Welcome to Gaia! ::

S.A_Poppet- "MINIMUM tank size should be atleast 75g.. any thing bigger is better. Oscars are expensive fish to keep, so make sure you have enough money to support this fish to adulthood and longer. Also dont feed live feeder fish, they can be packed full of parasites that will be passed on to your fish, and they dont have a good amount of neutriant to be a staple diat. I recommend Hikari oscar sticks/cichlid sticks(or pellets) "


Irrlich-"I think that if you breed or at least quarentine your own feeders parasites and dissease may not be a problem though, even if it's a bit of an extra investment.
Oh I think I read some where once that it's best not to use gold fish as feeders, something about them being too fat or having too much proteins. It goes back to the same argument why goldfish food isn' good for tropical fish. But I'm not too sure on this information. "



S.A_poppet-"feeders in general shouldn't be fed, its really a waste of money, and its not ethical. They provide very little nutrition to any type of fish they are being fed to, not just tropical. Also, there really isn't such a thing as to much protein, though the better pelleted foods have around 45% protein(which is a good amount). To much fat can be a problem;however, and can lead to fatty liver disease, and fatty tumors. Again I really recommend Hikari brand pellets or stick, they are made specifically for large cichlids like Oscars."


Irrilich-"I don't support a diet based on feeders only eighter. To me it's a treat for the fish. Once in a while my fish would get something to else, like bloodworms, peas, eggyolk, brine shrimp or feederfish. I even dug up ant eggs for the fish a few times when I began, but soon stopped with that when I became aware of the risks.
I have never actually purchased feeders. The fish I used as feeders were usually guppy and other live breeder fry I was culling.

Thanks for clearing up the protein vs fat thing for me though. ^^
I never used Hikari, they didn't sell it where I lived. It was Tetra Min or Wardly. I prefer Tetra Min. "



S.A_poppet-"D: they dont sell Hikari??? wow, I'm sorry lol. yeah give a variaty too, I keep walterworm( for the fry), and black worm cultures, as well as frozen brine shrimp, blood worms, mysis shrimp, along with the occasional pea, and their every day food is Hikari micro pellets. (bettas loooovvvee the stuff). My goldies get a japanese brand gold fish pellet ( I cant read the name, its in characters).

Yeah, MAYBE if you quarentine or breed your own feeders it would be ok maybe once a month (though I would feed rosie red minnows, insted of goldies). I love fish husbandry, Im allways learning too, I only started like 3 years ago XD but I read alot.. like A LOT alot >.<

lol I hope the OP doesn't mined our little tangent. Maybe I should start a separate thread. "

I just wanted to share this because it DOES matter what you feed your fish. Make sure you give your fish a variaty of healthy foods.

NEVER feed your fish bugs you catch out side, they may have been exposed to pesticides that may harm your fish ( The ant eggs are ok because they were dug up and weren't previously exposed to the outside world)

Make sure your fish don't over eat, but also make sure they are well fed. Under weight fish are more susceptible to illnesses and the like.

__If any other mods see typos in here please feel free to edit 3nodding


EDIT: -part time ninja-

Hello my guildies. I read into this and it is true for the most part. Goldfish and rosy reds are TERRIBLE to feed any tropical fish. However live bearers are often a good choice, when done FEW AND FAR BETWEEN or for fish that simply will not eat frozen. Some don't. However never, NEVER feed goldfish or rosy red minnows. <3 ....and for the love of god, do not throw guppies into salt water tanks, it drive me insane. Only feed what would be NATURAL in the way of live fish.

Thanks for the info ^^

you guys are more than welcome to add on what you know. links are very welcome too. he more info we can provide the better.

Goldfish are a goood once in a while treat. Whenever feeders are fed ocasianaly, they should be rosy red/ fathead minnows. Better yet, Crickets.