Feeding Oscars/JD's

[Myarbro]

I have 2 very young Tiger Oscars and a very young Jack Dempsey. Both just a hair over an inch. They are all 3 very friendly with each other and constantly swim together and play. Competition for food is not an issue.

I was curious as to how often I should feed them. Currently they are on a flake and blood worm diet. I really do not want to over feed them because I am sure their are some dangers involved in doing so.

So...

How often to feed them?
What are the dangers of over feeding?
At this age, should I just stick with the cichlid flakes and blood worms?

Much appreciated peeps!

 

[McFall]

I have read many times that pellet is the best diet for oscars/dempseys. I have jack dempseys and oscars as well, and i feed them twice a day its very obvious to see in these fish when their bellies are full they start to grow a little bulge. My oscar actually loses interest in the pellets and just swims to the bottom of the tank. The dempseys on the other hand will eat till they explode.

 

[Myarbro]

Thank you for the advice! I will need to cut back then. I can tell that the JD already has a big belly. I was planning on moving their diet from flakes to pellets here soon. I use flakes because that is what I was feeding the hardy fish I used to cycle the tank. Now I am curious as to what to do with these cycle fish. Maybe the store will take them back.

 

[Conor1148]

make sure you get your oscars a high quality vegetable based pellet as soon as you can. the vegetable based food has less fillers, which means they get more use out of the food and they are less prone to illness.

hikari makes mini-pellets, i would try their stuff. also, make sure you get floating stuff or you'll be vacuuming alot of food out.

dont know much about JDs, sorry.

 

[thedarkone]

Omega one cichlid flakes, cichlid pellets, and Veggie flakes are excellent for both Oscars and JDs. When they get bigger you can add insects & fresh seafood to their diet. I usually feed mine seafood and insects one a week or once biweekly.

 

[Michelle&Devon]

There are lots of really great Beef Heart Recipes on the web. We always used beefheart with vegetables and vitamins some other things in it. and it always worked great for us. Our JD never overate. We would feed our 2 oscars, Jack Dempsy, and 2 Convicts twice a day and they were the healthiest looking fish I've ever seen. If you powerfeed your oscars they are going to grow really fast so keep that in mind. I dont think that your oscars should have to go hungry because the JD is eating too much. Oscars will stop when they are full. Best of Luck

 

[Myarbro]

I am browsing the Hikari site at the moment. I assume I should be looking under what they have for Cichlids? I am ruling out any sinking foods as one of you suggested.

This is what I am finding...

Cichlid Bio-Gold (Mini Pelletes) - Seems to be more meat based. High protein with a wide range of vitamins.
http://www.hikariusa.com/products/cichlid/cichlid_bio-gold+.php

Cichlid Gold (Baby or Mini Pellets) - Similar to Bio-Gold
http://www.hikariusa.com/products/cichlid/cichlid_gold.php

Cichlid Staple (Baby or Mini Pellets)
http://www.hikariusa.com/products/cichlid/cichlid_staple.php

Either of these 3 work to replace their flake diet? I am having some difficulty finding some Hikari Vegy foods. If anyone can link it for me I would be in your debt!!

Also, after reading more into blood worms, I am going to reduce the number of times I feed them these and make them more of a treat. Any other frozen foods you would suggest?

 

[McFall]

I use Hikari Gold and Staple - baby pellets

 

[pjsmetana]

...

1) How often to feed them?
2) What are the dangers of over feeding?
3) At this age, should I just stick with the cichlid flakes and blood worms?

1) Until they reach 1.5 - 2 inches, I'd say small amounts 2x a day, then 1x daily till 3 - 4 inches, followed by 1x every 2nd - 3rd day when larger. After 6 inches I couldn't tell you yet.

2) Nasty water conditions, which can lead to HITH. Remember, a fishes stomach is about the size of its eyes.

3) Should? IDK. Can? yeah. Personally I would keep the flakes going for a while and slowly move up to small pellets when they can actually eat them.

I started giving my Red Oscar (which I raised from 1") french cut green beans 1x a week at 2" and started giving it live food as treats about 1x a month. Now he (I assume "he") gets all sorts of excited when he knows its time to play with some Mollys/Swordtails. He even starts jumping out of the water when he knows its time. If I'm late he will bite me when I put my hand in the water. Good thing O's don't have teeth