Is your oscar fish refusing to eat? Do you also see your oscar fish spitting out its food? In this article, we’ll find out why your oscar fish is not eating and what we can do about it.
Why Won’t My Oscar Fish Eat? Oscar fish may refuse food in poor water conditions or under bright lights. Loud sounds, unappealing food or overfeeding may also cause them to stop eating or spit out food.
Oscar fish display moody behavior sometimes and a hunger strike could be their way of showing it!
How Long Can My Oscar Fish Go Without Eating?
- Juvenile Oscar Fish = Up to 2 weeks
- Adult Oscar Fish = 2-4 weeks
Healthy oscar fish can stop eating from time to time. They may be expressing their distaste for the same food being offered or protesting the water conditions. They may also be stressed from their tankmates.
A normal oscar fish refuses food sometimes. Sometimes they are more concerned about mating season or just not in the mood to eat because they know they can go a long time without it.
A juvenile oscar fish can go as long as 2 weeks without food. An adult oscar fish can make it up to a month! It’s best not to worry too much about it, but there are always ways to help them eat again.
What Are The Reasons Why My Oscar Fish Is Not Eating?
- Water Quality Changes
- Water Temperature Changes
- New Tankmates or New Tank
- Bloating
- Same Old Food
- Mating Season
- Not Hungry
- Able to Go Without Food For 2-4 weeks
- Use a water testing kit often to make sure the parameters are ideal for your oscar fish.
- Make sure the water isn’t too cold. It could slow down their digestive systems and reduce their desire to eat.
- An oscar fish may need a few days to get adjusted to a new tank or new tankmates. If they don’t eat in 3 days, try feeding them live food.
- A bloated oscar fish won’t want to eat unless they can relieve themselves. Consider adding peas to help them move out the waste.
- If you feed the same food to your oscar fish, they may protest it by going on a hunger strike until you give them something new.
- The desire to mate during breeding season may shift their focus from food to mating.
- Oscar fish may eat a lot at once and stop for a while without telling you. Don’t be alarmed.
- Oscar fish don’t need to eat daily. We want to feed them twice a day, but they can go 2-4 weeks without it.
What Should I Try Feeding My Oscar Fish Who Won’t Eat?
Oscar fish are predatory omnivores. Although they ingest plants for their survival, they tend to go for the chase of hunting and eating live food.
If we are offering them pellets and flakes, the oscar fish may not feel inclined to go after it. It may take more time to adjust to this type of food so its best to vary their diet with live food. You can can try:
- Shrimps
- Worms
- Snails
- Guppies
- Insects
- Larvae
- Peas and Soft Veggies
- Garlic Juice
The final item on this list may sound strange, but soaking pellets or flakes in garlic juice may ignite the senses and desire in your oscar fish to try it out. Garlic juice is a strategy used for picky eaters.
Although oscar fish are not very picky when their mood is right, it’s best to give them some variety of tastes and flavors to keep them engaged during mealtime.
What Are Some External Factors That Cause Oscar Fish To Not Eat?
An oscar fish can get upset and stop eating. Below are three reasons out of many that could affect the mood of oscar fish and cause them to protest with a hunger strike.
- Too much lighting
- Too much noise
- Not enough tank cleaning
Lighting
Bright lights in the tank or around the room may stress out your oscar fish. Oscar fish like swimming through plants in the tank, but they aren’t necessary if the room or tank isn’t too bright.
Consider moving the location of the tank if the area is too bright. Also dimming the lights could help to ignite their appetite and pick up their mood.
Noise
Loud noises could startle oscar fish. They are fussy sometimes and will lie on their side or play dead when they’re upset. At this point, they may refuse eating.
Lower the volume, close the windows or do what you can to reduce the sounds that may affect your oscar fish. Sudden construction or loud music could alter their desire to eat.
A Dirty Tank
Oscar fish will let you know if they are unsatisfied. They may think that the tank is too dirty to eat. Oscar fish create plenty of waste and debris so frequent cleaning routines are a must.
If the routine is changed or tank cleaning slows down, the oscar fish may remind you that it’s time to clean up or they won’t eat.
Is My Oscar Fish Constipated?
Your oscar fish may not be eating because it isn’t letting go of the waste in its guts. Their digestive system could be blocked. If you notice your oscar fish not eating for a week, you may act on it with the following remedies:
- softened peas without their coating
- epsom salt bath: 1 tablespoon of epsom salt to 5 gallons of water
- medication for stomach parasites
These three options should be followed in order. Try feeding it peas first before moving on to an epsom salt bath in the main tank or separate tank. Medication should require further research and consultation.
Why Is My Oscar Fish Spitting Out Food?
There are many reasons why your oscar fish is spitting out its food. Here are few possible explanations:
- Feeding too fast
- Overfeeding
- Playing
- Food is Too Hard
- Breaking Down The Food
Speed Feeding
Please try to slow down when feeding an oscar fish that is spitting out its food or refusing to eat. Try to space out each softened pellet or flake. Place 1 pellet in the tank every 10 seconds or longer.
Sometimes an oscar fish places one pellet or flake in its mouth and spits it out when it sees another one nearby. This is quite normal. If there isn’t another piece of food nearby, they might focus on the piece in their mouths and swallow it.
Overfeeding
Feed your oscar fish twice a day and follow the amounts laid out for them on the bottle. Feeding them too many pellets or flakes may cause bloating. Too many live foods will also decrease their desire to swallow everything being offered.
They may go for a taste, but spit it out because their belly is still full. Oscar fish can go 2-4 weeks without eating, so there’s no need to worry if they are refusing to swallow the food. Remove the food from the tank if this is the case.
Playing
Spitting out food is a sign of playful behavior in oscar fish. The food is like a toy in this case and spitting it out is like tossing a ball in the air.
If you notice your oscar fish acting lively and swimming actively while they are spitting out food, then it could be that they’re just being silly and playing around.
Hard Food
If the food is too hard, the spitting will help soften it. If we aren’t softening the food first by soaking it, the oscar fish will do it by themselves sometimes.
Observe and notice if they are spitting out the food and then eating it again right after. If this is happening, then they are just trying to soften it up before devouring it.
Breaking Down or Chewing
Fish don’t chew their food like humans. We know this, but sometimes they take in more than they can swallow. Spitting out the food may help to break it into smaller pieces.
If the food that is spit out is now broken into more than one piece, you may notice your oscar fish trying to eat the smaller pieces one at a time. This is a good strategy if they are still eating the same food they spit out. Consider breaking the food into smaller pieces.
We hope the strategies and tips in this article will help pick up the appetite in your oscar fish.
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