am i a meanie???? [Archive]

Arkie

10-15-2007, 03:48 AM

at the moment where i live we are having this huge moth plague.... like there are black moths everywhere, so instead of running around with a can of fly spray and spraying everything (which would endanger all my tanks), im going around and catching these moths and giving them to oscar. he loves them, he jumps out of the water to get them from my fingers but he is careful not to accidently bite me instead. he loves them so much he wont even share any with ernie!!!
so am i a meanie to take advantage of a natural phenomenon and using an environmentally friendly way to control it?

Futureboy

10-15-2007, 04:06 AM

id imagin being eaten by an oscar would be quicker then being poisoned

cocoa_pleco

10-15-2007, 04:22 AM

well, the oscar needs to eat, so its a win win situation. its natural for oscars to eat insects, even in the wild.

spudbuds

10-15-2007, 04:55 AM

Sounds like a clever solution to a problem that also saves you some money on fish food. Well done!

zackish

10-15-2007, 05:32 AM

I feed my turtle moths I find in my house all the time.

CAF

10-15-2007, 01:06 PM

I culture live foods for my fish.... you are just using nature's culture. So no, you are not a meanie....

Fishguy2727

10-15-2007, 02:10 PM

In my opinion it is not cruel if it is no worse than they would experience in the wild. And since moths could be eaten in the wild, I don't think this is cruel. The only issue is that the moths could be toxic, and that doesn't mean they would kill the oscar right away. Some toxins build up over time, only killing them months or years later, even after they are no longer receiving the toxin. And since insects are no stranger to toxins, I would try and look up what type they are and if that species is known to have any toxins (even if you find something the source may only list a toxin if it is harmful to humans).

2manyfish

10-15-2007, 06:31 PM

You aren't mean Arkie, I give my oscar bugs all the time. But like Fishguy said you do have to be careful with regards to toxins and if the bugs have been exposed to pesticides.
I have given my oscar crickets (got some right now in a tank being gut loaded), earthworms, flies, moths, beetles, mealworms, and live ghost shrimp.

They sure do love to eat!
:c3: