# My O is becoming a striker!



## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Man this is the first time it's happened since I've had him and I know Oscar's attack their food and all but Tiger almost jumped out of the tank just to get the krill I fed him this morning. It's really funny cause I think he knows he was wrong cause I jumped back and yelled at him and every since he's been sulking and hiding in the corner like a little kid :lol: :lol: . Anyone else had this happen to them? I'm sure you guys know what I'm talking about.


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

Lol sounds like my oscar. I put a pellet on top of the glass lid and he would jump up and hit his mouth on the glass. I recently bought some smaller severum and put them in. One time he caught one in his mouth but it wouldn't fit right. I had to use my ruler and get my hand in the tank to scared him. He spit the severum out and sulk in the corner for like 5 minutes. Never had a problem with the severum again.

The problem here is that when I introduce new fish he will think its food and try to eat them. Once he knows they're not food he will only chase them sometimes and not go for the head.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Yeah I hear ya Boost. He is a lot better today I fed him about a half hour ago when I got home from work and he wasn't as fiesty as yesterday and didn't try and jump out and lunge at me lol. Tiger just gets so excited when it's feeding time. He's now eating the medium sized Hikari gold pellets I gave him 3 and 1 piece of krill do you think that's enough?


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

I feed my Oscars 2x a day! When the lights go on and half an hour before the lights go out again. Cant say mine are jumpers. They are excited when its feeding time but when i open my lit in total, they go under and sulk.


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## adam79 (Jun 27, 2007)

Mine sticks his head right out of the water, so I can drop the pelets right in his mouth. I need to keep a towel nerby, because he can throw a good cup of water out of the tank. It's almost like feeding a dolphin at seaworld. :lol:


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Do you think that's a good amount for 1 day Carmine 3 Hikari Gold pellets medium size and a piece of Krill?


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

Krill should only be fed once or twice in a week as a treat and should not be fed daily. If your oscar is 3-4 inches including the tail. 3 medium pieces of Hikari gold pellets is good for each feeding time. Feed it twice daily like Camine said (morning/night) so, 6-7 pieces total in your case. If a lot of food is going out of its gill I would take it that it's super full and should not be fed anymore.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Thanks Boost I will follow your advice and cut back on the krill to once a week. I was just trying to add some more variety but I know now just to cut back like you said. Thanks guys!


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## twohuskies (Mar 1, 2008)

> Krill should only be fed once or twice in a week as a treat and should not be fed daily.


Uh oh...I give my O a "treat" of some kind every night. And, krill is one I give much more often than once or twice a week.  My O is 8.5" - please tell me I haven't been killing him with kindness (and krill :lol: )?????

I guess I'll back off the krill too. Is krill bad for them? I don't give him much, but alas, have been giving it probably 4X week. :-?


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

It's an honest mistake Twohuskies. I'm still learning to lol. I don't see that your doing anything wrong with your O at 8.5. They love Krill I know that my Tiger eats it up like candy lol. I'm going to stick to the Hikari pellets from now on. I'm sure you guys let your O's fast but how many times a week once? I know at this stage 3 to 4 inches they need all the protein they can get to grow. I appreciate all the info you guys have to school this O rookie :thumb:


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

Krill is good for them, it is high in protein and make them grow fast but it should not be fed everyday.

*DJ* You probably can feed them krill 2-3 times a week no problem. You can also try to vary the diet with bloodworm and crickets as treats. Just keep your pellet food as a staple food don't over feed and you should be good. If you want variety add blood worm. :lol:

*twohuskies*4X a week is pushing it but I wouldn't worry about it. Once your oscar reach adult size you will need to reduce feeding. I know this guy who fed his full size oscar 2 frog a week and that is all. They don't need as much protein because they don't grow any more. You are still a year or two away from that. Just keep that in mind.

I got this nutrition fact on krill onlinerotein 70 % Fat 10.7% Ash 12.6% Carbohydrates 8.5% Moisture 1.3%

It's high in protein witch help growth but your oscar will need other food to get those other nutrients. Too much of one thing isn't always good. opcorn:

BTW I'm going to breed live bine shrimp pretty soon here. I've already ordered the eggs the other day.


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## adam79 (Jun 27, 2007)

Oscars are opportunistic eaters. Their diet is heavily comprised of crustaceans in nature. A balanced diet is best. I feed hikari gold daily. I slightly over feed and allow my cats and turtle to clean up. My O' will occasionally eat veggies, but usually gives me the what the helll look. Throughout the month I feed him market shrimp, earthworms, crickets, fresh roe, cricket, ect. They have big mouths for a reason. For health feed a good pelet regularly, but don't worry about how often you feed krill. I'm sure wild oscars will eat them every day during a hatch. I think the shells are good rufage for their GI track. 
When I go ice fishing, I clean perch and seperate the roe. It is high in fat and really messy, but my O' seems to enjoy it. However; it does seem to bring out the most aggresive side of his behavior.


