Spirulina brine shrimp as a meal or treat?

[Komodo]

I would like to add spirulina brine shrimp to my Mbuna cichlid diet. Does this replace a feeding or do I give them a little once a week as a treat?

 

[Ricky 1]

I give mine frozen brine shrimp after a WC once a week......

 

[nessalang]

I would stick to the spirulina brine as a treat rather than a meal. Mbuna diets are very plant/algae heavy in the wild and they have long digestive tracts for extracting nutrients out of all that fiber. Too much protein is not good for that sort of digestive system. Something a little crunchier such as mysis or amphipods would probably be a little better, or you can try blanched veggies like peas, carrot, zucchini as treats.

 

[Quest84]

only time I feed brine shrimp is for fry...they need the extra protein. The brine shrimp should be decapsulated for easier digestion


and I agree with Nessa, not really that good for them. Just mix in some plain spirulina flake

 

[Ricky 1]

Can you explain decapsulated please, my ground dwellers below don't know what it means, 'cos they love it once a week.......

 

[Quest84]

Can you explain decapsulated please, my ground dwellers below don't know what it means, 'cos they love it once a week.......

Decapsulated Brine Shrimp Eggs | Frequently Asked Questions

this might help you understand the process.


brine shrimp are not really good for the digestive tract of mbuna, they have a hard shell that can become stuck in the digestive tract of the fish. I don't feed them at all to adult or juvies. The fry I feed decapsulated eggs

 

[Ricky 1]

This is not for frozen brine shrimp is it, as frozen comes out very soft and fluffy??

 

[Quest84]

This is not for frozen brine shrimp is it, as frozen comes out very soft and fluffy??

potential to be more harmful than good, like I said I don't even bother with it. A good quality flake or pellet is really all you need. I feed new life spectrum pelets, and a mixture of veggie and spirulina flake


If you want to give mbuna a treat give them some zuchini, blanched peas with the shells off, romaine lettuce, cucumber.

 

[Dogmom]

My Chocolate Plecostomous, Clown plecostomous, and a bristlenose, feeding on a piece of zucchini. Have used cucumber and romaine also, but have never tried peas.


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[Quest84]

View attachment 261500

My Chocolate Plecostomous, Clown plecostomous, and a bristlenose, feeding on a piece of zucchini. Have used cucumber and romaine also, but have never tried peas.


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very cool. Pleco's are certainly interesting creatures

 

[Ricky 1]

I put JBL Tanganyika flake down the inlet daily they love that.....

 

[Ricky 1]

View attachment 261500

My Chocolate Plecostomous, Clown plecostomous, and a bristlenose, feeding on a piece of zucchini. Have used cucumber and romaine also, but have never tried peas.


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Good shot, they look happy

 

[Dogmom]

For a long time, the Chocolate didn't come out from wherever he spends his day. I thought for sure he was dead, and then one day, out he comes, and he spends a good bit of time out and about now. The Clown is out a little more, and the bristlenose are out all the time. There are 4 regular bristlenose (two are long finned) and one albino.


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