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I have a Oscar and have been feeding it store bought rosey red minnows and i was wondering if it would be a good idea to try catching minnows out of the creek and giving them to my Oscar? I also use Pellets.

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I would NEVER feed my fish another fish from a pond or other water source with out confining them in a med/holding tank for 30 days.. WHY?? Parasites from fish raised in a tank are treatable but some OTHER kinds of parasites may harm to kill your fish from the inside out.. AND you may have to tear down your tank and bleach everything just to kill out the strain OF what ever it was.. SO unless you just don't' like your Oscar, go ahead.. IF you care, then don't.. Feeders are the worst food you can give ANY large cichlids to eat.. I don't' do it as there are some great foods out their for them now.. WHY risk your fish's health for a free meal??  YOU will spend more on meds than getting hiim some good others foods if you do this..

thanks alot for the info but a few questions. first im new on here so what is a med/holding tank? second ive fed my oscar feeder fish from the store already. is this ok? last but  not least... how exactly can you tell the difference between a male and female oscar. thanks for any little bit of info anyone can give

Med/holding tank is just that.. ANOTHER tank, 10 gal to a 20 gal depending on fish size,  to keep the fish in to SEE if any visable parastes/worms/others show up ON the fish.. This is a quarateen tank and most ppl use them to keep fish in before they add them to their main tank.. this way you can tell if the fish has ICH or other problems and TREAT the fish accordingly with out indangering your other fish..
All you need is a tank, filter, heater small airpump/stone.. NO gravel as this hides/holds parasites..

Another reason NOT to feed feeders is that IF you decide later to add in others to the tank, he wil want to eat them.. As any fish you do add in now, is concidered food.. IF you stop the live foods now, he should do fine in a few months with others you may want to place with him.. IF you keep feeding him live foods,then get ready to throw money out the window as he wil just eat them.. Rosey minnows  are not the best fish to feed your Oscar with.. I know they are cheap and YOU being a guy and like to watch them EAT A LIVE MEAL, but later this is going to back fire on you and the Oscar with internal problems from a bad batch of roseys.. it is not like they go through the health department for a clean bil of health.. Like I said, I would not feed them these at all... Frozen may cost a little more but your Oscar wil benifit from it greatly.. most are guranteed to not have any parasite/and are vitamin inriched.. VERY important with Oscars!!   

On sexing an Oscar, can't be done until they get to about 6" or so with out the tail... So if he is stil small, you have a couple of months to go.. And the only way is to VENT them.. so unless you have a big oscar this is not going to work.. let me know if he/she is at 6" with out the tail...

I had to find this.. So check this out and see if you can vent him/her your self.. BEST to NOT take them out just feed them and hope they turn towards you..http://www.fishhead.com/articles/ventsex.htm

as for the length, no my oscar is only about 3 1/2 to 4 inches without the tail. i already have him in a tank with other fish and he does just find but i know it is overcrowded since its a 37 gallon tank and theres the oscar a suckerfish, 3 small gouramis, a needlenose fish and i just had to accept 4 small angel fish for the time being or they would have died. i am working on getting a bigger tank just for him ( i always called the oscar a him) and maybe a buddy oscar or 2. i think i may cut back on feeders for my oscar because of what you told me thanks very much.

Why get wet! Visit a bait shop. they have a variety of sizes and are generous with quantity (ex: you ask for 1 doz. and end up with about 20). I feed my oscars wild minnows. they have a higher protein level and are less like potato chips for O's. separate tank required for them as they often need a much colder environment than the average O tank. a good option though.

so your telling me that minnows from the bait shop are a little more healthy then from petsmart? i never thought there was a difference ill have to try some from a bait shop. thanks

minnows = less nutritional value then fish food.

feeders from stores = worthless

Cost more to cure whatever your fish can catch from minnows and feeders then it does to just use good food or breed your own feeders .

well how exactly do you breed your own feeders because i really want to feed my oscar feeders but not if its that bad for it?

