Lake Malawi-What to feed them

[palmbreeze]

Ok, so I have had my cichlids for a long time. I have one large common pleco, two Pseudotropheus estherae (red zebras) and three Gephyrochromis moorii (yellow tailed violets) all in a 55 gallon. Currently they are eating O.S.I. Ocean Stars Cichlid Pellets. When looking to buy new food the description for this food said it was for meat eating fish. Now from what I have read and researched these fish are not meat eating fish. Is that correct? Are these fishies meat eating, plant eating, or both????? I also feed them algae tablets which they love!

So....what should I be feeding these guys?

What fish food brand is the best based upon what they should be eating?

Thanks for your help!

 

[kayla]

I believe both of those are omnivores. Keep feeding them what you are but add some vegtable based flake or pellet into the diet as well. And of course some algea wafers for the plec.

 

[palmbreeze]

I have some Spirulina flakes, is that a vegtable based flake? Just want to make sure. These flakes are...

Crude Protein 36%
Crude Fat 5%
Crude Fiber 4%
Moisture 8%

 

[JSchmidt]

I'm not as familiar with the G. moori, but the estherae are mbuna and will do best with a low protein, low fat diet. The will do fine on algae wafers, fresh veggies (e.g., zuchinni, lettuce) and cichlid diets formulated for mbuna (e.g., Hikari Cichlid Excel). Your spirulina flakes look OK, although I have had problems with my mbuna eating too many and getting bloat. I've stopped feeding them flake completely.

HTH,
Jim