Why the gluttonous/ravenous reputation for Oscars?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
B

BassetsForBrown

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Dec 2, 2012
526
45
61
Boston
Most descriptions of Oscars say they are basically food-vacuums. In my own experience, they do in fact eat like savages, but they only consume a very tiny portion of what goes into their mouths. It seems nearly every-other pellet is blown out their gills in pieces, and even if you get lucky and they swallow most of it they still tend to blow out some particles. None of my other Cichlid's approach this level of slobbishness.

Do I just have an unusual Oscar? Anyone else experienced something like this?

Thanks
 
BassetsForBrown said:
Most descriptions of Oscars say they are basically food-vacuums. In my own experience, they do in fact eat like savages, but they only consume a very tiny portion of what goes into their mouths. It seems nearly every-other pellet is blown out their gills in pieces, and even if you get lucky and they swallow most of it they still tend to blow out some particles. None of my other Cichlid's approach this level of slobbishness.

Do I just have an unusual Oscar? Anyone else experienced something like this?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Nope normal Oscar. The reason so much of the pellet gets blown out the gills is the pellet itself is to large. This happens when my fish eat a pellet to large for them to outright swallow.


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Lol it seems my oscar just likes chewing and spitting just for the fun of it.
I have a blue talapia with her that eats a lot more but has better manners. But as stated above the oscar does seem to do better with smaller pellets .
Sent from my LG-L38C using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
yeah i find smaller pellets work well, coupled with more frequent smaller feedings, so they dont stuff their chops.
 
Daonni said:
Lol it seems my oscar just likes chewing and spitting just for the fun of it.
I have a blue talapia with her that eats a lot more but has better manners. But as stated above the oscar does seem to do better with smaller pellets .
Sent from my LG-L38C using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Click to expand...

That's what seems to happen with mine. He enjoys making a mess.
 
live food less mess .Now if they could just oink LOL. They eat so much because they grow so fast my fry grow faster than anything else I have ever spawned
 
Normal O. Like having a fat slob in your tank. Try a smaller pellet so it can swallow whole & not overfeeding if you are. I feed till aggression declines just slightly. I try to keep them a little hungry. Also a full grown oscar can be fed 4-5 times week & be perfectly fine.
 
Nothing unusual about your Oscar. Every Oscar I've ever had over 20+ years has done this with pellets. And when you feed them feeder fish...lots of feeder fish scales get blown out the gills.
 
Not necessarily true. They eat (or atleast need to eat) the same as any other cichlid. Most predatory fish grow fast genetically to get off the menu quicker. Your fish will grow faster with plenty of water changes over feeding it a bunch. I’ve fed my jag, oscar, firemouths, JD’s etc all the same amounts as juvies with all the same food.
 
Reaper13 said:
Normal O. Like having a fat slob in your tank. Try a smaller pellet so it can swallow whole & not overfeeding if you are. I feed till aggression declines just slightly. I try to keep them a little hungry. Also a full grown oscar can be fed 4-5 times week & be perfectly fine.
Click to expand...

4-5 times per week? or did you mean day? if you meant week, would feeding more be harmful so long as its not enough to pollute the tank?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom