WJC Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 (edited) We have a beautiful 55gal tank of S/A cichlids, I have no idea the breeds, I just love the group we have :thumbs: I feed brine shrimp and blood worms on top of the basic diet but wanted to know if there were any good feeder fish I should be feeding them as well. Any advice would be great! I also wanted to add that we had our "starter" fish in our tank for ages until just recently when we added new fish so I thought that a feeder may be a good idea if they're looking to eat more then just what I'm feeding them. Edited February 18, 2009 by WJC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I highly don't recommend using live feeders. For one they often carry diseases that can be passed onto your fish, and 2 they are not very nutritional. Feeding live fish can also cause your fish to become more aggressive and start eating fish you don't want them to eat. In other words you will teach them to become predators. Which is typically something you don't want in your home aquarium. I would buy a good quality flake or pellet food for them as their "main" diet, and feed the brine and bw as treats. Brine shrimp doesn't contain enough nutrients to really keep your fish healthy, and blood worms contain alot of fat and protein, too much for some fish to handle all the time. Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nandopsis Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I have to agree. feeders are no good, unless you raise themyourself. That however isn't very practical for most people. A high quality food such as NLS will do wonders for your C/A cichlids....Trust me. I won't use any other food anymore. *Frozen foods excluded* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 My guys love the NLS too, and my fish don't seem to ever get ill when I feed them that stuff. It also doesn't break up easily in the water column, so for larger fish you don't have to worry about it all going back through their gills and into the water (my oscar is the worst for this) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
french fries Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I agree don't feed feeders to any kind of cichlids. You don't know if they are healthy or not so don't take the chance. It may cause hole in the head disease, which is hard to cure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parachromis1 Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I'm not gonna get in on this topic, but I don't agree with feeders. Too high in parasites/disease. BUT if you decide you still wanna use feeders, grow up your own. I use fry as a treat every once in a while for my big boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscusKeeper403 Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 (edited) If you are going to have feeders. Set up a tank and breed your own live bearers (really easy to breed) and gut load them with all sorts of foods (dry and frozen.) Live bearers include guppies, platies, swords, mollies and more. Edited February 22, 2009 by DiscusLova Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscusKeeper403 Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 I agree don't feed feeders to any kind of cichlids. You don't know if they are healthy or not so don't take the chance.It may cause hole in the head disease, which is hard to cure. HITH would be caused more by the lack of nutrients, not necessarily feeders in itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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