Are all big cichlids messy eaters?

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M

Minus2003

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Oct 10, 2006
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St. George, SC
I have an oscar and I need to clean his mess after every feeding. I used to have a JD that didn't make near the mess as this O. With these two being my only expefiences, I was just wondering if all big cichlids were messy like my oscar?

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Not all of them. Oscars are notoriously messy eaters.
 
Oscars are known for being very messy eaters.. they take the food in ..spit it out and eat it again .. several times.. sort of playing with their food first.. very messy eaters.. and they need very clean water to keep them free of disease... so it is a battle.. but Oscars have such great personality that it is worth all the trouble..
 
IDK if this helps you, but I noticed that the uneaten pellets fatten up and make less of a mess. Because its soft and clumpy. Fresh, dry pellets will crumble into tiny pieces.

So, perhap soak your pellets for a bit until fattened, then feed. Good Luck
 
Yeah, i always heard they were messy, just didn't realize how messy. He just chews and spits, rarely does he go after what he spits out but he must cause he grew pretty fast. I don't wanna add any fish to help with the clean up as he is in a 75g.
 
Just do a gravel vac every couple of days.
 
I gravel vac twice a week, but its starting to look like I need to do it every other day.

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Calihawk said:
IDK if this helps you, but I noticed that the uneaten pellets fatten up and make less of a mess. Because its soft and clumpy. Fresh, dry pellets will crumble into tiny pieces.

So, perhap soak your pellets for a bit until fattened, then feed. Good Luck
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this technique also works well for feeding fry, they just bite off little mouthfulls from the mushy pellet. and yes oscars are notoriously messy eaters, someone on here said recently that feeding smaller pellets makes less mess. you should try it out.
 
Try controlled feedings, only give x amount instead of feeding till they seem full cause oscars are pigs and feed only once a day:) it will help on excess build up. And maybe add some bottom feeders to help clean up.
 
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