I picked up 3 Red Head Tapajo's about 3 weeks ago. Their doing great. Only issue I have is that they are losing color on their heads. The person I bought them from said they were just feeding the HBH flake food. I've been feeding them NLS. I figured the NLS would only enhance the colors even more. I was gonna try bloodworms and some krill pellets but I wanted to see what everyone else was doing first. Thanks.
What are you feeding you Geo's?
- Thread starter evojoey
- Start date
I feed a hugely varied diet and make sure all of my tanks get a good dosing of vegetable matter in their staple diet.
I feed the following vegetables twice a week, alternating depending on what I've got handy, etc. Finely diced.
- Skinned Peas
- Zucchini
- Cucumber
The following frozen foods, alternated every second day:
- Hikari Bio-Pure Spiraluna infused Brine Shrimp
- Hikari Bio-Pure Bloodworms
I feed the following dried foods:
- Crushed and whole Tetra ColorBits
Combined with the one following (alternating) on a daily basis:
- New Life Spectrum Thera+A 1mm Sinking
- New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula 1mm Sinking
- Crushed New Life Spectrum H2O Stable Wafers
and for my Tetra in the tank, but everything eats them, a mixup of the following in an old NLS container:
- Hikari Community Micro-Pellets
- Crushed Hikari Gold Medium Sinking
- Crushed Hikari Excel Medium Floating
- Crushed New Life Spectrum H2O Stable Wafers
- Crushed Tetra Colorbits
Everything is prepared with a Mortar and Pestle and placed into a half-cup full of tank water and then poured straight in, because floating matter takes a direct detour to my overflow.
Keep in mind that Eartheaters in the wild have a diet that consists almost entirely of loose plant matter and crustaceans and other organisms found in the river substrate. Their mouths are not designed for large pellets so feeding as small as possible is good for them, and they are interested in all types of food unlike many Americans which will turn their noses up at anything that's too small.
Be careful not to overfeed as you can go a little overboard when you're crushing food.
They're more than likely losing colour due to less ideal water conditions, loss of social structure if they were separated from a larger group, or due to stress from other tankmates.
I feed the following vegetables twice a week, alternating depending on what I've got handy, etc. Finely diced.
- Skinned Peas
- Zucchini
- Cucumber
The following frozen foods, alternated every second day:
- Hikari Bio-Pure Spiraluna infused Brine Shrimp
- Hikari Bio-Pure Bloodworms
I feed the following dried foods:
- Crushed and whole Tetra ColorBits
Combined with the one following (alternating) on a daily basis:
- New Life Spectrum Thera+A 1mm Sinking
- New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula 1mm Sinking
- Crushed New Life Spectrum H2O Stable Wafers
and for my Tetra in the tank, but everything eats them, a mixup of the following in an old NLS container:
- Hikari Community Micro-Pellets
- Crushed Hikari Gold Medium Sinking
- Crushed Hikari Excel Medium Floating
- Crushed New Life Spectrum H2O Stable Wafers
- Crushed Tetra Colorbits
Everything is prepared with a Mortar and Pestle and placed into a half-cup full of tank water and then poured straight in, because floating matter takes a direct detour to my overflow.
Keep in mind that Eartheaters in the wild have a diet that consists almost entirely of loose plant matter and crustaceans and other organisms found in the river substrate. Their mouths are not designed for large pellets so feeding as small as possible is good for them, and they are interested in all types of food unlike many Americans which will turn their noses up at anything that's too small.
Be careful not to overfeed as you can go a little overboard when you're crushing food.
They're more than likely losing colour due to less ideal water conditions, loss of social structure if they were separated from a larger group, or due to stress from other tankmates.
So the fact that some of the food they pick up and spit out could be because it's too large? I have an assortment of smaller fish in there as well, i.e. lemon tetras, cory julii's, some ottos, a couple clown plecos and a pair of cupids. I feed a big assortment of food for them in the form of Hikari algae wafers, NLS and some Dainichi 1mm pellets as well. The Ottos also get zucchini and cucumber.
They were the only 3 fish in the tank that I got them from. Water changes are done once a week. Water quality is great. Never have any problems with the other fish. I'll try what you've shared and see how it goes.
Japes you are the man. Thank you.
They were the only 3 fish in the tank that I got them from. Water changes are done once a week. Water quality is great. Never have any problems with the other fish. I'll try what you've shared and see how it goes.
Japes you are the man. Thank you.
wow japes, i feel cruel to my fish. Thanks. 
i feed mine nls 1mm, homeade food (made of market schrimp, white fish, scallops, spinach, garlic, lettuce, and peas) in the morning and nls, bloodworms at night. and i don't know who in the tank is eating my live plants but someone is so their also getting live plants.
waterchanges twice a week, nitrates undetectable. Filtration xp3 and 402 with micron filter.
i feed mine nls 1mm, homeade food (made of market schrimp, white fish, scallops, spinach, garlic, lettuce, and peas) in the morning and nls, bloodworms at night. and i don't know who in the tank is eating my live plants but someone is so their also getting live plants. waterchanges twice a week, nitrates undetectable. Filtration xp3 and 402 with micron filter.
abarilot;3737652; said:
Nope, although sometimes they just don't feel like Cucumber of Zucchini. Always happy to see my bring in the breadboard with Peas
i feed the following
Pellet Foods:
NLS 1mm Cichlid Pellets Sinking
NLS 1mm All Purpose Formula Sinking
Tetra Color Bits
Frozen Foods:
Home Made Shrimp Mix - Once a week
Hikari Bio-Pure Blood Worms
Hikari Bio-Pure Mysis Shrimp
Hikari Bio-Pure Brine Shrimp
Hikari Bio-Pure Daphnia
i alternate the frozen hikari foods 2 different foods every other day.
Frozen Peeled Table Shrimp cut into fourths.
and i just started them on shelled peas and blanched zuchini.
Pellet Foods:
NLS 1mm Cichlid Pellets Sinking
NLS 1mm All Purpose Formula Sinking
Tetra Color Bits
Frozen Foods:
Home Made Shrimp Mix - Once a week
Hikari Bio-Pure Blood Worms
Hikari Bio-Pure Mysis Shrimp
Hikari Bio-Pure Brine Shrimp
Hikari Bio-Pure Daphnia
i alternate the frozen hikari foods 2 different foods every other day.
Frozen Peeled Table Shrimp cut into fourths.
and i just started them on shelled peas and blanched zuchini.