# Feeding Oscars Shrimp?



## Bam204

How is everyone...

I am new to the forums, but not new to the hobby. I have read in a few forums, that you can feed your oscars frozen shrimp. I do not have oscars right now , but raised two for about 5 years and then had to get rid of them because I moved, and plan on doing it again soon. I always fed my oscars hikari cichlid pellets and the ocassional feeder gold for treats. So 9i was wondering what kind of shrimp can u feed oscars? Frozen shrimp for the gorcery store? If that is the case are they raw or cooked?

Thanks guys,

Bam204


----------



## clgkag

frozen raw with the shell removed, you can cut it in smaller pieces for smaller fish


----------



## Bam204

Would you reccomend only as a treat?


----------



## Izzydawg

I feed it to mine every couple of days, they love it.
They also like prawns too


----------



## moneygetter1

> Would you reccomend only as a treat?


 8) 75% of the 'O's diet should be a 'quality pellet, 25% treats & supplements. Shrimp is a fine treat. I also give mine freeze dried krill, algae & spirulina wafers, live crickets & earthworms, boiled peas. Btw my pellet is http://www.dainichi.com/cichlid_food_ultima.html . OK, yes my fish are spoiled but if you were captive wouldn't you wanna be. :lol: :lol: "T"


----------



## Al'Thor

Bam204 said:


> How is everyone...


Fine, thanks. 



Bam204 said:


> I always fed my oscars hikari cichlid pellets and the ocassional feeder gold for treats.


I agree with the others on the shrimp. But I would avoid using goldfish as treats. More often than not they come with disease and can be harmful to your fish. Also, they are coldwater fish with higher fat content and thiaminase which is difficult for your Oscar to process. If you are going to use feeders, I would recommend tropical fish such as guppies, platys, mollies, or something like convict fry. And always quarantine feeders to ensure optimum health before feeding.


----------



## TheFishGuy

I'm not sure if anyone has said it, but make sure to rinse the shrimp well after it thaws or after you cut it up or the small particles will destroy your water quality.


----------



## Bam204

Thank you to everyone for the very helpful information, I really appreciate it. WHat do you guys think about the Hikari Gold Pellets?


----------



## Izzydawg

My cichlids really like it and I think it does a great job growing them.


----------



## Matt54

...they love Ghost shrimp, when they are small...


----------



## Spankbelly2

And live snails (in the shell), worms,slugs, crickets, anything you see in the reptile live food section can be used as breeding stock for a renewable cheap variety. Super worms are too tough for small Oscars.
You can keep a 10 gal tank or smaller just to make new Apple snails. A covered bucket and air stone, or not, will do. They lay eggs by the hundreds. But you need a boy and a girl. Unlike other snails. Red shrimp are easy to breed.
If you have a few small containers of different things going, different kinds of worms: earth worms,meal worms,crickets, maybe roaches (I can't find any in Alberta) and they really love the adult meal worm beetles it is pretty low maintenance. And can be interesting.
And the snail tank is a good place to grow baby Convict feeders. Snail poop + duck weed = food for little critters that little fishes eat. And the weed cleans the water. And grows more weed to feed other kinds of fish. Or skip the mid sized Cons and drop some cheap feeder guppies in there, Or Fat Head minnows. To make new clean feeders, quarantine any pet shop feeders for 3-4 weeks. They are always diseased. 
Or I go to the grocery store in china town. They have the cheapest frozen fish/shrimp. Skip the pet store for frozen fish. Skip the pet store when you can. Way too $. Check out pool suppliers for your chemicals and tests. And hardware store for everything else.
Sorry I'm cheap.
I think if you give them anything live you should breed it yourself. Don't take worms from the sidewalk after it rains. You don't know what pesticides people are spraying on their lawn. And God knows what's floating in the river.
And all this stuff makes it self once you buy a few starters. Why pay for it? Especially in the amounts a big Oscar eats. $5 of worms+a cup of bran+ an orange slice=cheap food forever.
And it's good for them. Wild ones eat more bugs than fish.


----------

