Good food for Primarily Cichlid Tanks, (I know it's cliche..)

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Rocketman

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Oct 24, 2002
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Anyways, I've got Convicts, Jewels, Oscars, Tin Foil Barbs, African Clawed Frogs,and a Red-Tail Shark. They are all in the same tank except the convicts. Regerdless of price, what do you think somewater good foods are for these fish? I not only want to know for myself, but as I work at a Pet Store, so I can recomend them to others.

The other tank is fed; Tetra Tropical Flakes (this needs replacing, what Flakes do you recommend,) Freshwater Multi-Pack San Fransisco Bay Frozen Food, Hikari Gold Mini and Medium Cichlid Pellets, , Hikari Algae Wafers, Wardley Shrimp Pellets, and Tetra JumboMin Cichlid Sticks, ("The alternative to live food.") The Convicts get the first two items and Baby Pellets. After that lengthy introduction...what do you think I could add? I have the same love for fish food as some have for more tanks...

I did some looking around at work and saw some Hikari "Sinking food Sticks" as well as "Sinking Carniviour Pellets." The latter have something like 57% Protein Content. Also, do you think the Formula One and Formula Two Stuff, (I think Ocean Nutrition makes it or something,) is any good; I'm talking about the flake version of the frozen food.
 

Rocketman

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I should probably include that the Multi-Pack Frozen Food is: Bloodworms, Cichlid Chow, (primarily Turkey Heart, Artemia, Daphnia), Emereld Entree, (mostly Artemia, Mysis, krill, plankton, spinich, romaine lettuce,) and Spirulina Enriched Brine Shrimp.

I need to buy more frozen food, what should I get? I don't mind getting multiple varieties...remember, cost is no factor, (but keep it reasonable, and anything I could get at a Pet Store or at Big Als Online.)
 

Andy16

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Dec 10, 2002
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I think hte stuff i use is called emerald coast. It works great for me and really gets the colors going on my afra. The brine shrimp is probably the best, but i used one htat had plankton and brineshrimd and other good stuff in it too. I stopped using that becasue some of it went to wastes cuz they didnt like all of the things taht they put in it.
 

Tightdog1

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Sep 2, 2002
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that emerald stuff smells so bad tho. but i would add san francisco brand Beef Heart. my fish jsut love the stuff i feed it to all my fish, also try cichlid color sticks by tetra. they are hard to find but you could probably order them, they work good for blue acaras, firemouths and a bunch of other fish but you couls use them for all large fish bkuz they bring out the reds and yellows in fish.
 

Gunnie

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Jun 8, 2003
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You may also want to look for Omega One Cichlid Pellets. I have heard they are the only brand that doesn't use fish meal as a main ingredient. My oscars go apey over them! I order mine online at www.fishstoretn.com. I can order it there cheaper including shipping than I can buy it locally. It's great stuff!
 

MoJo

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Variety is the spice of life. It's not which ONE food is good for them it's what foods are good for them. The first thing you should do is research what their staple diet is in the wild.
 

Sumpin'fishy

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Oct 16, 2002
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I'm going to have to agree with Mojo on this one. A healthy, varied diet is much better than any single food source with all the "stuff" fish need in it. For one thing, you want the fish to remain adaptable, like in nature. Feeding them just flakes all their life tends to lessen some feeding habits of fish which eat other live critters (for instance) in the wild. A Betta is a good, common example of this. Feeding them your average flakes is not as good as frozen foods mixed with other smaller pellets (and such) high in protein.

I believe I have done a pretty good job of providing what my fish need to live very healthy lives, while still avoiding live foods. Live foods are necessary for certain fish, though! Here's a breakdown of what I feed each tank:

3-Continent 55 Gal. Communty:
(Not suggested, but works for me!)
*1x 8" Blackbelt Cichlid
*1x 7" Malawi Eyebiter
*3x 4" Silver Dollars
-New Life Spectrum Jumbo Pellets (staple)
-Nutrafin Max Spirulina Algae Flakes (staple)
-Hikari Freeze-dried Krill (1-2x week)
-Hikari Freeze-dried Bloodworms (1-2x week)

Planted 20 Gal. Community:
*1x Betta Splendins
*1x Florida Flag Fish (male from pair)
*4x Bronze Corys
*4x Otto Catfish
*6x Neon Tetras
-BIO Blend Tropical (staple) -will change to Spectrum
-BIO Blend Color Enhancing (staple) -change to Spectrum
-Hikari Sinking Wafers (every other day)
-Wardley Shrimp Pellets (every other day)
-FFF has more than enough algae to eat!

Future Planted 55 Gal. Tank:
*1x Betta Splendins
*1x Florida Flag Fish (female from pair)
-HBH Soft +Moist "Krill" (great for conditioning)
-Hikari Freeze-dried Bloodworms
-FFF has plenty of algae here, too!
 

Rocketman

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Well, I have plenty of variety, what i'm trying to do is add more variety.
 
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