Are flakes or pellets better?

[Jeff22]

I recently started keeping cichlids and they seem to be messy eaters. Most of the other fish i've kept in the past were smaller and didn't make so much of a mess.

I will probably answer my own question with this but pellets are less messy for them to eat right? Which do you prefer?

I got the flakes because that's what i'm used to and i have yellow labs and metriaclima greshakei and they are still a little small biggest one is probably 2.5 or 3" Will they be able to eat the pellets if they are still a little small?

 

[albyoscar]

I kept feeding flakes till they didnt seem satisfied, Some smaller cichlids can eat flakes forever as far as i know try some bloodworms and brine shimp also for treats.

 

[rmcder]

Not only do flakes make a mess, but you end up with a bunch of powder in the bottom of the can that gets wasted. I switched over to Tetra Colorbits, which are granules. They stand up a LOT better than flakes and stay together when the fish eat. All my fish love them; give them a try.

 

[liv2padl]

it primarily depends on the type and size of the cichlid(s) are. small cichlids do fine on flakes and small pellets. as they grow larger, they do better (significantly less mess) on pellets. some cichlids are simply messy feeders no matter what you feed them .. oscars for example.