Matt Spheeris
via email
Q
Feeding Oscar
I have an 11-inch oscar that is
2½ years old. Right now, I feed
it about 15 medium cichlid
ce a day, every day, or about 10
earthworms twice daily. Could you tell me
the correct amount and how often I should
feed my oscar? Thanks.
Q
pellets twi
A
Twice-daily feedings of 15
medium cichlid pellets or 10
earthworms seems pretty
excessive to me. Oscars
ocellatus are notoriously
and will continue to gorge
themselves even after they’ve had more than
their fill, which can make it difficult to gauge
when a specimen has been overfed. As you’ve
no doubt discovered, oscars are also pretty
good at putting on shameless begging displays
to guilt their keepers into overindulging their
seemingly limitless appetites.
Astronotus
gluttonous
I would recommend that you reduce the
portions you’re currently offering by at least
half. Plus, an adult oscar should be able to get
by on a single daily feeding. If you choose to
continue twice-daily feedings, it’s important
that you significantly reduce the amount you’re
offering at each feeding session. Remember, it’s
much more common for oscars to be killed
with kindness—i.e., overfeeding—than it is
for them to perish as a result of underfeeding.
Freshwater
Moray Eels
I was at a local fish store this
weekend and saw a pair of
Q
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for the pur
To the best of my knowledge,
there are no true freshwater
moray eels. However, there are
morays that enter fresh water
pose of spawning or feeding, but
they don’t remain there permanently. No
doubt, the “freshwater moray eels” you saw at
your local fish store fall into this category—
brackish to marine species that occasionally
enter freshwater environments.
Several moray species are sold under the
designation “freshwater moray.” Of these,
two of the more commonly sold species are
Gymnothorax tile and Echidna rhodochilus.
G. tile, which may be sold as the freshwater
moray eel, the freshwater snowflake eel (not
to be confused with the marine snowflake
moray Echidna nebulosa), the gold dust
moray, and other common names, comes
closest to the description you’ve provided, but
that is a guess at best.
eels in one of the tanks. The listing on the
tank said “freshwater moray eels.” Both eels
were a hazelnut brown with gold flecks on
the lower half of their bodies. There was no
scientific name shown on the listing card.
Are these actually brackish eels or are
they truly a freshwater species? I have
not read or heard about an eel that is
completely freshwater, so I thought they
may be snowflake eels, but they did not
look like any of the pictures of snowflake
eels I have ever come across. Also, if they
are not snowflake eels, how big would they
be expected to get at full size? Thanks for
any light you can shed on this matter.
Eric Hoover
Irvine, California
A