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hi folks got my oscars breeding eggs just hatching today but need a bit of advice i know the feed off egg sack for a few days, but what next as a first food????? also should i leave them with the parents do they protect their fry??? help please

sheag

I dont know too much about oscars, but they could eat microworms or daphnia for first meal. Infusoria, using blanched lettuce in tankwater under direct sunlight will work.

After that, i dont know much anymore. Sorry!

Goby

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a cheaper and esier alternative to microworms, dalphina and bbs would be grinded up flakes. they wont grow as fast but is cheaper and easier.

hi
woot woot woot woot woot woot

If you use just ground flake youll get some rough condition oscars, start with aufwuchs, baby brineshrimp, a decent fry formula and liquify, and by week three theyll be taking bloodworm, meaty pellets and ground shellfish and real mashed fish, and you use an additional staple like the hikari cichlid gold sinking pellets and I like to balance it out with the tetra prima as its slow digesting and means you dont have to feed them quite so often. Theyll eat anything by week four, problem over. Skimp or go cheap at the start and the fry will be crap, the die off awful, and the stock quality worthless. You could developmentally damage them for life.

Oscars are primarily carnivores, flake doesnt remotely cover that need.Goes double for the fry once past the liquifry, aufwuch infusoria and decapsulated baby brineshrmp stage.

An oscar is not a molly. I raise literally thousands of primarily carvivorous cichlid fry every year. Feed them crap, you get crap back.Feed them well, and they will probably exceed the health and stature of their own parents, literally , better than anything you can buy in a shop, anywhere.

Actually with my cory fry, I got a frozen bloodworm piece and grated it on the smallest part of the grater. The fry loved it.

Sheag,

I'd like to say congrats on your oscar spawn, and
best of luck with the fry !!!

Excellent response by LHG.

The Amazon Nut...

I agree with Gobyfan...Infusoria works well.

As for the question of leaving them with the parents, it can be a hard one. Some parents are great and they will protect and nurture. Others will eat, especially if they are first timers.

If you want to remove the fry from the tank(to be on the safe side), I would suggest only taking about 2/3rds and leaving the rest in there. If you take them all out, the parents may fight and do some damage to each other.

Hope this helps.