Cichlid feeding

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bud29

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I have some questions about feeding a convict cichlid. First, I'm wondering which is a better type of food: Hikari cihclid staple or TetraCichlid pellets?

And does this feeding schedule look OK?
3 times a week: Cichlid Staple/TetraCichlid
3 times a week: lettuce
1 time a week: Freeze-Dried Bloodworms
 
bud29 said:
I have some questions about feeding a convict cichlid. First, I'm wondering which is a better type of food: Hikari cihclid staple or TetraCichlid pellets?

And does this feeding schedule look OK?
3 times a week: Cichlid Staple/TetraCichlid
3 times a week: lettuce
1 time a week: Freeze-Dried Bloodworms

Honestly no. First of all get hikari pellets. Use the pellets as a staple food and feed around that. And convicts dont need veggies! Heres what i would do.

7 times a week: hikari pellets
Within those 7 days: 5 days with bloodworms
When not using bloodworms (the other 2 days) feed shrimp or beefheart as treat.

Remember that you dont have to feed a ton lf pellets, just build your meal plan around the pellets. And they do not need veggies! They need meat!
 
tell me if I'm wrong, but I've read that too many high-protein foods will be very hard on the convict's kidneys and shorten their lifespan. The website went on to say they needed a balanced diet of meat and vegetables, as they are omnivores. I don't know if that's right, but that's what I based my plan off of....thoughts? I'm fine with the schedule you gave if it won't be hard on the cichlid but I want my fish to live a long healthy life....
 
I would also suggest frozen bloodworms instead of freeze dried. I heard freeze dried can cause bloating.
 
adammorrill said:
I would also suggest frozen bloodworms instead of freeze dried. I heard freeze dried can cause bloating.

That sounds crazy surely bloodworms are bloodworms.I may well be wrong but your still feeding bloodworms right?
 
OK thanks!

Do you have any opinion on the veggies/no veggies thing?

Here's the quote from the website:

"It is important to make sure that a good portion of your Convicts diet consists of vegetable matter, as a diet of pure protein can lead to a shortened lifespan due to internal problems. Much like people, high protein diets in Convicts can cause kidney and liver problems in your fish. Many people also offer raw vegetables to their Convicts, such as zucchini, spinach and romaine lettuce."
 
That sounds crazy surely bloodworms are bloodworms.I may well be wrong but your still feeding bloodworms right?
You are still feeding blood worms of course:), but i forgot what the freeze dried do. I had a thread a while ago that advised me not to feed freeze dried bloodworms. I think what the freeze dried did was, once the fish ate the freeze dried worm, it would soak up water and expand inside them. But again I am not totally sure about this, so you might want to get some other opinions.
 
Also I think you'll find that it's African cichlids (particularly mbuna) that are prone to Bloat and as far as I'm aware convicts are fine with bloodworms.Having said that a varied and healthy diet that suits each individual fish is the key to healthy fish.
 
You are still feeding blood worms of course:), but i forgot what the freeze dried do. I had a thread a while ago that advised me not to feed freeze dried bloodworms. I think what the freeze dried did was, once the fish ate the freeze dried worm, it would soak up water and expand inside them. But again I am not totally sure about this, so you might want to get some other opinions.

thanks! that makes sense. So that probably goes for all freeze-dried foods as well?
 
yeah here's another quote from a different website about convicts' diet:

"For adult convict cichlids you should supply them with the following foods; raw vegetables (leftovers or scraps will work) green leafy vegetables are preferred such as lettuce, spinach leafs and even zucchini.

They also eat brine shrimp, live insects, bloodworms and tiny little fish. You should try and balance their proteins and vegetables. Too much protein will cause health problems for your convict cichlids. They are prone to kidney problems and liver problems. There are also prone to several digestive illness caused by stress."
 
Yes, I would think that would go for all freeze dried food. Also, I think frozen isn't to much more expensive and it has better proteins in it too.
 
Oh, and how often do i feed the convict? Once a day? Twice a day? I am also having a large shoal of tiger barbs in the tank so make sure that it won't be too much for them, either.
 
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