After receiving a lot of good advice here in the thread https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/oscar-ok-in-bare-tank.711966/ I wanted to thank the MFKs, particularly Duanes, Rocksor and Tlindsey for their assistance with this fish. So thank you all, and I thought I'd post an update thread on my Oscar.
We've had Felix over 2 years now and he has certainly lived up to the Puppyfish reputation. Except for a brief case of worms and a light case of fluff on his left pectoral, he's been healthy and growing steadily.
He's now over 11", and this summer I bumped him up to a custom built 75g acrylic tank with a custom concealed 20g sump.
He's been living alone except for a stray worm or snail, but I did give up the bare bottom business once I got a better sump set up.
He now has some gravel and plants, plus foam filters to bite, and a small log he bites chunks off of for amusement.
I've been feeding him a variety of cichlid foods, snails and worms, but lately he won't eat most foods, and subsists on pet store meal worms and Fluval Bug Bites pellets. I was considering raising crayfish to feed him, but that never happened.
On Christmas I gave him a dozen feeder fish, and this was the first time I'd fed him live fish. They were 1~1.25" Dalmatian mollies from my overpopulated 40g grow-out and brackish sump.
In 5 days he's hunted down and consumed 8 of them and has lost all interest in other food. He's only eaten a few mealworms in 5 days, though they are his favorite food and he usually consumes 50 a week plus some pellets.
At first he was confused. He's never had other fish in his tank since I removed Pepper the Pleco from his tank over a year back. (Too much fighting!)
Eventually he figured it out, and although he spit out the first fish caught, he fully consumed the next five.
There are still four Mollies surviving in Felix's tank, and they are hanging out under the filters where it is difficult for him to reach. They have plenty to eat there underneath the filters and so this could be a standoff that continues for quite some time.
We've had Felix over 2 years now and he has certainly lived up to the Puppyfish reputation. Except for a brief case of worms and a light case of fluff on his left pectoral, he's been healthy and growing steadily.
He's now over 11", and this summer I bumped him up to a custom built 75g acrylic tank with a custom concealed 20g sump.
He's been living alone except for a stray worm or snail, but I did give up the bare bottom business once I got a better sump set up.
He now has some gravel and plants, plus foam filters to bite, and a small log he bites chunks off of for amusement.
I've been feeding him a variety of cichlid foods, snails and worms, but lately he won't eat most foods, and subsists on pet store meal worms and Fluval Bug Bites pellets. I was considering raising crayfish to feed him, but that never happened.
On Christmas I gave him a dozen feeder fish, and this was the first time I'd fed him live fish. They were 1~1.25" Dalmatian mollies from my overpopulated 40g grow-out and brackish sump.
In 5 days he's hunted down and consumed 8 of them and has lost all interest in other food. He's only eaten a few mealworms in 5 days, though they are his favorite food and he usually consumes 50 a week plus some pellets.
At first he was confused. He's never had other fish in his tank since I removed Pepper the Pleco from his tank over a year back. (Too much fighting!)
Eventually he figured it out, and although he spit out the first fish caught, he fully consumed the next five.
There are still four Mollies surviving in Felix's tank, and they are hanging out under the filters where it is difficult for him to reach. They have plenty to eat there underneath the filters and so this could be a standoff that continues for quite some time.