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## twohuskies (Mar 1, 2008)

Thanks everyone for letting me know I hadn't really _hurt_ my O...just being too indulgent. 

His staple food is NLS jumbo pellets. The krill is a "bedtime snack". I also give him frozen, human salad shrimp, etc.

This O was a rescue from a 10G prison about 4-5 months ago. :x I got him at about 4.5", and he's now a beefy 8.5" in a 100G tank. :fish: I'll cut the krill down to 1-2X per week and give him "other" treats. Last night, his bedtime snack was a few more NLS jumbo pellets. He ate them, but kept looking at the top of the tank for the "good stuff". :lol:


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## Morpheus (Nov 12, 2008)

LSBoost said:


> If a lot of food is going out of its gill I would take it that it's super full and should not be fed anymore.


This is simply not true. Oscars are notoriously messy eaters. If I judged how full he was by the amount of food coming out of his gills, he'd never get more than one pellet each feeding. A better way to judge feedings is how he goes after the food. When he stops aggressively looking for more, or swims to the other end of the tank, I know he is done eating. Sometimes this can be two pellets. Sometimes it can be 10.


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

^---Mine's always aggressively looking for more. He will bite the top/surface water making noise to get my attention. I notice that when I'm not in the room it just swim around but when I'm in its always aggressively looking for food. I've tried overfeeding before but it does the same thing. So, I guess it depend on the individual oscars. When it's fuller, I notice more food come out of its gills.

_Remember that all these advice is just from my opinion and experience, I've done my fair share of research and kept healthy angel fish, JD, GT, Koi/Goldfish (in the pond). To me water quality is more important then feeding.
_
If you want to feed a lot. Just feed less each times but more often. That's what I do on weekends when I'm home more often.

I never do 50% water changes often. To me water change is mainly to reduce nitrate. When you do that much water change the nitrate drop rapidly (not a good thing you want to slowly drop it, make the curve smooth).

*DJ823* - I recently got the mini hikari gold pellet instead of the large. It looks like it consume it better. Not as much food go out the gill. I'll just feed the large one to the JD and GTs. I'm also feeding it the shrimp mix that I make, it loves it but its alittle more messy than pellets (so I just give it as a treat ~3 times a week).

_Update: I got my Oscar at the beginning of Feb this year. Remember that she was all beaten up when the fish lady scoop her out. Most of the minor injury healed within 2 weeks. Still got a tiny hole under the gill. It was ~2.5 inches, within a few weeks it got to 3 inches and now it is officially 4 inches. I just measure with the ruler yesterday. (All my measurement included the tail). My severum and SD also got bigger._


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Thanks for all the advice guys you truly are helping me get more experience in the Oscar field. But my one question is do you guys ever fast your Oscars once a week? I started to notice a bulge in his belly here and there when I first got him and then when I let him fast 1 time during the week it seemed to go away and he was fine. Any thoughts?


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## adam79 (Jun 27, 2007)

Yup, I don't feed on my water change day. Plus, if I leave town I won't have anyone feed my fish unless it is over a week before I return.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

I hear ya adam.


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## Morpheus (Nov 12, 2008)

I've had him for almost a year and a half and I've never fasted him. That being said, there are days when he is just not in the mood to eat much, maybe 3 or 4 pellets (Hikari Cichlid Gold).


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Gotcha Morpheus. I've fed him 6 Hikari Gold Pellets today medium sized. I don't want to overfeed and that has been suggested to me by a couple of people on here. How big is your O? And thanks for responding. :thumb:


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## Morpheus (Nov 12, 2008)

He is about 13". For almost his entire life, he has been fed twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. And like I said, I feed him until he "shows" me he is full. When he is hungry, he will swim a few inches below the surface of the water, looking up at where he knows I am going to be dropping the pellets. I know he is full when he either quits looking up for more food, or he will swim to the other end of the tank.

He has been almost exclusively on the Hikari pellets. I have tried others, even the Cichlid Staple, and he simply will not eat them. He gets a treat twice a week of frozen bloodworms. And lettuce is the only vegetable I have been able to get him to eat.

Now, with feeding him twice daily, I obviously had to adjust my water change schedule accordingly. What goes in must come out! So I do 50% water changes every fourth day, without fail.

But I will say, since he has hit adulthood, he has slowed down quite a bit in how much he eats. When he was 6-10", it was nothing for him to eat 10 or 12 pellets twice a day. Now that he is full grown, he only eats 4-5 per feeding.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Thanks for the info Morpheus! Only more advice from an O expert! My O is about 4 inches now and I'm doing everything you are telling me and more. I want my guy to grow up just like yours. I'm just a little worried about overfeeding. I notice he's always hungry and I made the switch to the medium sized Hikari this week and he loves them. I'm sticking to 6 to 7 a day. I notice he seems to get a little bit of a bulge where the bottom of his mouth ends and the middle of his body where the lower dorsal fins are. But by the next day he is fine and it goes down. I'm guessing this is normal and just his way of digesting the food? I'm going to try the once in the morning and then once in the evening instead of like a couple here and there every couple of hours like I've been experimenting with. I appreciate all your advice and what do you think of all this? Congrats on your big guy to! =D>


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

Sound like 6-7 pellets a day is right for your oscar DJ, a little bulking is nothing for oscar. Especially when they're in their growing age. Morph said 10-12 pellet a day for a 6-10 inch oscar and that sound about perfect. So just make your transition to 10 pellet from your current 6-7 pellets as your oscar grow.

