Getting a large, spectacular aquarium fish, everyone dreams of her long and happy life. Today we will talk about one of the most prominent representatives of the cichlid family - the tiger astronotus, or Oscar. It has a bright color and has an individual character. You will never be bored if an astronotus lives in the aquarium. What to feed this pet, we will consider in detail below.
Self charm
This is one of the few fish that has its own intelligence. Surprisingly, she understands well who of those present behind the glass is her breadwinner. Invite guests, they will be surprised by the behavior of the fish. She constantly monitors her master, allows petting herself and even takes food from her hands.
Do not forget to tell them how to feed the astronotus. Firstly, the fish can bite hard, taking fingers for food. Secondly, you must not allow anything that could harm your pet to enter the aquarium. In general, keeping fish does not cause much difficulty. It is available even to a beginner. The only concern is the size of the pet. The fry develop very quickly and at some point they begin to perceive the neighbors as food. Therefore, it is not recommended to keep them in an aquarium with a volume of less than 400 liters, and also leave other fish in it.
Omnivorous fish
Getting a large pet, everyone involuntarily thinks about how to feed the astronotus. In nature, these creatures are omnivores. They do not refuse plant foods and amphibians. At home, the easiest way to use live food. If living plants are planted in the ground, then they themselves can slowly eat them. The main thing is not to give preference to tender and long-growing varieties, otherwise they will die.
Choosing what to feed the astronotus, you can pay attention to artificial feed intended for cichlids. The only thing that is very important is its quality. Pets can handle pellets, tablets or pellets.
Distinctive feature
This is amazing fish greed. In the native element this is justified, but in the aquarium they simply do not have to move so much. In addition, getting used to the excess food, they begin to scatter it along the bottom. This leads to decay and growth of pathogenic microflora. When choosing how to feed astronotuses in an aquarium, pay attention to the possibility of feeding worms, shrimp, and various fish. Not the most nervous hosts can launch guppies to cichlids, which will become live food.
These fish are able to eat as much as they see, they are very voracious. Hence the digestive problems and the high probability of obesity. Therefore, it is very important to adhere to the schedule and not allow other family members to throw food into the aquarium at other times. This is the key to the long life of your pets.
What is worth giving up?
Buying fry from unscrupulous breeders, you can get a recommendation to feed them with mammalian meat. But today it is proved that this type of food is contraindicated for them. It is poorly digested, which leads to the development of pathological processes in the fish organism. The only exception is a beef heart. And even then it should be given no more than once a week.
The specificity of fish nutrition still leads to the fact that the level of ammonia in the aquarium is constantly growing. This will lead to pet poisoning. Cichlids are very sensitive, therefore it is recommended to perform a water change once a week and add at least 1/5 of the total aqua volume.
Frequency of Feeding
Every aquarist sets this for himself. Some give food daily, but in small portions. Others, on the contrary, believe that feeding should be done several times a week. Where is the truth and how much to feed the astronotus? Experts say that it is best to take a break, giving the fish the opportunity to completely digest food and cleanse the body of its residues.
The best option would be feeding 2-3 times a week. The food in the body of these fish is delayed by about 48 hours. It is advisable that once a week they remain completely hungry.
Feeding and color
Choosing how to feed astronotuses, you need to remember what these creatures eat in natural conditions, as well as observe their reaction to certain pieces. In nature, this predator eats small fish. In the aquarium, his preferences are changing. With great pleasure, they will grab a large bloodworm, dragonfly and earthworm larvae, grasshoppers. With great pleasure they eat cichlids of tadpoles and shrimp, squid, mussels and crabs in crushed form. The color of the fish will become brighter if you add a little bell pepper to the feed. Not everyone loves him, so we add a little bit. If pets throw food, then reduce the amount of supplement.
Choose fish for feeding
Despite the omnivorous nature of cichlids, one must not forget that the aquarium is a closed system. Any infection will breed in greenhouse conditions very quickly. That is why it is worth considering which fish to feed astronotus. It is not recommended to use a catch from city rivers and lakes. In most cases, these inhabitants carry a huge amount of parasites. You can’t buy live fish in the store, as there is a great chance of causing an infection. Better use quality seafood: mussels, shrimp.
We feed fry
Young animals feed on "fish milk", which is formed on the sides of the parents. But it happens that for one reason or another you decide to put the kids in a separate aquarium. What to feed the small astronotus in this case? When artificially fed, give them cyclops. Can be replaced with large daphnia. In addition, it is recommended to grate seafood, such as shrimp, on a fine grater. But do not let it cold, let it warm on a plate - and look at the reaction.
After the fry begin to grow up, you can transfer them to a coarser feed. This is an earthworm, grated beef heart, sea fish. Dry gammarus will be an excellent protein supplement.
Preparations for future use
If you have fry growing up, then you need to take care of their diet in advance. In spring and summer, it is very good to harvest grasshoppers and similar insects. If possible, take up snail breeding. They can be caught in the garden using bait. This is an excellent top dressing for growing predators.
If you prefer ready-made, granular feed, then you need to give preference to quality species, with a high content of astaxanthin. These include Tetra Rubin, Tetra Discus, Hikari. Additionally, you can diversify the diet with vegetable components. Some cichlids with great pleasure eat cabbage, green peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini. They are best accustomed to this from an early age so that later there are no problems with digestion. If fish get vegetables, they usually don’t touch the plants.