what to look for when buying oscar food

[melbfish20]

with all the different brands out there I was wondering how do you tell the difference between the good and the not so good.I am now feeding my Oscars frozen blood worms 2 times a week, spirulian 5 times a week and and the rest of the time cichlid pellets.I feed them 3 times a day. I have 2 different brands of cichlid pellets as there were a large number to choose from in my store.1 OF THE BRANDS IS MADE UP OF 33% protein and the other is 48% protein.IS IT AS SIMPLE AS The higher protein the better the food is ?

Should i add anything else to my Oscars diet or make any changes ? I was thinking of getting some dried shrimp tomorrow and giving it to the 3 times a week

[angelcakes]

hello,i got myslf 2 baby oscars not so long ago and ive been feeding them on live worms and dont know if you can get these where you are but i also use hikari cichlid excel,they offer all the nutrients of wheat germ and spirulina + others,they come in 2 sizes medium pellet and mini pellet,im using mini at the moment, also i beleive when bigger you can feed them slugs,the oscars so i learnt on the forum do enjoy live foods and is good in there diet,give them a go,

[Fishguy2727]

Look for New Life Spectrum. It is truly complete and balanced and the best diet for any fish. It is the ONLY thing ANY of my fish get because it is that much better. Even if they don't have it in the LFS, get it online, it is THAT much better.

Those percentages for protein and other macronutrients do not necessarily reflect what the fish can get out of it. They need high quality protein, not just lots of it. When they calculate those they are doing it in a lab, which may pull a lot of protein out of ingredients that the fish can't get the protein out of. High quality ingredients in foods like NLS are in bioavailable forms, meaning the fish can actually get it.

[melbfish20]

Look for New Life Spectrum. It is truly complete and balanced and the best diet for any fish. It is the ONLY thing ANY of my fish get because it is that much better. Even if they don't have it in the LFS, get it online, it is THAT much better.

Those percentages for protein and other macronutrients do not necessarily reflect what the fish can get out of it. They need high quality protein, not just lots of it. When they calculate those they are doing it in a lab, which may pull a lot of protein out of ingredients that the fish can't get the protein out of. High quality ingredients in foods like NLS are in bioavailable forms, meaning the fish can actually get it.

that has been the problem as I have looked for it

[Lady Hobbs]

If you can't get the NLS, stick with the good name brands like Harika Gold or some of the other better brands.

If you have an Oscar, you may want to remove the charcoal, as well. It is "suspected" that charcoal can lead to Hole In The Head. Only suspected, not proven so why take the chance.

[jbeining75]

I feed my Oscars hikari bio gold+(pellets), hikari bloodworms, hikari krill.... Hikari has been the best food on the market for years... that is until new life spectrum took over... Best of luck with your Oscars... Takesome pics so we can see....

[fraggle]

Hi Melbfish,
You can get the NLS in the land down under, maybe have look at a couple of different fish shops, there is only 1 here in Ballarat that stocks it, other wise there are several places that you can get it on line, including ebay, and it is already here in Australia, but it really good, food, just have a look for it.

Cheers!

[Bassfan]

question, i was wondering do they make a small pellet like the hikari gold mini pellets for the NLS? i really wanted to buy some.

[jbeining75]

nls cichlid formula is small 3mm
nls lg fish formula is also small about 4mm or so

[Bassfan]

yea but my oscar isnt real big yet, so 3mm is as big as the hikari mini pellets?

[Fishguy2727]

Even if you can't find it in the shops, it is definitely worth it to get it online.

There have been a few cases that effectively prove that in some cases carbon can cause HLLE. HLLE developed, the carbon was removed, it went away, the carbon was returned, so did the HLLE. That is about as proof as you can get without a hardcore University/Laboratory experiment. There are other issues with the carbon too. As long as you are doing enough water changes you should not see any issue from not using the carbon.

[Fishguy2727]

You can check their site for all the varieties they offer to see which will be best for your oscar. How big is it?

[jbeining75]

they make small fish pellets if you want those. You could go mid range... you wouldn't believe what Oscars can get in there mouths.......

[Bassfan]

Ok, i think im going to get some new filter media and the NLS. But could someone get a link to the proper filter media i will need?? Or could i just snip a little hole in the current filters i have and empty the carbon out. What would be best?? i just got these filters maybe 2-3 weeks ago.

[jbeining75]

what type of filters do you have again sorry????

[jbeining75]

I feed all my oscars a mix of hikari biogold - hikari bloodworks - and hikari krill with mixedveggies every once and a while. deshelled peas, cucumber, lettuce.

[Bassfan]

i have 2 penguin 350 bio wheel filters. i have the rite size C filters.

[Fishguy2727]

That is why I don't like the Penguins or Emperors. If I used them I simply would not have any cartridge in them. Many people use the frame but buy cut-to-fit filter material.

[jbeining75]

cut the top of the filter bluepad remove all the carbon and stuff it with filter floss....

[Bassfan]

well since the carbon has been in the filter for a few weeks now, isnt it pretty much gone and not useful?

[jbeining75]

not necessarily true...... emperor also makes a refillable carbonless insert... I seen it somewhere..... Oh yeah the local petstore can order them. you can probably get themonline or at lfs.....

[Bassfan]

Well when i order my food, ill get the filters you cut out. Anyone know which ones will work best in the penguin 350's?

[melbfish20]

Even if you can't find it in the shops, it is definitely worth it to get it online.

There have been a few cases that effectively prove that in some cases carbon can cause HLLE. HLLE developed, the carbon was removed, it went away, the carbon was returned, so did the HLLE. That is about as proof as you can get without a hardcore University/Laboratory experiment. There are other issues with the carbon too. As long as you are doing enough water changes you should not see any issue from not using the carbon.

You wouldnt happen to know which NLS formula I should feed my 2 oscars which are only about 3 inches long .I wasnt sure if I should get the cichlid formula or the growth formula

thanks for your help

[Fishguy2727]

Mine is on the Jumbo Fish Formula. It is 4.5mm and floating. The smaller ones at my work (1.5-2") and even the small mbunas at my work are all on the same food. A smaller size would be better, but the smaller ones sink. So unless you have sand they usually just end up trapped in the gravel and rotting. They will grab it and run around with it while it soaks and softens. This helps to make sure everyone gets their share.

[jbeining75]

use a floating pellet as Oscars already make enough mess.... you don't need ddecomposing food in your gravel with all the other mess the Oscars will make... Good luck....