Will certain foods make my cichlids not breed

[kade]

Will certain foods make my cichlids not breed. I have a breeding pair of Hongi's and I switched food, and now they dont seem to be breeding. One of my friend's told me that Colour enhancers don't allow the fish to breed, and my food has colour enhancers, is that statement true.
Thank you for your help

 

[BillD]

Lots of people have fish breed when fed color enhancers.

 

[HUKIT]

Malawi cichlids do not pair they are harem breeders which means one male spawns with numerous females. I've never heard of color enhancers having that effect on fish. There are many reasons they won't breed like over feeding, to low of water temperature, and the biggest being stress and poor water conditions.

 

[DiscusDennis]

Will certain foods make my cichlids not breed. I have a breeding pair of Hongi's and I switched food, and now they dont seem to be breeding. One of my friend's told me that Colour enhancers don't allow the fish to breed, and my food has colour enhancers, is that statement true.
Thank you for your help

Never heard of certain foods causing Cichlids to NOT breed but certain foods may help Cichlids to breed......Like blood worms & black worms & earth worms.

Dennis

 

[HUKIT]

Never heard of certain foods causing Cichlids to NOT breed but certain foods may help Cichlids to breed......Like blood worms & black worms & earth worms.

Dennis

Not something to use when feeding mbuna due to the higher protein count which could lead to Bloat.

 

[ryan1234]

I have one big flowerhorn a smaller one two figure 8 puffers 2 jewels 3 cichlids and a mono and 2 skats and a convict. The big flowerhorn is hanging out by the heater wasn't sure why that would be just did a water change and the water is good any ideas

 

[WendiDell]

I'm not an expert on breeding. In fact my Kenyi just spit out about 20 fry 3 days ago. The only things I did was I traded any Mbuna that were bullies back to the FS. So the fish I have all get along, no one gets picked on.
I feed them nothing but NLS Cichlid Pellets. Never Blood worms or any other supplemental food.
My water temp is at a constant 80 degrees. I know it seems a little high, but the fishes behavior displays that they prefer 80 degrees to even 78 degrees.
Every Saturday and every Wednesday I do 30% PWC, without fail.
Next thing I know my female Kenyi is carrying.
I've only had her since Sept. 2010. She's under a year old but she did great as a first time Mom.
It isn't easy creating a stress free Mbuna tank given their predilection for aggression. But with anything it's a mix of the right personalities, even fish.
I absolutely love these fish, but it was important to me to not have to deal with battling fish.
It turns out that no battles, good food and good water leads to making fry, IMO.

 

[HUKIT]

I have one big flowerhorn a smaller one two figure 8 puffers 2 jewels 3 cichlids and a mono and 2 skats and a convict. The big flowerhorn is hanging out by the heater wasn't sure why that would be just did a water change and the water is good any ideas

Your best bet is to start your own thread to more responses. But that tanks looks awful small with amount of fish you have listed, so I'm leaning toward the fish being harassed. But start a thread discuss tank size, water parameters and fish size so we can try to help.

Welcome to Aquarium Advice.

 

[kade]

Well my Hongi is now holding

 

[WendiDell]

Well my Hongi is now holding

Congrats, do you have a tank to put her in for the safety of the fry and Mom who will be weakened by not being able to eat while she holding?
They will stand a better chance of survival if you do.

 

[kade]

I am getting a 3ft for her. Is this to big or to small

 

[WendiDell]

I am getting a 3ft for her. Is this to big or to small

Depending on how many Fry she has, at first it will be to big and really hard to find the fry. But if you get 40-50 fry, after they've grown some, the 3' will be nice for them.
So I'm afraid the answer is yes and the answer is no.

 

[kade]

Should I take the female out now or in like 20 days or so

 

[WendiDell]

Should I take the female out now or in like 20 days or so

I took Rainbow (Mom) out as soon as I noticed she was holding. I had no idea how long she had been that way or when she would spit out the Fry.
If you know the day the eggs were fertilized you can move her when she's close to her time. If not I'd move her now,IMO, I'm sure OP have other opinions on this subject.
I wanted to make sure Rainbow didn't get picked on and that she was in as stress free environment as possible.
That's why I didn't wait. Rainbow was very content to hide under the terrace even though she was alone.
Good luck and enjoy, the Fry are really cool, although hard to see, to watch.