Massivore and Cichlids?

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Wait wait wait. First off, oscar eating fish that have vegetable matter in their bellies doesnt make an oscar an omnivore.....it is still a carnivore. If it is an omnivore what are some of the vegetarian foods it would eat in the wild? Algae? I not dissagreeing just want examples. Also, I remember watching a video on youtube about discus and how they mostly need mainly protein even though they eat plants and algae in the wild. The argument was they weren't eating the plants for the plant matter but the small protein rich critters living within the plant. Not sure if this applies to oscars, viejas, and other large cichlids etc but just putting that out there. Btw I feed omega one sinking algae pellets to them too once in a while for veggies, but they seem to hate it
 
we going to have to agree to disagree on the oscars, :)
 
The link seems to match up with the stomach analysis of wild oscars I've read ... I was about to mention the fruit but the link covered it. They are indeed considered omnivores since the fruit content is within a certain percentage of the insects/crustaceans, if the percentage were greater they'd be listed insectivores (believe it or not, most pike cichlids fall into that category. Blew my mind when I read the breakdown of their stomach contents).
 
Lets ask where does info regarding whats best for Oscars come from? I suggest it comes from those fishkeepers who have raised and grown Oscars to their maximum potential of size, color and longevity. Of the 6 figure member base of this forum, I wonder how many have been keeping Oscars well over 40 years? I have. Got my first Oscar in 1970. It lived 14yrs and was 14ins when it passed. In these many decades I have probably had 20 or more Oscars. I've grown them to 16ins and had some live 15yrs. I currently have 5, 4 well over a foot long, none over 3yrs old. The 3 keys to successful Oscar keeping are tankspace, pristine water and a varied quality diet, that does include a pellet staple, but also very important is veg matter and significant vitamin supplement. This thread was opened as a Massivore query. I buy Massivore in bulk, my Dovii, Jag, Tex, Midevil, JD's get a good amount of it. Oscars may get a few pellets per month. It is not a food designed for Oscars, and if offered to them on a regular basis will cause intestinal problems somewhere down the line.
 
:headbang2
 
suprd71 said:
Lets ask where does info regarding whats best for Oscars come from? I suggest it comes from those fishkeepers who have raised and grown Oscars to their maximum potential of size, color and longevity. Of the 6 figure member base of this forum, I wonder how many have been keeping Oscars well over 40 years? I have. Got my first Oscar in 1970. It lived 14yrs and was 14ins when it passed. In these many decades I have probably had 20 or more Oscars. I've grown them to 16ins and had some live 15yrs. I currently have 5, 4 well over a foot long, none over 3yrs old. The 3 keys to successful Oscar keeping are tankspace, pristine water and a varied quality diet, that does include a pellet staple, but also very important is veg matter and significant vitamin supplement. This thread was opened as a Massivore query. I buy Massivore in bulk, my Dovii, Jag, Tex, Midevil, JD's get a good amount of it. Oscars may get a few pellets per month. It is not a food designed for Oscars, and if offered to them on a regular basis will cause intestinal problems somewhere down the line.
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Can you please give some specifics on the vegetable matter?
 
Empyreal said:
Can you please give some specifics on the vegetable matter?
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Shelled green peas are most common. I have a couple that will eat green peppers, very high vitC content. Any green veg really. If fish wont eat raw veg, and I've had plenty that just wont, get a spirulina based pellet. Lately I have been using Omega1 kelp pellets. You can also get spirulina powder from any health food store. Sprinkle on damp foods like raw shrimp or tilapia chunks. For vitamin I use Boyd's VitaChem. They are discontinuing the fresh water type though, and are combining the marine and fresh into one good for all fish product. Seachem Nourish also a good product. My Oscars diet consists of Omega1 pellets as the staple, say 75%. The rest is a mix of fd krill, veg based pellet, shrimp and tilapia, earthworms, and the odd Massivore pellet as a treat. I use vitamin supplement with about half their feed. I also keep a few plecos, and Oscars usually steal some algae wafers from them too. No harm there either.
 
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