To breed feeder fish you need to have another tank, just for the pair to breed in. Then another tank,  as a grow out tank to house the actual fry. As for what type of fish, there are a few types. One idea might be to get convicts, they are a nice fish, and breed like crazy. Then take the fry, and move it to the grow out tank, and feed them to the Oscars. There are other choice's, like guppies, (small), or Rosy reds, etc etc. Personally, I'd skip the feeders, they are a lot of work to make sure they are safe to feed to your Oscars, plus not much value nutritionally speaking for the fish.

Feeders from any pet store are pretty much equal. Empty calories. Minnows from  the wild actually eat and don't have their growth sped up. Fish pellet/flake is always healthiest (and it should be. developing it took a lot of time and money for the company making it). However, in the wild O's eat whatever fits in their mouths. Including other fish! It is a part of their natural diet.
      I have a baby O who wouldn't grow. No matter what i fed him. I decided to try a bait shop and within two weeks he had grown almost two inches. They must smell different to O's as well. The baby O never hand fed. The second i put the wild minnow's head in the tank, the baby shot up from the back of the tank and snatched it from my hand.
      And for the "feeders cause disease" people out there; my feeders (wild or store bought) are always kept in a separate, filtered & medicated tank that receives regular water changes the same as my  other tanks. Also, i don't give them to my O's for at least a week to see if any signs of diseases appear.
      One more important thing, feeders are not supposed to be left in the tank of the fish you are feeding them to for more than 18-24 hours. I'm not quite sure why but i have always followed this and have not had a problem yet.

However, in the wild O's eat whatever fits in their mouths. Including other fish! It is a part of their natural diet.

True but often  and usually over stated.

The stomache contents of most wild oscars studied contain more plant content then anything else. Amazing  sometimes the differences between what the fish hobby claims and what nature actually does.

fish base's study page online

Breaks down to roughly
45% plant
45% bugs and inverts
9% fish

Brazilian aquaculture study  only goes  up to  4% fish.

And for the "feeders cause disease" people out there; my feeders (wild or store bought) are always kept in a separate, filtered & medicated tank that receives regular water changes the same as my  other tanks. Also, i don't give them to my O's for at least a week to see if any signs of diseases appear.

Which is great  and farther them most people are willing to go to feed their fish.Use to be the same approach I had.

But you'll also find some other people object over and over or want to make sure all information is out there for people new to the hobby, after they've dealt with problems feeders can cause like lympho and TB that can stay dormant for  a month or more especially in cold water fish like feeder goldfish and wild minnows and are uncureable 99% of the time.

One more important thing, feeders are not supposed to be left in the tank of the fish you are feeding them to for more than 18-24 hours. I'm not quite sure why but i have always followed this and have not had a problem yet.

I find that interesting but odd.
any idea why that is at all?
Seems moveing feeders tank to tank would do more harm then good by bringing on stress releated diseases.

I find that interesting but odd.
any idea why that is at all?
Seems moveing feeders tank to tank would do more harm then good by bringing on stress releated diseases.

It's part of Oscar culture -- true or not, you decide with your own experience -- After a feeder has been in an aquarium for a few days, and the Oscar gets used to him, the Oscar won't eat or harass him and he will be allowed to grow to adult size. I had this happen in an Oscar aquarium a few years ago with small Blue Gouramis -- here's the copy/paste from my website:

I went over to an LFS and purchased a baby Oscar, about 1 inch in length, and brought him home and put him in a 50 gallon tank that was already occupied by a Blue Gourami, who was, at that time, about 1-1/2 inches in length. Of course, over the next 12 month period, the Oscar grew to about 5 inches and the Gourami stayed about the same size. The Oscar never bothered the Gourami, nor did he act aggressively at all. I assumed, then, that Blue Gouramis were ideal tankmates for Oscars. Filled with confidence, I went down to the LFS and got another Blue Gourami, brought him home, put him in the aquarium, and -- ten minutes later he was being digested by the grateful Oscar. But then, to my amazement, he continued to leave the first Gourami alone!

Like I say, whether myth or not, you decide; but that's the logic behind removing Feeders after a short period of time. --Mark