Cichla problem

J.Lake

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 4, 2011
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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
I have 3 small tems growing in a 20 long right now. They are close to 2 inches. They came from a local pet store. They are not eating pellets. They were eating mysis shrimp. And thats what i have been feeding them for 2 weeks. I crush pellets into the mysis mix, and drop pellets in when they are eating the shrimp. So far no takers. i read the sticky about getting cichla off live food. Its very helpful. Im not against starving them to get them onto pellets but thats where my other problem pops up. I have 2 4 to 5 inch ocellaris in a diff 110 gallon grow out. I want the 3 tems in there asap. If i starve the tems i will be setting them back alot bc the ocellaris are really growing fast. WHat should i do? I know the pellets will make the lil tems grow fastest but how long will it take to starve them? IS there a more suitable food to fatten them up untill they go thru the big starve. I figure being in with the pellet eaters will make it easier. I already do 50 percent wcs every other day on the the 20 long. I have the temp higher and feed them untill there bellies are full. I guess to sum up my rambling post, Whats the quickest way to get the tems up to a size that my other 2 wont eat them?
 

cpr_mike

Jack Dempsey
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Jan 11, 2009
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Keep feeding the tems the frozen. They will grow a lot faster than the ocells no matter what. Once they get to 4-5 inches, they will be better suited to be starved. Starving that small of cichla is a very hard thing for them to survive through. If anything, crush some floating aro sticks when you put the frozen food in. I would not go away from having the frozen food in there at least once a day. You will actually end up stunting them or possibly killing them at that size if they are starved for too long.
 

J.Lake

Feeder Fish
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Feb 4, 2011
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yeah thats wha\t i figured. Is there a more nutritous frozen food for them? I crush up the pellets and mix it with the shrimp everytime i feed
 

isde02

Arapaima
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Jan 4, 2011
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Just keep with the frozen/pellet mixture... Then gradually reduce the frozen part of the mixture.
 

kendragon

Silver Tier VIP
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Mar 23, 2009
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Power feed frozen blood worms to build up their belly and appetite. After a few weeks they will go crazy everytime you walk up to the tank and that when you start introducing pellets.
 

J.Lake

Feeder Fish
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Feb 4, 2011
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they eat untill they are round and fat every time. I will try some frozen blood worms. Is there any frozen foods i should stay away from?
 

kendragon

Silver Tier VIP
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they eat untill they are round and fat every time. I will try some frozen blood worms. Is there any frozen foods i should stay away from?
Fried chicken and pizza. I've always used frozen bloodworms :)
 

Houdini89

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 21, 2009
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Trust me, Tem's will grow faster than a speeding bullet.......Shoot out some pic's of those future Monsters.
 

ingrda

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 1, 2010
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London, UK
You may want to try market prawn, I've found it adds bulk to non-pellet trained cichla much better than bloodworms.
The downside is you can't crush pellets into it, however you can stuff the shrimp with pellets. Good luck
 
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