Cichlid Diet Questions

aquarob

aquarob

I give up!
Jan 1, 2006
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Currently feeding Tropical Crisps and Hikari Sinking Wafers to my cichlids. They love them and won't touch the Hikari Cichlid Gold I bought for them. I think mainly because it's a floating food and they are too leery of pulling it off the surface.

Anyway, I have a crayfish in my African Tank, and I would like to feed him some Tubifex Worm and Dried Krill blocks. Is it OK for my Africans to eat these or will they cause bloat and kill them?
 
Unless all your cichlids are haplochromis, then there is big risk of bloat if you feed your mbunas protein loaded foods. It's not generally a good idea to mix herbivores and carnivores due to different dietary requirements. If I were you, separate the crayfish besides the compatibility issue.
 
So no danger in them eating freeze dried Krill and Tubifex Worms?

As far as compatibility goes, my crayfish doesn't bother my fish. Some do, some don't. Thankfully mine doesn't.
 
aquarob said:
As far as compatibility goes, my crayfish doesn't bother my fish. Some do, some don't. Thankfully mine doesn't.
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Yes, but the dietary requirements is also another matter that needs reconsideration. Why do you think mbunas and botias don't even mix well? To cite this one example, a lot of loaches prefer rich meaty foods. Now if the mbunas eat the protein loaded foods, they will end up with digestive problems, most particularly bloat which is why you must always consider the dietary requirements, not just space, compatibility, etc.

There is still danger of bloat by the way if you expose the cichlids to tubifex worms.
 
Lupin said:
Yes, but the dietary requirements is also another matter that needs reconsideration. Why do you think mbunas and botias don't even mix well? To cite this one example, a lot of loaches prefer rich meaty foods. Now if the mbunas eat the protein loaded foods, they will end up with digestive problems, most particularly bloat which is why you must always consider the dietary requirements, not just space, compatibility, etc.

There is still danger of bloat by the way if you expose the cichlids to tubifex worms.
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OK, scratch the worms then. Is freeze dried krill ok?
 
Krills should be fine.

This list is courtesy of Anne (beblondie).
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Lupin said:
Krills should be fine.

This list is courtesy of Anne (beblondie).
untitled-3.jpg
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OK, thanks Lupin. Very helpful of you. So is there a certain percentage of crude protein I should be avoiding then?
 
Bump for Coler or Lupin reply please. :help:
 
aquarob said:
OK, thanks Lupin. Very helpful of you. So is there a certain percentage of crude protein I should be avoiding then?
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Sorry about that. I'd avoid protein load by more than 36%. Even then, vegetarians are to focused on fiber more than proteins due to the structure of their digestive systems. Proteins are a little more difficult to digest and if accumulated in their intestines which is longer in vegetarians than carnivores, it can cause bloat hence the abdomen looks distended.
 
Ok, thank you very much. Is there a good veggie based flake or sinking pellet I can feed? The wafers could my water. Thanks for all the help!
 
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