Dempsey diet

Marxman187

Marxman187

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Feb 13, 2008
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since i got my jack dempsey about 6 weeks ago i have tried to feed him flakes and cichlid pellets.he does not like the flakes and rarely eats them he always trys them anyway but he puts them in his mouth and spits the whole thing out every time.as for the pellets he eats on or two but he continues to spit them out and back in over and over nibbling like he is having a hard time breaking them up, if i soak them in water before putting them in the tank he wont touch them.today i tried frozen brine shrimp and he went nuts on them! he loves them!but my question is how often can i feed them to him?i have heard not everyday. is this true? what else can i try as an everyday main suplament besides flakes or pellets?anything? thanks in advance for any help
 
Marxman187 said:
since i got my jack dempsey about 6 weeks ago i have tried to feed him flakes and cichlid pellets.he does not like the flakes and rarely eats them he always trys them anyway but he puts them in his mouth and spits the whole thing out every time.as for the pellets he eats on or two but he continues to spit them out and back in over and over nibbling like he is having a hard time breaking them up, if i soak them in water before putting them in the tank he wont touch them.today i tried frozen brine shrimp and he went nuts on them! he loves them!but my question is how often can i feed them to him?i have heard not everyday. is this true? what else can i try as an everyday main suplament besides flakes or pellets?anything? thanks in advance for any help
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i feed mine a mix of tropical fish flakes and goldfish flakes, he also eats wardley shrimp pellets (i break em in half so he doesnt choke) could also try (he might not go for it at first) but small ghost shrimp.
 
MIKE D said:
Good question! My JD wont eat flakes or Bio-Balls but if I put frozen brine shrimp or frozen bloodworms he goes nuts! Mine doesen't spit the balls or flakes he just ignores them.
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So what do you do about that? What do you feed him on a daily basis? Do you feed him brine shrimp every night? I need an everyday food for him. Any suggestions?
 
It's been my experience that when a fish gets hungry enough it will eat whatever you put in the tank unless something else is wrong. Pellets soften after being in the water for a while. Some of my fish wait to eat them. If you've had him for six weeks and he's still alive he's eating something. I've read that cichlids are supposed to have a diverse diet, so I try to feed them two different foods once a day.
 
Marxman187 said:
So what do you do about that? What do you feed him on a daily basis? Do you feed him brine shrimp every night? I need an everyday food for him. Any suggestions?
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I feed him a cube of frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms and I still put 1 ball and a pinch of flake.
 
dent20 i agree totally if a fish is hungary it will eat! i had to wait three weeks for my hujeta to eat anything after i stopped giving him feeders. my jd's are on hikari gold they love it and ate as soon as they were acclimatised. also try chopped shrimp, all of my cichlids enjoy this and i alternate this with flake and pellets.

good luck
 
dent20 said:
It's been my experience that when a fish gets hungry enough it will eat whatever you put in the tank unless something else is wrong.
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I agree. Perhaps don't feed for a couple of days, and then try the pellets or flake again? I've heard many do this to wean fish off of feeders and onto commercial food. I also agree that variety in the diet is key, so I certainly wouldn't feed brine shrimp exclusively. I've also heard on this forum that brine shrimp are less nutritious than bloodworms, but I think both are fine to be fed in conjunction with other foods, just not as an exclusive diet.
 
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