Oscars?

Question
I just bought an Oscar that is approx. 9 inches long.  What is best for feeding him?  Thanks!

Ryan

Answer
Hi Ryan.  Congrats on the new Oscar.  Take care of this guy, they are AWESOME fish! I had one who we gave a ping-pong ball to, and it floated at the top (of course) and he used to push it around with his nose to play with it!  They are quite comical and will redecorate his tank no matter what you do!!

As far as feeding them, you know they are primarily carnivorous.  In the wild they prefer live foods, but feeding live foods in an aquarium is not a good idea, as the feeder fish they sell to feed to these types of fish tend to be full of disease and aren't very nutritious.  Your best bet is to feed him processed or frozen foods. Blended beef heart, earthworms, shrimps as well as cichlid pellets, peas and lettuce are all good foods to keep your Oscar on a balanced diet. An Oscar needs a variety of foods with high protein in order to stay healthy.  It is extremely important not to overfeed. These guys produce a lot of waste as it is and adding excess food can muss up your tank very quickly.  Only feed him what he can eat in about 3 minutes (after he starts eating).  You should scoop out any food he didn't eat with a net, along with any other messes floating around.

This is unsolicited advice, but please listen closely, as this is so so important in order to keep your Oscar happy and healthy.  You REALLY need to be dedicated to tank maintenance for these guys.  Believe it or not, the slightest change of water conditions can bring on illness.  I would also invest in a master water test kit and test your water weekly.  Here is a site on the proper cleaning and tank maintenance:  http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_cleaning.html  This site is owned and maintained by a friend of mine. It is so full of information on so many things, it will make your head spin!  He's in the aquarium maintenance business and he has compiled all of his information over 28 years of experience and experimentation.  I would also suggest you look at the products he sells, in particular the "Wonder Shell and Medicated Wonder Shell".  I keep these in all of my tanks, and have had wonderful results.  I hope you enjoy the site.

Also, here is a few websites on Oscars and their care. If I were you I would keep these in your favorites, as they will come in handy at some point, I can promise that:  http://www.worldcichlids.com/faqs/oscarfaq.html and http://www.firsttankguide.net/oscar.php and http://www.aquariumguys.com/oscar-fish-care-article.html

I hope I've been able to help you out.  I went through all of this because I really do love Oscars, and they really are a handful to keep healthy and happy.  Not so much when they are little, but when they get bigger.  You also didn't mention what size tank you had him in either.  I would hope that is was no smaller then a 75 gallon, 100 gallon being even better. Anything smaller and you may stunt his growth, which leads to a shorter lifespan.  The sites above will have more info on this in them.  I had a 2 plecos in the tank with my Oscar and never had a problem with the 3 together.  They grew up together.  So, if you do get a pleco (great to help clean up the mess from the Oscar), make sure they are about the same size so that the Oscar doesn't pick on them.

Best of luck to you.  I'm here to help if you have any more questions!  ;o)