Like I said before there's nothing wrong with feeding it multiple times as long as you still stick to the same amount of food per day.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Thanks Boost I really appreciate your guy's help thanks! Just did my first water change in the big tank and I'll tell you the sand saves so much time. I just lifted all the decorations up and the poo was right on top sucked that up in the syphon tube. Rinsed my filter sponges on my AC's I still took out about 20 gallons even though when I was done intially it was only 5 I figured the more fresh water the better. I'm using prime with my water changes and Tiger couldn't be happier. I'm also keeping and eye on the tank through out the week and if I see a little here and there I will remove it as fast as I can. Still sticking to my weekly water change though.


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

:thumb:


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

I got some guppies today and that was a snack for tiger! Man he didn't waste any time in catching those guys I gave him 3. It was really cool to see my Oscar eat up those baby guppies like they were nothing like I've seen in many videos. I'll take another picture so you guys can see the update. Have a great weekend guys!


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

Dude, feeder fish is really bad for your oscar and contain no nutritional value only a lot of fat. They also carry disease to your tank. It's the worst thing you can do to your fish.


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## adam79 (Jun 27, 2007)

LSBoost said:


> Dude, feeder fish is really bad for your oscar and contain no nutritional value only a lot of fat. They also carry disease to your tank. It's the worst thing you can do to your fish.


Any fish can carry disease into your tank. Common comet goldfish used as feeder fish are usual bred on large scale farms and can be host to many nasty things. I'm not sure if that applies to guppies. It's true that feeder comets offer little nutritional value, I'm not sure about guppies. I'm not sure if guppies and oscar habitats overlap, but if they do I'm sure oscars eat a few in the wild. The problem is the source. Any thing bred for quanity is more capable of packing disease. The truth is oscar don't eat a lot of fish in wild. they are too lazy, slow and clumsey Crustaceans, insects, worms, and anything that presents itself as an easy meal is on the main menu. 
If you want to do live feed, maybe raise your own feeder guppies or shrimp. Just a side note, I fee feeder comets to my fish for several years before I informed that I shouldn't. I never had a related problem


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## adam79 (Jun 27, 2007)

LSBoost said:


> Dude, feeder fish is really bad for your oscar and contain no nutritional value only a lot of fat. They also carry disease to your tank. It's the worst thing you can do to your fish.


Any fish can carry disease into your tank. Common comet goldfish used as feeder fish are usual bred on large scale farms and can be host to many nasty things. I'm not sure if that applies to guppies. It's true that feeder comets offer little nutritional value, I'm not sure about guppies. I'm not sure if guppies and oscar habitats overlap, but if they do I'm sure oscars eat a few in the wild. The problem is the source. Any thing bred for quanity is more capable of packing disease. The truth is oscar don't eat a lot of fish in wild. they are too lazy, slow and clumsey Crustaceans, insects, worms, and anything that presents itself as an easy meal is on the main menu. 
If you want to do live feed, maybe raise your own feeder guppies or shrimp. Just a side note, I fee feeder comets to my fish for several years before I informed that I shouldn't. I never had a related problem


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Boost the guy at my LFS told me the guppies were safe and to stay away from goldfish and only use guppies and another one I forget thinking..... rosey reds? Something close to that. I'm not going to do it all the time. I just wanted to see what it was like and he said they were perfectly safe. I understand what you are saying and I appreciate it bro. It was a once in a lifetime thing I wanted to try.


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

It's all good, next time you need to put it in a bucket or small tank and observe them to see if they carry any ick, or other external/internal parasites. Put salt in the bucket to help kill some of the possible present of parasite or bacteria (2 table spoon for every 5 gallon, you can use table salt without iodize to save some pennies). Observe their behavior and see if anything is wrong with them. The longer you observe them the better (24-30 days is good but I know we don't want to wait that long). This is how most people introduce new fish to their tank without risking too much.

An alternative is to have a 20L tank and breed convicts. Anything you breed will be much safer then getting them from the store.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

:thumb: Thanks bro!


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## Chicklette (Mar 4, 2010)

I used to have a red devil that would soak me when I lifted the lid up to feed him. He literally got water all over me and my carpet. It was hilarious. He acted like I starved him.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Man that would have been a great video for youtube! :lol:


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

My green terror soaked me today so I know how you feel. I jumped but wasn't fast enough :lol:


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

:lol: Another victim!


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## Chicklette (Mar 4, 2010)

lol Cichlids, gotta love them. :lol:


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