How much should i feed my Oscars

Question

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Followup To

Question -
I have 2 Oscars in a 56 gallon tank. They are about 4 and 6 inches. I have been feeding them alot since i got them about 3 months ago. They mostly eat small gold fish or silver fish 4-6 each a day. They also eat pellets, brine shrime, night crawlers, shiners, and bugs. Is this an ok diet? and how much should they be getting this stuff. Could this be why my tank gets cloudy every 2-3 days even with weekly changes?

Answer -
Hi Matt,
  The diet sounds great except for one thing.  I would not feed them the live goldfish.  Feeder goldfish almost always carry parasites, in particular, one called ich.  I can't tell you how many people email me because their oscars suddenly got sick and died after eating bad goldfish.  Ich looks like tiny white dots on the fish -- sort of like it has been coated in icing sugar.  

  The amount you feed depends largely on how much they will eat.  You don't want your fish to be fat and be absolutely sure that no uneaten food is piling up in the tank.  That would definitely cause the cloudiness.   

  Do you have a good filter running on the tank?  Oscars tend to be messy eaters and that puts a lot of organic stuff into the water.  Bacteria feed off that and multiply.  The cloudiness is actually a population explosion of the bacteria.  More water changes will definitely help.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>

Would it be ok to feed my oscars rosey reds (tuffies) or no live fish in general. I am running a Tetra power filter wisper 60. plus anything the Oscars miss my blue lobster and pictus grab. all my equipment is 3 months old and i just did a thourough clean to everything and the water is still very cloudy after 50% water change. And also i was told Oscars always act hungry and will eat even when they are not, is this true because mine are ALWAYS acting hungry. thanks for your time.


Answer
Hi Matt,
  Yes, they will always ask for food. That doesn't mean that you should feed them all the time.  

  You can feed them the rosey reds or no live fish. The choice is yours.

  
-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>