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gavin · 12-01-2007, 10:31 AM

ur fish healthy.. u also happy
Many people feed an unbalanced diet that contributes to these nutritional deficiencies. Fish stores typically promote feeding solely of live feeder fish. There are two problems with this. First of all, only feeding fish can lead to nutritional deficiencies from lack of variation. Oscars are not piscivores (only eat fish), and have evolved to consume a wide diversity of foods, and really need to do so to be healthy. In the wild they typically eat more insects and crustaceans, but since they are opportunistic, they typically won't pass up anything that could be a possible meal. Secondly, live feeder fish from a fish store is almost a sure way to introduce parasites and other various pathogens into your tank that are harmful to your fish.

Other individuals only feed beefheart. Again, this can lead to nutritional deficiencies if it is the only or primary food given. However, another more serious problem can arise from the fact that fish are only capable of processing so much fat, especially saturated or or hard fats found in higher concentrations in most tissues of warm blooded animals. Luckily beefheart is relatively leaner that other beef (except liver), and in very sparing amounts feeding would be OK, however the tendency of the home aquarist is to overfeed with such a product can be a fatal mistake. Uncooked it is still extremely higher in saturated fat than other natural foods. The long term results of overfeeding saturated fats can be deadly, as this can attribute to what is commonly called fatty liver disease. This is a swelling of the liver and/or other internal organs. Even worse is that there are typically no external symptoms of this condition, right up until the point the fish just dies and an autopsy reveals the cause. This is an extremely likely cause of death for many Oscars that unexpectedly die sooner than 10 years that have otherwise been very well cared for. It is so easy to avoid potential problems like this, yet so many people fail to provide the necessary diet Oscars require. Providing a wide variety of foods, in the correct amounts, while feeding a staple of a quality cichlid pellet goes a long ways towards ensuring the health of your Oscar.

12-01-2007, 10:31 AM	#3
gavin Endangered Dragon Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 10,310	balance diet of oscars.. ur fish healthy.. u also happy Many people feed an unbalanced diet that contributes to these nutritional deficiencies. Fish stores typically promote feeding solely of live feeder fish. There are two problems with this. First of all, only feeding fish can lead to nutritional deficiencies from lack of variation. Oscars are not piscivores (only eat fish), and have evolved to consume a wide diversity of foods, and really need to do so to be healthy. In the wild they typically eat more insects and crustaceans, but since they are opportunistic, they typically won't pass up anything that could be a possible meal. Secondly, live feeder fish from a fish store is almost a sure way to introduce parasites and other various pathogens into your tank that are harmful to your fish. Other individuals only feed beefheart. Again, this can lead to nutritional deficiencies if it is the only or primary food given. However, another more serious problem can arise from the fact that fish are only capable of processing so much fat, especially saturated or or hard fats found in higher concentrations in most tissues of warm blooded animals. Luckily beefheart is relatively leaner that other beef (except liver), and in very sparing amounts feeding would be OK, however the tendency of the home aquarist is to overfeed with such a product can be a fatal mistake. Uncooked it is still extremely higher in saturated fat than other natural foods. The long term results of overfeeding saturated fats can be deadly, as this can attribute to what is commonly called fatty liver disease. This is a swelling of the liver and/or other internal organs. Even worse is that there are typically no external symptoms of this condition, right up until the point the fish just dies and an autopsy reveals the cause. This is an extremely likely cause of death for many Oscars that unexpectedly die sooner than 10 years that have otherwise been very well cared for. It is so easy to avoid potential problems like this, yet so many people fail to provide the necessary diet Oscars require. Providing a wide variety of foods, in the correct amounts, while feeding a staple of a quality cichlid pellet goes a long ways towards ensuring the health of your Oscar.