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i was told to give my oscar prawns by a friend as he is very picky!!!

a picky oscar!!!! i hear you say

yes he wont eat pellets i have spend a fortune on all different types of pellets and multi sticks and he wont eat them just clouds guppies and bloodworm which im sure you agree is not the best diet

any ideas on what else i can try him on to give him a good diet that he will enjoy he is about 2 1/2 inch

will the prawns satisfy him and be safe to give him all the time?

the prawns would be bought frozen from the suppermarket in bulk as this would be the cheepist way!!

im trying so hard to keep him happy

Try small earthworms or if using larger nightcrawlers they can be cut up into smaller pieces at this point.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

yeh but my main question is about prawns!!!!

although im gonna go dig up some worms now!!! i'll let you know what hje thinks of them

I have fed prawns to my fish and they love them, of course it is not the only thing that I feed to them, I use them as a treat once a week or so

The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an bacon and egg breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

he wont eat any of the pellet food i give him or multi sticks what can i give him on a regular basis???

what about mealworms??? can i feed them to him all the time? just cut them in half?

yes he wont eat pellets i have spend a fortune on all different types of pellets and multi sticks and he wont eat them just clouds guppies and bloodworm which im sure you agree is not the best diet


Thats the reason why your oscar won't eat anything else.
Just about all live foods will spoil a fish, and will result in alot of trouble weaning your fish back onto dry foods.

Put in a VERY small amount of pellets in his tank, probably 2 or 3 everyday till he starts accepting it, then raise the amount when he starts to eat again. DO NOT FEED ANYTHING ELSE AT THIS TIME. NOTHING at all. Restrain yourself from all the sad faces your oscar will make at you.

An oscar will grow perfectly fine, if not better, without feeding it live fish (guppies, goldfish, clouds, etc). Bloodworms, well, would spoil your fish.

And to answer your question, yes, prawns are great for fish. They can be minced to feed smaller fish or chopped for larger fish. Though this is a little bit messy sometimes and more work, it does contain protein for the fish. At this point though, you'd definetly want to wean your fish OFF of live foods, and foods which are more of a "treat" basis, such as beefheart, brine shrimp, worms, and prawns.

Your fish should have a consistent diet, probably dry food 6 days a week and dry and wet food for 1 or 2 days.

thanks inkodinkomalinko thats the best advice yet i think i will start that 2day after his water change so 6 days a week pellet then can i feed him wet on the 7th ie prawns??

I would make sure he starts eating dry food first on a regular basis before you reintroduce wet food (prawns, etc).

Whenever I feed wet food, I first slightly fill them up with dry food, then the wet food (Usually since fish would ignore dry food for a little bit after they recieve the wet food).

As you continue feeding your oscar, you could gradually feed more "treats" - such as worms, shrimp, etc.

Try not to feed your oscar anymore feeder fish, it just results in alot poop and guts everywhere. I know it's very entertaining to watch them chomp them feeders, but if you do feed it feeders, make sure its minimal and not a large quantity.

Good Luck

Edit: Meal worms arent that great, mainly cause they're just gross and hard to digest.

Last edited by inkodinkomalinko at 05-Jun-2005 00:10

Like toddlers, pout if they don't get their faves and the parent caves. Offer no alternatives and he will come around.

I don't like to feed my fish prawns / fish for human consumption. I think that there is a danger they may not be able to fight off some the nasties it may carry that a human constitution could cope with. High ammonia conent or preservatives. I know it doesn't make sense does it really but a gut instinct.

My cichlids (admittedly not oscars) have turned away when I have tried any offcuts from this sort of thing which makes me think that I might be onto a concept. Animals know what is right for them and not. Although maybe the prawns you are feeding are meant for pet consumption???? In which case ignore my hypothesis.

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

I have feed my fish People shimp for treats and they go nuts for it.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Mm i dont think theres a large or huge amount of ammonia content in the shrimp or fish, cause it'll probably be deadly to us. Ammonia probably would only occur through poorly packaged or shipped shrimp - usually if their left out unrefridgerated or unproperly shipped. Usually their gutted and frozen, not time left to decay and let the bacteria to make ammonia.

i've given my oscar feeder shrimp be for and its a site to see as the oscar charges around after the shrimp and the little crustation only lasts about 1-2 minutes