good, Im thinkin Ill just add some cheap fake plants into the tub. Would that work

 

[drobbins27]

Drobbins, why not turn the tub into a useful pond? Sink it in your garden or yard fill it with water, let the water age a while, put in a few plants and then a couple of fish.

Isnt making it a breeding medium a useful idea tho? We already have a pond full of baby koi, and Im thinking I oculd also thorw some of these white clouds in there when the thing gets too full.

 

[Opcn]

double post error sorry (modsd please delete this post thx)

SRY

opcn

 

[Opcn]

Why not go with mosquitoe fish? Theye are of the genus peocellia (Sp?) and just a bit bigger than there cousines the guppy but are cold water fish. Oscars will also eat snails as I recall so you could breed some apple snails too and sell the extras. as far as nutrition goes live food is better than the same food freshly killed because the animal goes into "Hunting mode" Which burns some empty calories and kicks up muscle production as well as providing much needed excorsize(sp?) Also you can gut load the mosquitoe fish with some vitamin rish foods and then feed them to the oscars heck you could even force feed the feeders if you wanted (JK).

Opcn

 

[drobbins27]

Do misqutoe fish need any special conditions? what about apple snails? Right now I have about 15 pond snails in there and a rock covered with algae. There will be no heater and very limited filtration.

 

[Opcn]

they will be happy so long as params are normal (Ph can be 6.5-8 snails will prefer higher ph but there shells will be harder) no heater needed and the fish are often found in backwaters so they should be fairly hardy but getting even a small filter would be a good idea.

Opcn