This is Oscar that I am keeping for a friend. I spotted a cloudy eye in one and he has not eaten yet. Body size looks perfect with no visible problems at all. I placed a goldfish in his tank and it seems that it is the goldfish that is eating the pellets rather than him.

looks like clody eye try treating it with MELAFIX ANTIBACTERIAL SOLUTION should clear up in few days add some stress coat aswell to be in on the safe side hope this helps .

Thanks...I am doing a 20% water change every 4 days and the problem is that he does not eat any dried food except meat!! My friend had fed him meat as an addition to the dried food but now he is so accustomed to it that he does not eat anything else. I fed him some feeder fish but ran out of them now. I gave him some beefheart which he devoured in one piece.

In the wild an Oscars diet is made up of 60% insects, this is properly due to the fact that there are literally hundreds and thousands of different insects available in South America, the Oscar has plenty to choose from as there is a steady supply that makes its way into their environment. You can harvest insects from your garden, just make sure no pesticides have been used in the vicinity. Big juicy worms are also an excellent choice for food.



Nowadays, there are absolutely loads of fish food available. We are lucky enough to be able to purchase food for virtually any type of fish that you may keep in an aquarium. If you are looking for food for your Oscars, then you should be looking for cichlid food, because as you already know, the Oscar is part of the cichlid family. I would recommend that the staple diet of an Oscar should be mainly pellet based. There are loads of different types of pellet on the market. They come in all shapes and sizes and are manufactured by various companies. Two of my favourite brands are made by Hikari and Tetra. These being Hikari Cichlid Gold which has a colour enhancing agent added. I also always have a supply of Tetra DorImin. They come in various sizes that should suit the very smallest, to the very largest Oscar. If you have a medium to large Oscar, I would suggest that you always purchase a larger size in these products.

once a week for water changes 20% is grand

He was fed with Tetra cichlid pellets and what he does is that he swallows them and then spits them. I changed to Ocean Nutrition and he ignores them completely. I might go for some mealworms to see how he may react to them.

Another option which may seem disgusting but i find bigger cichlids including oscars i have owned loved them are Maggots, drop into any fishing tackle/bait shop and you buy them cheaply by the 1/2 pint which should more than give you enough to feed it for a while, plus the wriggle factor makes them irresistable
Seamus

I used to grow them myself for fishing but never fed them because of fear that they may have parasites which can be passed on to fish. Best method that I found for maggots is to place a large piece of meat in open air in a box filled with saw dust. Leave there until the fly start laying the eggs. You can then easily pick the maggots.

Niko001,
your right in how to culture your own, but my god they smell bad enough as it is without having rotten meat on top of it, you must have an understanding other half, mine would kill me if i tried this is hard enough sneaking maggots in, as for parasites i've never had any trouble with maggots but avoid the coloured varieties as they can affect fish as the additives to colour them are carsinogenic..
Seamus

I know the feeling but everything is done on the roof (we have flat roofs unlike in your country). So, we can use the space above our house for various things. Now I am feeding him frozen cichlid mix. At least it is a well balanced food.