What do Oscar Fish Eat?

Oscar fish are carnivores thus they thrive on a purely meat-based diet. However, they are not picky at all when it comes to eating. You can drop pretty much any food in the aquarium and they will eat it. This is also why many people fall into the mistake of feeding them the wrong foods.

For example, they would eat vegetables, fruits and veggie pellets even though they barely derive any nutrition for those. This is why it is important to know what exactly to feed them. There are commercial foods specifically made for Oscars that are full of protein and all the nutrition they need.

But that is only one of your options when it comes to their diet. In this article, we are going to talk about the Oscar diet in general, answering some of the most important questions in the topic.

Best Food for Oscar Fish

There are certain live foods an Oscar fish can eat in its natural habitat. In a home aquarium, there is a much wider range of meat-based foods this species can eat. Whether you give him flies, crickets, chicken meat, fruits or vegetables, he is going to eat it.

Nevertheless, their diet should consist mainly of meat. The best foods to give them are insect larvae, crayfish, cocktail shrimp, chicken meat and other smaller fish. If you would love to watch your Oscar eat smaller fish, there are a few species you can feed him.

The most popular and also healthiest ones are Rosy Red Minnows and Guppies. Feeding them Goldfish is also fine and we are going to talk about that later.

Looking for something straightforward that works? Then we can only recommend the Aqueon Cichlid Food Pellets. For a small cost, your Oscar is going to get all the nutrition he needs throughout the day. In this pack by Aqueon, you can only find healthy ingredients.

Although these Aqueon Cichlid Food Pellets are made for cichlids, Oscars absolutely love it too. It contains no food coloring and fits nicely into their diet.

Can Oscar Fish Eat Goldfish?

Oscar fish can definitely eat Goldfish but not from any source. The problem with Goldfish is that they are usually bred in masses. You can never know what types of diseases they carry until your Oscar gets it and becomes sick.

Therefore, if you want to feed your pet with Goldfish, a surefire way is to breed some at home. In that case, everything is under your control and you are going to provide your Oscar with some high-quality food. In general, Goldfish are a really good nutritional source for this species.

If you have a juvenile Oscar, then he might not be able to eat it. Thankfully, they grow incredibly fast and the meanwhile, that Goldfish is not going anywhere.

Can Oscar Fish Eat Guppies?

As we mentioned above, Guppies should be one of the main feeder fish you offer to your Oscar. The great thing about Guppies is that they are easy to breed. Even beginner fish keepers can quickly end up with a lot of guppies at home.

Then, all you need to do is to drop some in the aquarium and watch your Oscars feast on them. That is some high-quality food for them! However, you can’t do it all the time. Oscars should only eat a few smaller fish per week. A balanced diet for them means that there are a few other types of foods to eat.

Can Oscar Fish Eat Vegetables?

Although meats are more important, you can occasionally feed your Oscar plant-based foods. If we take a look at Oscars living out in the wild, it turns out that they eat some plants as well. What you can do at home is to prepare some vegetables like zucchini or cucumbers.

You need to chop these up into tiny pieces and then feed them to your pet. Take only a couple of pieces and drop it to the aquarium. They really don’t need a lot of these vegetables in order to thrive. Oscars are also happy to eat frozen peas.

This is a really simple and cheap option to feed your pet with vegetables at home.

Can Oscar Fish Eat Fruits?

Oscars can eat fruits as well but the same rules apply to them as to vegetables. Every food you give to your Oscar has to be chopped up into tiny pieces. Take two or three tiny pieces and feed them to your pet. It is more than enough for them because their diet has to be emphasized on meat-based foods anyway.

The best fruits you can prepare to your Oscar include oranges, bananas and watermelon. The latter two are very easy to prepare too. When it comes to oranges and watermelon, don’t forget to remove the seeds because they are toxic.

For us people, it is acceptable to eat them because we are huge compared to an Oscar fish.

Can Oscar Fish Eat Mice?

Feeding your Oscar pinkie mouse is surely not a staple diet but it’s acceptable once a month. Oscars are more than happy to eat other live animals. In their natural habitat, they got used to eating other small fish. They love to eat insect larvae too.

Once they see that their food is moving, they are not going to be picky. It is going to be gone in a few minutes. They make no exception with baby mice. Of course, you need to make sure the baby mice are from a reputable source. Make sure they are clean and healthy before you feed them to your Oscar.

Adult mice are completely out of the question because of their size, claws, teeth and strength overall. Now feeding your Oscar baby mice is definitely an unorthodox diet but hey. We are not here to judge, we are here to give people advice.

After all, it is up to you to decide. All we can say is it’s not dangerous or unhealthy, especially as an occasional treat.

Food to Avoid

We have talked about feeder fish in this article a lot. While the abovementioned feeder fish species are among the healthiest options for your Oscar, they can also be the unhealthiest option. Why? Because there is a high chance of them carrying parasites or diseases if you buy them at the pet store.

They can easily transmit those to your pet and make him really sick. If you want to feed your Oscar some feeder fish, then choose the longer route and breed them at home.

Wrapping Up

We can conclude that Oscars can eat a wide range of different foods, including mice. No matter what type of food you feed your pet, you need to prepare it the right way. You also need to make sure it is from a reputable source.

Otherwise, you can easily fall into the mistake of feeding them something that causes harm or makes them sick. It has to be high-quality food in the right amount. They don’t need a lot of vegetables or fruits but preparing some of those occasionally for the sake of a balanced diet is not a bad idea for sure.

avatar Noah
I’m Noah, chief editor at VIVO Pets and the proud owner of a playful, energetic husky (Max). I’ve been a volunteer at Rex Animal Rescue for over 2 years. I love learning and writing about different animals that can be kept as pets. read more...

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