Tropical Fish Hobbyist

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.

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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

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Send your questions concerning the freshwater side of the aquarium hobby to “Q&A.” We can’t promise to personally acknowledge or answer every question, but each month those inquiries covering topics of general interest or unusual subjects will be answered in this column. Address your questions to “Q&A,” T.F.H. Publications, P.O. Box 427, Neptune, NJ 07754, or submit via e-mail to editor@tfh.com.

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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.