Cichlid Food

finfreak

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Jan 20, 2003
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OK...... We go buy about 20-30 feeder tuffies for My Texas Cichlid. I have a separate tank for them and they usually don't last very long. My question is,
Why does algae grow so rapidly in just that tank and they die in the dozens
I have a friend who said that when they mate you have to separate them for some reason (I can't remember). If this is true how do you know they are pregnant and what should I do. What else should I feed my Cichlid. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanx:confused:
 
Feeder fish were to start. Well its good you have a seperate tank alot of times they carry diseases and parasite that could infect your precious Texas. Well they die out from being sick and diseased. I use to feed feeder goldfish to my Jag but she got Ick from them and almost died so I stoped feed her feeders. As far as breeding they have to be seperated because they will eat there own young but they wont breed unless they have a big enough tank. Ok I feed my Jag Hikari Cichlid Gold Pellets and her colors and health has improved greatly. There are other foods as well feeders dont have really any nutrients and are pointless to give it to you fish for the risk of disease is to high I learned this the hard way.
 
My Tex already has beautiful coloring but I would love to enhance it's color but it will not whatsoever eat any kind of pellet. It's fav is beef heart but I don't live in a town where it is available. If it doesn't swim it won't touch it. What do you think about Tetras for food. Also Tex isn't really growing very well. Is there a reason for this and how much should he eat in a day? One time I dropped in 25 feeder tuffys and he ate all of them in like 10 minutes, if he had fingers you'd see him licking them. I though it was funny.

Thanx for your reply.
 
Well you could just try to limit the live food and give him pellets or just starve him for a while and they put the pellets in if hes hungry enough he'll eat it. As far as the not growing fast what size is he and what size tank is he in???
 
I feed all my cichlids asa live food alternative raw jumbo shrimp, superworms, nightcrawlers, and freeze dried krill. I also have spirulina discs and flakes, Tetra Cichlid sticks, ColorBits, and frozen veggies in the diet and the color is simply amazing.
 
If you want to go feeders, I'd suggest doing Ghost Shrimp. They are cheap and are better in protein (from what I've read) than goldfish, guppies, or fish feeders. I also have heard, and believe, that since they are invertibrates they can't carry the same diseases to infect the fish. Obviously if they come from a tank with some type of worm or parasite, and it is "sitting" on the shrimp when he's pulled out, You can still get a parasite problem. You can always rinse them first or something. Quarantining ANYTHING going into your tank is a wise idea. Two weeks to a month is fine, IMO.

My Cichlid Diets are always quite varied, and have consisted of:

-Hikari cichlid pellets (gold and staple)
-Various Flakes (when small)
-Algae discs
-Shrimp Pellets
-Frozen prepared foods (brine shrimp, krill, beef heart, Emerald Entree, Bloodworms, etc.)
-Live Ghost Shrimp
-Frozen Veggies (Romain Lettuce, Spinach, Zuccinni, Cucumber, Squash)
 
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