Oscar advice (first time oscar keeper)

[Adamw1109]

Hi guys, New to this forum and keeping Oscars.

I have kept Malawi up until last week (Wednesday) when I switched to Oscars. I have two Oscars in a 140 gallon tank that are both approximately 1.5 - 2" in size. Both fairly active, swimming around like normal, coming up for food... but as they are taking their food after a few seconds they are spitting it out nearly every time that I've noticed... one of the Oscars has a very slight concave belly (very slightly compared to the other Oscar). After keeping Malawi, I know with them its a sign of a problem... Is this the case with Oscars or is it fairly normal? With Malawi it can be signs of internal parasites but I don't want to treat the tank if this is normal for Oscars with new homes, so young/small etc etc...

I have tried feeding Northfin cichlid pellet 1mm which they barely even go for, live bloodworm as recommended by my LFS which they show no interest in and frozen shrimp which they will take and spit out.

Water parameters are all fine, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, barely any nitrate, PH is 7.5, tank temp is 26°C (78°F) - Tank as been running a good few years too.

TIA for any help or advice. ?

 

[Oscar Mike]

Spitting out food is a sign the pellets are too big as they are trying to break down and soften the food. You could try NLS .5mm grow formula or Hikari micro pellets. I used the Hikari for my silver dollars at 2-3" because they were spitting out 1mm. My 5" flagtail cannot swallow or chew bigger pellets but the Hikari micro pellets have a coating that I find keeps them hard longer. This allows them to graze on the small granules in the sand. Congrats on your new Oscars and welcome to MFK!

 

[Adamw1109]

Spitting out food is a sign the pellets are too big as they are trying to break down and soften the food. You could try NLS .5mm grow formula or Hikari micro pellets. I used the Hikari for my silver dollars at 2-3" because they were spitting out 1mm. My 5" flagtail cannot swallow or chew bigger pellets but the Hikari micro pellets have a coating that I find keeps them hard longer. This allows them to graze on the small granules in the sand. Congrats on your new Oscars and welcome to MFK!

As said in my post, they don't bother with the pellets... its the frozen shrimp what they spit out (its the little packets of frozen cubes that you dissolve) so can't see it being due to the size of the food. Plus the place I had them from fed them on the exact same Northfin pellet whilst being in stock.

 

[tlindsey]

If the Oscars show interest in food that's a great sign so agree with Oscar Mike . Normally if a fish is infected with intestinal parasites when it poops the poop will be white and stringy looking.

 

[tlindsey]

As said in my post, they don't bother with the pellets... its the frozen shrimp what they spit out (its the little packets of frozen cubes that you dissolve) so can't see it being due to the size of the food. Plus the place I had them from fed them on the exact same Northfin pellet whilst being in stock.

Did you see them eat the Northfin pellets at the lfs? Are you feeding them the Bloodworms that the lfs recommend feeding the Oscars?
Btw Welcome aboard just noticed your a new member.

 

[Adamw1109]

Did you see them eat the Northfin pellets at the lfs? Are you feeding them the Bloodworms that the lfs recommend feeding the Oscars?
Btw Welcome aboard just noticed your a new member.

No I didn't, I have tried the bloodworms... they went to it to feed and turned their noses up at it ?
The most they have done regarding feeding is take the tiny shrimp which they take for a few seconds then spit back out.

 

[Oscar Mike]

No I didn't, I have tried the bloodworms... they went to it to feed and turned their noses up at it ?
The most they have done regarding feeding is take the tiny shrimp which they take for a few seconds then spit back out.

You could try soaking the food in garlic. If that doesn't work or they start showing other signs of parasites treat with metro and levamisole, or you can try feeding hex shield soaked in garlic or epsom salt if they will eat it.

 

[tlindsey]

No I didn't, I have tried the bloodworms... they went to it to feed and turned their noses up at it ?
The most they have done regarding feeding is take the tiny shrimp which they take for a few seconds then spit back out.

Don't ever trust what lfs tell you especially about what they were feeding their fish. It's about the sale believe me I worked for a couple of them.

 

[Chief Tom]

That's why I don't get upset when Elvis eats a dither fish. About the same price as the massivore godzilla pellets the lfs told me was "the best" food for him. He also told me my fish wasn't aggressive. Pfft!

 

[CombatWombat]

This sounds so odd... I have owned 4 oscars, have one now. Every single one of them ate everything that fell into water, let alone the fish crack that is bloodworms. The only time I had an oscar not actually eat was when he was really sick. If I had an oscar that didn't eat bloodworms I would be extremely worried. How long have you had them in your tank for?

I have seen picky fish before, but none of them refused bloodworms.