"Mark Stone" wrote in message
om...
"NetMax" wrote in message
m...

I don't know why Tim would advise against feeding tubifex worms, but
it
probably has something to do with HITH (hole in the head) which is a
disease which more commonly affects large fish like Oscars. The
conclusive cause for HITH had not been determined, with the evidence
pointing to poor diet (vitamin/mineral deficiencies), and/or
parasites
and/or water quality, and more probably, some combination of the
three.
Tubifex worms naturally exist in a very dirty environment (mostly
bacterially), so there is reasonable concern that they might be a
carrier
for HITH. I think Hikari irradiates their tubifex worms, and
freeze-dried worms might not present a problem (I don't know). In
any
case, tubifex worms quickly become too small to be of interest to
large
carnivores. hth

NetMax

My Oscars, even the large fellers, haven't lost interest in the
tubifex cubes! I haven't seen an Oscar that has lost interest in ANY
edible item, regardless of size! :-)

I knew I could count on you to provide Oscar feedback, and with a bit of
humour too. Note that I said 'worms' and not 'cubes' ;~)

I feed tubifex to Oscars as a treat and they seem to love the cubes.
My only concern is that quite a lot of the worms come back out through
the gills, so if there is not a good schedule of aquarium maintenance
in place the water could foul up -- so I would advise a newbie to the
world of Oscars to avoid it until he or she has mastered the extra
work involved in keeping Oscars. However, in my experience, there's
nothing wrong in regards quality or cleanliness with the cubes that
are out on the market. --Mark

Someone should market Oscar 'hamburgers', about 1.5 cu.in. squares of a
variety of raw meats with extra vitamins and fibre (which would not come
apart until well down their gut).

NetMax