power outages and feeding oscar snails??

[smokeypea]

Hi, i heard somewhere that Oscars can eat snails, is this right? Ozzie is about 6inches long, if its ok to give him a snail occassionaly what sort should i give him and how big of a snail?. I have battery operated air stone for power outages but am worried about the temp in the tnak with no electric,, is there any battery opeated heaters? or else what can i do? also i have penguin bio wheels in the tank, what should i do about the wheels? if the power is off? i mean cos of the good bacteria? whould i let them float in the tank water? we arehaving very bad ice storms and i am worried about my fish.. thanks for any help.

[jman]

i do think your oscar can eat snails that can fit in his mouth.
i am not sure about battery heaters.

[Fishguy2727]

Hope for the best in power outages if you don't have a generator.

I would definitely not feed anything live if the oscar will take pellets, that is the best diet for them. The snails could introduce an assortment of parasites, as well as not being nutritionally needed at all.

[Incredulous_Ed]

If there is a power outage maybe the best thing you can do is get an insulating blanket and wrap it around the tank. This isn't going to work for prolonged periods though.

[smokeypea]

Ok thanks guys, i wont bother with the snails then, he does eat worms, crickets, ghost shrimp, bloodworms, krill, sometimes beefheart, but i struggle to get him to eat any sort of vegs, he just spits them out, also, i know its cos he is spoilt, but he is hard work eating pellets, i want to get him on to them, but i am scared he will not eat and then get sick, he just looks at me with those eyes and i give in lol, i am just goin to have to be strong and win this battle.

[Fishguy2727]

The best thing for him is high quality pellets. Mine get New Life Spectrum and Hikari Cichlid Bio-Gold+. These provide full nutrition, and the Hikari one includes a live bacteria that help digestion and helps outcompete Hexamita spp. (the pathogen associated with Hole in the Head). All you have to do is cut off all foods for a few days and he should take to the pellets without any complaint. Sometimes it takes a week or so, but oscars are pretty easy to switch to an all pellet diet. He may be spoiled, but it's like letting a kid pick their food, it will be all the wrong stuff and not complete. It will be much better for his health to starve him for a short period of time and get him on the good stuff.

[smokeypea]

thanks for advice re pellet diet, i do have some Hikari chichlid staple mini pellets, should i try to get him to eat these? or should i get him some of the ones you suggested? i dont want to battle with him and then he doesnt eat the very best, i should get him used to the best from the biginning, he isisnt going to be happy anyway, but as you say its like having a child they have to learn whats good foor them, any help with the best pellets would be useful, i have seen the gold+hakari in the lfs, thanks for the help.

[smokeypea]

Sorry, i forgot to ask in previous post, Ozzie is about 6-7 inches long, so what size pellets should he have? small, medium or large? he doesnt seem to like things that float, are there any good pellets that sink after a while??

[jman]

there are sinking fish pellets by a lot of brands just check your LFS. i only use floating for the arowana.

[Fishguy2727]

Try to go with floating, then if it becomes a big problem look into sinking. Get him on the good stuff from the beginning. The Hikari Cichlid Bio-Gold+ only comes in mini and medium, so get the medium. For the New Life Spectrum you can try either Jumbo or Extra Large.

[jman]

do you like centicles ReptileGuy...?

[Fishguy2727]

centicles?

[smokeypea]

Thanks Reptileguy for your advice on pellets, when i can get out i will go and get some Hikari Biogold+, weather is terrible, ice storms ect, not able to move much outside, not seen the New Life Spectrum pellets i dont think, so will start with the biogold ones, in for a long haul i think Ozzie will not be pleased lol, tough love needed. thanks again everyone.

[Fishguy2727]

You may have to order the New Life Spectrum online if your LFS can't special order them. If you could only do one that would be the one I would do.