What is one of the best cichlid foods for color and growth

ECW

Redtail Catfish
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Sep 11, 2011
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Oahu, Hi.
Talking about nature with a flower horn avatar lol.

I would some frozen stuff in there. I don't know if it actually helps with color but I'm sure they'll enjoy a treat from time to time.
Ehhh... You talking s#*+? Lmao! To each their own. But let's not talk about your avatar. That's scary bro... Not messing with you!
 
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Jwilson02124

Feeder Fish
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Oct 13, 2015
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NLS. New Life Spectrum. I would also like to commend you on your decorations. The multi colored gravel! Tree with flowers! Oh, and the sponge bob decor! AMAZING! Your fish must feel right at home in nature!
NLS.
New Life Spectrum. I would also like to commend you on your decorations. The multi colored gravel! Tree
with flowers! Oh, and the sponge bob decor!
AMAZING! Your fish must feel right at home in nature!
If you want to know about the gravel and decor the tank is my daughter thank you
 

justarn

Arapaima
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May 24, 2011
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Can't believe no one said algae wafers, always add some crushed wafers, this helps with blues ime.
 

Jonnyakawombell

Candiru
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Sep 10, 2010
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Good evening I currently have a jack Dempseys and a firemouth and a Oscar I am feeding they hikari cichlid gold or is there something I can add to there diet to help with color and growth thank you View attachment 1182322 View attachment 1182323 View attachment 1182324

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Best you can get IME is tetra cichlid XL made by tetra in Germany not sure if you can get it in the USA to be honest, I live in England and use nothing else, hikari is good also, so is NLS, but over this side of the water nothing touches tetra cichlid XL very expensive but very good, specially made for large cichlids with nothing else in mind
 
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Frank Castle

Potamotrygon
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Can't believe no one said algae wafers, always add some crushed wafers, this helps with blues ime.
When it comes to "Blues", I think this guy's advice is best it get :)
Best you can get IME is tetra cichlid XL made by tetra in Germany not sure if you can get it in the USA to be honest, I live in England and use nothing else, hikari is good also, so is NLS, but over this side of the water nothing touches tetra cichlid XL very expensive but very good, specially made for large cichlids with nothing else in mind
What's the crude protein content in the XL?
 

neutrino

Goliath Tigerfish
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Jan 22, 2013
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Was going to stay out of this-- until seeing references to algae wafers.

Top ingredients on the list of a popular algae wafer:
Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Wheat Germ Meal, Starch, Dried Seaweed Meal, Dried Bakery Product, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Dehydrated Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate, Brewer's Dried Yeast, Soybean Meal, Fish Oil, Krill Meal, Spirulina
--So you have to go 5 ingredients in to get to the first algae related ingredient, thirteen ingredients in to reach the second algae related product.

Here's another one:
Wheat Germ Meal, Feeding Oat Meal, Corn Starch, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Cellulose, Potato Protein, Dried Yeast, Wheat Gluten, Algae Meal.
--Nine cheapo ingredients in and you finally see the only algae related ingredient.

Draw your own conclusions as to how well a bunch of cheap starch and grain based ingredients or mystery ingredients like "starch" or "dried bakery product" actually improves fish color or health vs. higher quality foods.

In fact, for a lot of fish, among the blue enhancing ingredients are krill, shrimp, salmon, etc, due to the astaxanthin, or other carotenoid rich foods, like spirulina, if it's not thirteen ingredients down after a bunch of wheat, corn, soy, starch, and re-combobulated baked goods waste.

Algae rich foods are one thing, fish matzos with a pinch of algae thrown in is another. Good idea to check the ingredients, calling something an algae or veggie wafer doesn't always mean much.
 

ehh

Blue Tier VIP
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Aug 30, 2013
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The omega one algae wafers aren't too bad. Before I started using paradigm, those were my go to algae wafers.
 
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ehh

Blue Tier VIP
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Ehhh... You talking s#*+? Lmao! To each their own. But let's not talk about your avatar. That's scary bro... Not messing with you!
I'll cast a spell on that a**.
image.jpeg
 

justarn

Arapaima
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May 24, 2011
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The first one is hikari right? That's what I use and I get good results, I feed it along side bio gold to my cichlids.
I trust hikari products, I believe alot of people read into ingredients to much, what are the percentages of those ingredients, for all I know most of those are to help the pellet hold shape and preserve it, surely it's better than just a bio gold as many people feed?
 
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