Live/Fresh food for cichlids

[suntwisty4]

What are some good choices to go with? I have 33 gal flatback, only four africians right now. Currently feeding them cichlid excel pelletsand flakes.

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[jpchin]

i have south american cichlids. i feed live BLACK worms that i buy at my local fish store. i really believe live food brings out the best in my fish. their colors are bright and they are very healthy fish.

 

[suntwisty4]

Do you cut them up or put in whole?

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[jpchin]

i put them in whole as they are thin small worms. they do take a certain amount of care. they are kept in the refrigerator and need to be rinsed daily with treated cold tap water. i use prime in the water. put the worms in a fine net so they don't slip through the holes and pour the water over them. if you see any white worms throw them out as they are dead and you don't want your fish to eat those. all black worms come from california. here's a link.
Organic Blackworms - Blackworm Care

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Do not feed Africans blackworms regularly they are packed in protein that will make them bloat. Best used for new worlds. I feed mine brine shrimp occasional. Veggies are the best fresh food for Africans

 

[Iamtechno13]

+1 with TheCommunityCichlid. Some Africans are more prone to it than others, especially some from Tanganyika. What kind of Cichlids are they exactly?

 

[suntwisty4]

They are from lake tanganyika. The brine shrimp look like super small crayfish right.

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[squirrilah fish]

I get probiotic live blood worms from my LFS, they love em.

 

[Iamtechno13]

Well it depends on what fish from Tanganyika. There are Tropheus which are my favorites, Calvus, Frontosa, Little shell dwellers and so on. So based off your fish figure out the diets.

 

[suntwisty4]

I have two tropheus...electric blue not sure of names

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[squirrilah fish]

Tropheus don't eat live foods do they? I thought they only ate greens. I know high protein high fiber diets are pretty bad for them. Problem is they will eat anything.
Mine haven't had a problem with the probiotic worms, but I give spirulina and plankton based flakes mostly.

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Nope tropheus can not have live protein packed foods. Just feed them a good pellet like nls and they will be happy and healthy. Live foods really don't offer any advantage to African cichlids and tropheus are very very vegetarian

 

[suntwisty4]

Second ? Should i wait to add more fish until shes done holding?

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[suntwisty4]

Please ignore this comment^^^^^^ wrong section

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[squirrilah fish]

Nope tropheus can not have live protein packed foods. Just feed them a good pellet like nls and they will be happy and healthy. Live foods really don't offer any advantage to African cichlids and tropheus are very very vegetarian

That's what I thought. And it's why your not supposed to supposed to mix them with Calvus, because they will eat high protein, high fiber foods if you put it them in.

I have a good variety of foods that I use, but I am constantly checking the Tropheus to makes sure they are healthy. I usually start with greens and NLS and work my way up with flakes and occasionally Krill. But I have to do it carefully so the Tropheus doesn't eat them.

Honestly, I don't have the smartest mix of fish. I'm just doing my best to make it work. And so far it is. But I know it's not smart.

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Tropheus shouldnt be mixed because the form a hierarchy and other fish can mess that up and make them stressed. I would feed NLS to all my fish new and old world alike. Its got everything everyone needs

 

[Iamtechno13]

I will tell you from experience that Tropheus can be difficult to keep with Calvus as they have different diets. Tropheus have evolved to graze algae all day right down to the mouth and jaw structure and their digestive system is built for digesting algae, not worms and protein packed food. Their intestines are longer than most fish to absorb the most it can from the algae they eat and eating high protein foods, especially foods with high fiber as well is very hard on the digestive system causing bloat. Typically the dominant male will eat up all the food and if he eats to much of the whatever you're feeding the Calvus, he could very easily get bloat. I've seen it happen a few times and it's always the dominant male that gets sick sometimes the subdominant as he/they are the ones inhaling the food at feeding time. If it does you have to remove it ASAP as it has already done irreversible damage to the internal organs. Tropheus are by far my favorite African Cichlid. Saw a great presentation on Tropheus at the last ACA convention here in Denver. And we have a few Tropheus tanks in the house, all my brothers but I really enjoy watching those fish.

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Yes tropheus are unique little fish, and I'm not saying worms are good, but tropheus would be fine on quality pellets like NLS and so would over tangs. The problem most people have is tank size and not allowing the soical structure the tropheus needs.

 

[Iamtechno13]

Yeah they can do good on a good quality pellet. If you are feeding them something with higher protien, make sure it has a lower fiber content. I never could figure out why they posted that on bags when I first got into fish. I found out there are many reasons this being one of them. Also, the larger they get they better they can digest pellets. Fish over 3" seem to digest them better and be less prone to bloat over fish less than 3" I've noticed. Been through bloat so many times with them seeing what works and what doesn't, got it down now. Have some awesome Firecracker Red Moliro Moorii's, and a few different color Rainbows my favorite being the Blue Rainbow. I really want to get some Purple Lufubu's my personal favorite.

 

[Iamtechno13]

For me, I would just get a good quality flake food thats spirulina or algae based to feed them and you'll greatly reduce the chance of them getting bloat. It's just one less thing and why risk it. Thats just me though.