Question about poop.

Astronotus Ocellatus - The World's most Popular Cichlid

Question about poop.

Postby Big Tom on Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:14 pm

Yeah, there isn't any way to beat around the bush with this Q

I've noticed one of my Oscars the black one eats his food, them it seems like he poops it out within a couple hours. The red one, eats like mad and just gets fat and then maybe a day later dirties the tank. Is this somewhat normal?? The red one is larger and seems like he actually takes awhile to digest, the black one literally will crap out what he ate within no time. I know this because I feed him pellets for a couple days and poo is pink like the pellets, then I'll give him maybe a couple flies or a Krell then a couple hours later out comes flies or krell from the other end.

What gives? Why are they so different in terms of this cycle? Is it maybe the reason the red one is bigger?

And also, is it possible they are not the same species? I'm no Oscar pro but what exactly defines Oscar? I've seen pictures of black ones with orange stripes that look like one of mine, but the red one never seen someone post a pic like him before?
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Re: Question about poop.

Postby DanRad on Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:35 pm

Hi, Tom.  There are lots of different color variations of Oscars available today.  These have mostly been achieved through selective breeding, though there is one, the "blueberry", that is achieved by injecting a dye under the skin.  I recommend not supporting this barbarous practice by buying one.  There is some dispute about whether there are different species.  Here are a couple of links.  Unfortunately, since moving this site to a new server, our picture gallery isn't yet back up, so most of the pic links aren't working:

http://oscarsfishtank.com/discuss/index ... ic=12134.0

Also check out:

http://www.cjexotics.com/yabbse/index.p ... 084.0.html

As to the poop question, I wouldn't worry about it too much unless they seem to be having trouble.  Every now and then see if they'll eat a pea or two, and keep your eyes open.
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