Oscar not eating

Question
I have had an oscar for about a year now, he has grown very quickly and is about 8 inches long.  lately, and very odd for his character, he has not been eating ANYTHING i put in the tank.  i have tried his regular food (cichlid pellets), cichlid sticks, blood worms and even goldfish that i feed him on occasion.  he puts them in his mouth, chews a LITTLE and then spits them out.  this has been going on for about two weeks now.  what do i do?  whats wrong with him, there is no signs of any physical damage or sickness, and his top fin is up which i heard means that they are healthy.  thanks!

Answer
Hi Blair,
 It is not a good idea to feed your oscar with goldfish. They almost always carry nasty parasites which infect the oscar.  This is likely why your oscar is not eating, in essence he has a stomach ache.  Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about this.  Hopefully, he will handle it on his own and start feeding again. Please don't feed him any more goldfish.


-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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