Red Oscar

[arbatey]

I just purchased a Red Oscar. The lady told me that I should wait about 2 weeks until I start feeding him other fish. After that...only feed him about 2-3 at a time and only do this once a week. If done more than that...they will become spoiled and not eat pellets.

Anyone want to shed some more light on this subject for me?
Agree or Disagree?
All help/advice appreciated.

Thanks,
Amy

 

[monkeyman]

I just purchased a Red Oscar. The lady told me that I should wait about 2 weeks until I start feeding him other fish. After that...only feed him about 2-3 at a time and only do this once a week. If done more than that...they will become spoiled and not eat pellets.

Anyone want to shed some more light on this subject for me?
Agree or Disagree?
All help/advice appreciated.

Thanks,
Amy

What size is he?

 

[arbatey]

[/quote]
What size is he?
[/quote]

IT is about 3 inches now. Potential to be 12.
Any idea? Male or Female?
How can I tell?

 

[monkeyman]

Im not sure about when you should start feeding him live fish, as soon as he can eat them i would have thought? Now sexing...

*** NOT THE AUTHOR OF THIS INFORMATION ***


More and more everyone is posting everywhere with godlike authority that it is impossible to sex oscars short of seeing them spawn. That is NOT true!
One sure way is through venting, where you analyze size and characteristics of their vents. Although hard to tell unless raised up together in same environment, females will have a more round head, also be more compressed and shorter. Males will have larger/longer fins. Males will generally have a more pointed 2nd dorsal fin(top fin next to tail). Females will have more of a rounded dorsal fin. Males are also more brightly colored. This is best noticed with cricles that surround eyespots or other areas that don't change with mood. And yes, the male will usually be more aggressive than the female.
Another hint as to gender is the presence of DARK SPOTS at the base of the dorsal fin. Some males have 3 dark spots at the bottom of the dorsal fin. You may see that some of the dark spots may become "eye" spots like the one on the tail, encircled by red color. If your Oscar has 2 or 3 dark spots you should start looking for an Oscar who's laid eggs. Beware, that many male oscars do NOT have these 3 dark spots at base of dorsal fin. Males will generally have more red dots on fins, some say around gill area also.

*****************************************************************
Theyre you go, from wht i know its pretty hard to tell - unless ur some kind of oscar expert!

 

[arbatey]

What size is he?
[/quote]

IT is about 3 inches now. Potential to be 12.
when can i feed it live food?
Any idea? Male or Female?
How can I tell?
[/quote]

 

[Kopix Nation]

Don't even think about feeding him pet store feeder fish!!!! That is a recipe for disaster! Do you know how sickly most of those nasty feeder fish are??? Your oscar could become a victum of some plague of fish illness! Trust me stick with vitamins and cichlid pellets. that is what I feed my Montie Python (year old tiger oscar)... He loves krill... Why don't you try that on your oscar?? He should love it! Also meelee/waxworms are much adored by oscars.

claire

 

[pica_nuttalli]

kopix isn't really exaggerating about the risks created by feeding store-bought feeder fish. every time you introduce a new fish to your tank, you run the risk of introducing disease. not only will feeder fish expose your baby to disease 2-3 times a week, most store-bought feeders are poorly cared for anyways--further increasing the risk.

another side effect of the poor care given to store-bought feeders is that the feeders contain very low nutrient levels but are still quite fatty. feeder goldfish are especially bad for feeding to tropical fish due to their high fat content.

oscars are not fish-eaters by nature. their systems are not designed to handle a fish-heavy diet and you will not help your oscar in the long run by feeding him other fishies on a regular basis. stick with cichlid pellets.

if you still want to try live foods, you can feed him ghost shrimp, crickets, bloodworms, tubifex worms and other small invertebrates. toss in the occasional unseasoned vegetable; most fish enjoy cucumber and zuchinni squash.

 

[Tolak]

Store bought feeders are probably one of the worst thing you can feed any fish. If you are determined to feed your oscar live fish, which they don't really need, get a trio of platy & a 10 gallon tank. You'll have clean feeders, in the amount that an oscar might run into living in the wild.

I bred some cons for feeders for my oscar, he gets a few every 3 or 4 weeks. He mostly eats cichlid pellets, and veggie pellets. The con fry last a few days, the pellets get eaten immediately.

 

[monkeyman]

oscars are not fish-eaters by nature. their systems are not designed to handle a fish-heavy diet and you will not help your oscar in the long run by feeding him other fishies on a regular basis. stick with cichlid pellets.

Now, i know im the newbie on here but i thought that Oscars were partly piscivorous.?

 

[MaNkiND]

Oscars will eat live fish, and they do enjoy it. However live feeder fish dont have suffiecient nutrition. You should generally give him once every 2-3 weeks, and then slowly increse it. Like everyone mentioned dont get feeder fish from a store. If you do then set up a quarintine tank, and see if it does well for 1-2 weeks, and then feed it. Most people who really want to feed feeder fish just set up a 10-20 gallon and breed guppies. They breed very fast every month.
Honestly i think you shouldnt feed feeder fish yet. He is only 3 inches...
Maybe when he gets to 7-8 inches you might want to start it but dont do it now.

 

[Kopix Nation]

I can make my Montie jump for krill pieces... You should try training your oscar! It is fun... Just make sure your oscar does not try to jump to high for the krill or he could end up on the floor!

claire

 

[pica_nuttalli]

essentially all carnivorous fish will eat any other fish that will fit in their mouths; this does not mean that fry and small tetras necessarily compose a large portion of their diet in the wild. my understanding is that wild oscars primarily eat inverts and, as tolak mentioned, the very occasional smaller fish.

oscars are great big toughies and not exactly designed to chase and consume swift things like schooling fish. they are also too active to be ambush predators and don't have the unusually large mouth common to many piscavores. if they can get a fish, they'll eat it, but that doesn't make them specialized piscavores.

 

[monkeyman]

essentially all carnivorous fish will eat any other fish that will fit in their mouths; this does not mean that fry and small tetras necessarily compose a large portion of their diet in the wild. my understanding is that wild oscars primarily eat inverts and, as tolak mentioned, the very occasional smaller fish.

oscars are great big toughies and not exactly designed to chase and consume swift things like schooling fish. they are also too active to be ambush predators and don't have the unusually large mouth common to many piscavores. if they can get a fish, they'll eat it, but that doesn't make them specialized piscavores.

I didnt say that it did, I mearly said i thought they were partly piscivorous - the other being carnivorous. Why would a fish be classed as piscivorous & carnivorous if, infact, it was only a carnivorous fish that just ate small fish? If you do a Google you will see Oscars fish listed as piscivorous/carnivorous. I dont mean to sound rude but i was just interested when you said "oscars are not fish-eaters by nature", when infact they are listed as something that is partly piscivorous

 

[monkeyman]

BUMP

 

[arbatey]

Thanks All!
If you DO decide to buy store-bought feeders, what is the best thing to do to quarantine them?
What steps should I take and how long should I wait to feed him?