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Posts: 200
From:canada
Registered: May 2003

posted 07-24-2003 02:32 PM         

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I just got a 4 inch oscar he has been fed feeder fish in the pet store how do i ween him off them?
He spits out the TetraCichlid Sticks (my pacus love them).

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posted 07-25-2003 12:35 AM         

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Other foods you can try: Shrimp pellets, shelled Shrimp (like you get at the grocery) and possibly lean beef heart. I wouldn't make a steady diet of the beef heart. Besides your best luck will probably be with the shelled shrimp and shrimp pellets. Good luck it's hard to change once the get spoiled to live food.

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From:canada
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posted 07-25-2003 12:54 AM         

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thanks kc5gvn i'll try that
why not a steady diet of beef heart? too fatty?

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From:canada
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posted 07-27-2003 04:41 PM         

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i have tried the shrimp pellets
he takes them but grinds them up and spits the pieces out his mouth and gills.
I have ordered a beef heart (the butcher didnt have one there) it will be there on tuesday so if the oscar dosnt eat the pellets he will be hungry by tuesday.

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From:ohio
Registered: May 2003

posted 07-27-2003 07:14 PM         

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i don't think that it's spitting the pellet out oscars are just very messy eaters i fed mine pellets and they always lost half the pellet because that's just the way they eat

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posted 07-27-2003 11:58 PM         

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In your second post in this thread you answered your first question with the second question, it is too fatty for a steady diet. Iluvmypup is correct he is probably getting more of the pellet than it looks like. You might try the shelled shrimp. It should work. Also, if there is a feed store in your area, up north, check and see if they carry a pellet called trout chow. It's inexpensive. Fishermen use it here to feed a lake before fishing. It is high in protein. It does have corn meal as a filler. I believe it comes in three different pellet sizes and floating and sinking type pellets. Floating is better. Altogether it's not much different than Cichlid pellets but it's a lot cheaper.

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Registered: Jun 2003

posted 07-28-2003 07:43 PM         

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hey ya i had this problem when i had my oscars. get freeze dried krill.first soak the krill in water for one minute and trow it in the tank and they would eat it
Mine spits like half out ir out cause he eats that way and eats what he spits out. Krill i think is realy good for them and its the best way to bring out there trule natural color

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From:british columbia
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 02-08-2004 06:27 PM         

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try meat scraps, crickets, worms or you can get oscar pellets that float.

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From:Missouri
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-08-2004 09:06 PM         

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"try meat scraps"

Um, no, don't give it meat scraps. Fish can't digest things like chicken, beef, and pork properly.

If an oscar is refusing his pellets, the best thing to do is just wait it out. Don't feed him for about 2 or 3 days then offer them again. An otherwise healthy fish will not starve itself to death so when it gets hungry enough and realizes it's only choice is pellets, it will eat them.

-Chelle

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posted 02-09-2004 06:22 PM         

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Chelle's suggestion sounds kind of mean.Try crickets as a treat, but DON'T make a regular diet of them at all.

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From:Missouri
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-09-2004 09:56 PM         

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It's not mean. Oscars can go quite a while w/o food. If it gets hungry enough it will eat the pellets. And substituting crickets isn't going to help get the oscar to eat pellets (which should be the staple part of it's diet).

-Chelle

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From:Waterville, Ny USA
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-11-2004 04:54 PM         

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I know it is hard to see your Oscar "starving". They are like dogs...when they are hungry, they will eat...don't spoil them just cause they miss a meal or two. It won't kill them.....Lulu didn't want to eat the cichlid sticks for the first 3 days...now she eats them like a champ.

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From:Courtenay, B.C, Canada!
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-11-2004 05:09 PM         

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oscars name is lu lu?? hee hee thats a great name to mass its true killing identity lol... way better then my oscars name its eather gonna be Naraku or Pumbaa!!

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