Oscar Feeder Fish Alternative

[kcodrumlrak]

So my 125 SA community tank has been established, is well cycled, and is all peaceful and content together.

I work at the LFS, and the other day, a tiger oscar came in, around 8'' and the healthiest I've ever seen one come in. No HITH, no nothing, so after making sure he was eating, I acclimated him and now he's happy in my tank.

As all my other fish are much smaller, I feed them smaller cichlid gold pellets, frozen brine shrimp, mealworms, and crickets. Trying to see this much larger oscar eat tiny in comparison pellets is just ridiculous, so here's my question.

Since I work at the LFS, I can get deals on fish. I don't want to use feeder fish as they are horrid, and luckily I've had many converts away from them. So I was thinking of perhaps using Giant Danios as my feeder? Since they've been raised in better conditions, they would be more nutritious I would think. I also plan on using crayfish as well.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

You don't need to use feeder fish of any kind on a regular basis. Feeder fish are not a major part of an Oscars diet and should only be used on a rare occasion if at all. If you are really trying to mimic the natural diet of your Oscar, then you really only need to give him feeders during the spring, and then only sparingly. Consider adding some nuts (not salted), fruit, worms, and even veggies to his diet and also a larger pellet food.

[rich311k]

I agree feed him a good pellet food and supplement with meatier foods. No need for feeders.

[Northernguy]

I have never fed mine live at all and they look great!
Keeps my tank much cleaner too.
I like hikari gold pellets.Just use the large ones.
Beefheart is good too.

[MCHRKiller]

Just get some larger fish food for him, my Os go apeshit over Hikari Massivore. You can also cut up some raw cocktail shrimp and tilapia for him, mine also like meal worms.

[Crispy]

Fresh raw seafood is the way to go for something ontop of a good pellet diet.

[kcodrumlrak]

As always, the speed of the responses astounds me. I will definitely do the veggies, mealworms, and beef heart - of course with the pellet food being the staple. Would superworms be safe for him? As in would I just need to cut off the heads like the mealworms?

[Crispy]

I feed superworms live. Your O will love them if he's big enough.

[PhilliesWorldChamps]

Mine love nightcrawlers, (worms), live, and you don't have to cut any heads off. They also love large cichlid sticks. I would never feed mine feeder fish at all, theres no nutritional value.