Feeding

[nomadofthehills]

My 8 salusis, 4 yellow labs and 4 acei come tommorow, and I have HBH soft pellets-spirulina/kelp forumla, and i jsut bought some cichlid nls, which has a tropheus and some mbuna on the label as well as a peacock. I have heard NLS is good for all fish no matter their diet, but how can this be? I think I'll feed HBH as a stable with NLS less frequently unless I am informed otherwise lol...

 

[Lonewolfblue]

NLS is good stuff. You could use a combo of both as a staple, or switch between then now and then. As for some of the others you mentioned, looks like you have a nice variety. Remember they do like vegies now and then too. See if they will take zucchini and peas on occasion too. A good variety and a healthy staple will mean healthy fish. Good selection...

 

[Fishyfanatic]

NLS is great for Africans. I use it as a staple and have noticed considerable coloration improvements since doing so. Variety is key though. As Lone mentioned, feed peas, zuc, flake (messy so don't feed much), the pellets, some even feed brocolli and spinich. Mine even enjoy algae wafers. The Nimbo eats them whole.

 

[TankGirl]

There have been informal studies by breeders showing that their vegetarian Africans do not get bloat even when feeding NLS exclusively, so it is possible. I think variety is better for the fish, though, as above.

 

[nomadofthehills]

Great, a variety it is

 

[jrp1588]

I feed a staple of NLS with the addition of peas every other day and zucs twice a week or so...seems to be working well so far.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Come to think of it, I've never had an Africa have Malawi Bloat. What causes it?

 

[jrp1588]

I think I read that they can't properly digest the higher protein foods and some of it decomposes in their guts. This can supposedly create an opening for bacteria to take hold.

 

[TankGirl]

There is a lot of debate about it, but mbuna are prone to this, as are other herbivorous Africans. Due to their long intestinal tract (as jrp mentions) they need to eat more frequently and smaller amounts, and it is suggested that meaty foods, or foods low in veggie content, lead to intestinal obstructions to which they are prone. You will often hear that if you feed a basic "African cichlid" flake or pellet along with frozen or live meaty foods your fish will bloat and die. In most cases once you spot bloat it is too late.

Cichlid-forum.com has lots of discussions and articles about bloat, how to treat it, and there is even an article about NLS and the bloat connection: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=69704