red oscar not eating

he will eat flake. but i've tried 3 brands of cichlid pellets. he
might mouth them, then spit them out. if i feed flakes the other
oscars won't eat pellets, flakes only. also the flakes don't seem
substantial enough to satisfy a largish oscar. what can i do? is he
in a down spiral? i do regular changes, vacuuming, the water is
clear, and all levels are in optimal tolerances. but this has been
going on about 2 months where flakes or nothing. i have a couple
cory's that i don't want eaten. he will eat feeders, but i've heard
feeders are an empty food for tank kept fish, and should only be
occasional food. i have tried krill, bloodworms when he was smaller.
could he have painful gums or something? thanks

sl wrote in message . ..
he will eat flake. but i've tried 3 brands of cichlid pellets. he
might mouth them, then spit them out. if i feed flakes the other
oscars won't eat pellets, flakes only. also the flakes don't seem
substantial enough to satisfy a largish oscar. what can i do? is he
in a down spiral? i do regular changes, vacuuming, the water is
clear, and all levels are in optimal tolerances. but this has been
going on about 2 months where flakes or nothing. i have a couple
cory's that i don't want eaten. he will eat feeders, but i've heard
feeders are an empty food for tank kept fish, and should only be
occasional food. i have tried krill, bloodworms when he was smaller.
could he have painful gums or something? thanks


Still feed him krill and bloodworms. If he is eating flake, then
technically there is no problem. Feeders aren't neccessarily "empty"
food, but you shouldn't just feed feeders. There is a possiblity of
introducing diseases from the feeders. Why not try plain frozen (thaw
if first) shrimp, live ghost shrimp. Try crickets too. If you are
feeding him enough flakes that are high in protien and/or are
formulated for carnivorous fish or cichlids, then he can thrive on
that.

Hope this helps,

--Cookie

thanks for advice, i was gonna try nightcrawlers from a bait supplier.
he had been into them over a year ago, but i got tired of it. and i
didn't think of flakes for cichlids, or it could be ok with high
protein. thought would be small no matter protein content.

An Oscar that won't eat pellets aint hungry enough.

Don't feed them for a while, a few days.. then drop in some pellets and see
if they go for it.

"sl" wrote in message
...
he will eat flake. but i've tried 3 brands of cichlid pellets. he
might mouth them, then spit them out. if i feed flakes the other
oscars won't eat pellets, flakes only. also the flakes don't seem
substantial enough to satisfy a largish oscar. what can i do? is he
in a down spiral? i do regular changes, vacuuming, the water is
clear, and all levels are in optimal tolerances. but this has been
going on about 2 months where flakes or nothing. i have a couple
cory's that i don't want eaten. he will eat feeders, but i've heard
feeders are an empty food for tank kept fish, and should only be
occasional food. i have tried krill, bloodworms when he was smaller.
could he have painful gums or something? thanks

"Charlie Durand" wrote in message
news:bDXnc.24041$xw3.1608684@attbi_s04...
An Oscar that won't eat pellets aint hungry enough.

Don't feed them for a while, a few days.. then drop in some pellets and
see
if they go for it.

unless you're overfeeding them-oscars that won't eat is very odd.- they're
usually really greedy .
i feed mine on 'Hikari' cichlid pellets -medium size for medium siz oscar
7-8 inch or so oscar. i pretty much swear by this quality brand from Japan
but i expect you've probably tried this product.
i feed mine also on frozen prawns which you may want to thaw first as a
supplement and occasional treat though i often end up feeding a whole 400g
bag over a week or two to all the occupants -incl. dolphin shark 10" and
growing v. fast, juvenile oscar and 5inch unusual cichlid-forget name. they
go madder fro prawns than pellets but best to go eeasy on them.-steady-
slight fat content.
also bloodworm and other gamma rad. stuff when i can get it.
wouldn't mind cheap supply of frozen feeder fish
And how about live locusts?(reptile shops probably)

but unsure about this fish-gum problem maybe.??
the hikari brand has all the essential vitmains and minerals and more. try
everything or don't feed for a couple of days then try feeding them
something-
fussiness can be problem if you feed them exclusively too much on something
they love and sometimes just can't get enough of. won't eat certain stuff
if they're constantly used to treats which are'nt the perfect diet anyway