Beat live feeder fish or shrimp?

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Beside the oscars, what other species of cichlids are you referring to?
Many cichlids aren't fish eaters in nature, oscars (as an example) are mostly insectivores.
Petania splendida "is" a piscivore, but even Parachromis dovii (as an adult) feeds mostly on insects.
Most Vieja are primarily vegetarian, supplementing with insects.
As many of the Herichthys, where the diet consists of primarily algae.
This is why a good pellet is much better in the long run.
It is a fallacy to think you are doing your cichlids a favor by offering a live fish diet.
A management plan for the sport fishery of Parachromis dovii (Pisces ...www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442000000200019
 
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duanes said:
Beside the oscars, what other species of cichlids are you referring to?
Many cichlids aren't fish eaters in nature, oscars (as an example) are mostly insectivores.
Petania splendida "is" a piscivore, but even Parachromis dovii (as an adult) feeds mostly on insects.
Most Vieja are primarily vegetarian, supplementing with insects.
As many of the Herichthys, where the diet consists of primarily algae.
This is why a good pellet is much better in the long run.
It is a fallacy to think you are doing your cichlids a favor by offering a live fish diet.
A management plan for the sport fishery of Parachromis dovii (Pisces ...www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442000000200019
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Besides the Oscar, I have a yellow lab, a blue kenyi, 3 OB peacock, a mystery female peacock and one male German red peacock.
All of which have eaten live guppy fry earthworms and a variety of raw fish.
I do however feed them a multitude of dried foods such as mealworms crickets shrimps pellets flakes and shrimp wafers.
So all I wanna do is I guess "Farm" some smaller type of feeder fish like guppies or something similar in size, so I can have a steady supply of practically free feeders that I would be able to feed the adults to my oscar and fees the newborn fry to the Cichlids. Just to make it clear the fish are going to be a treat for the fish they won't be a main part of my African Cichlids diets.
 
Breeding fish for feeders needs power, food and attention all that isnt free. Now if you want to set up another tank to breed guppies as a fun project then do it. Send the culls to the bellies of your fish. But I agree with others that cichlids eat mainly bugs most of them or plant matter. So if you are worried about nutrition then fish is not the way to go. Pellets is the nutritional way to go followed by insects/crustations. Fish on the bottom of the list.
 
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twentyleagues said:
Breeding fish for feeders needs power, food and attention all that isnt free. Now if you want to set up another tank to breed guppies as a fun project then do it. Send the culls to the bellies of your fish. But I agree with others that cichlids eat mainly bugs most of them or plant matter. So if you are worried about nutrition then fish is not the way to go. Pellets is the nutritional way to go followed by insects/crustations. Fish on the bottom of the list.
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All of which I know and understand, the feeder fish would be a hell of a lot cheaper to breed rather than going out and buying them every time I decide to feed.
And as I said above the feeder fish aren't going to be a main part of the Cichlids diets it would be something like once a week to twice every month. Leaving whatever is left to the Oscar, I have a set plan for how I'd feed now all I need is a type of fish that I can breed.

I understand that Cichlids eat bugs and small crustaceans but I'm also well aware of the fact that they also are opportunistic feeders and eat smaller fry of other fish.
 
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With all that being said, guppies and other live bearers will work. But keep in mind, it is not an overnight process. I had optimal conditions for my guppies doing this and they didn’t even start giving birth for almost 3 months. Then almost 2 months later the fry was still hardly a morsel for my baby Oscar, which was almost all grown up by that time. So if you want to wait 4-6 months for about 30 seconds worth of food. Go for it. It’s not as glamorous as you would think.

I now have jewels doing the same thing but in a bigger tank. They have way more babies, that grow much bigger, in less time
 
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Matteus said:
With all that being said, guppies and other live bearers will work. But keep in mind, it is not an overnight process. I had optimal conditions for my guppies doing this and they didn’t even start giving birth for almost 3 months. Then almost 2 months later the fry was still hardly a morsel for my baby Oscar, which was almost all grown up by that time. So if you want to wait 4-6 months for about 30 seconds worth of food. Go for it. It’s not as glamorous as you would think.

I now have jewels doing the same thing but in a bigger tank. They have way more babies, that grow much bigger, in less time
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Guppies seem fairly easy to breed as my grandmother has a 30 gallon overloaded with them. Do you have any recommendations for another type of fish that's easy to care for? I messaged a local lfs and they said some danios would work but I'm not sure about that..
 
Why not just breed some worms outside, and then keep some fish you want to keep rather then use a whole tank up breeding fish your not that interested in for a once a quarter live feed.
 
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dan518 said:
Why not just breed some worms outside, and then keep some fish you want to keep rather then use a whole tank up breeding fish your not that interested in for a once a quarter live feed.
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Worms make a mess while being chewed up, and honestly 10 gallons isn't that big of a deal to take care of.
I feel as though my capabilities are being underestimated lol..
If there is one thing I know I can do and have a passion for... It's fish keeping.
 
BMG94 said:
Worms make a mess while being chewed up, and honestly 10 gallons isn't that big of a deal to take care of.
I feel as though my capabilities are being underestimated lol..
If there is one thing I know I can do and have a passion for... It's fish keeping.
Click to expand...
Upto you, 10 gallons isn't going to produce much in the way of food though.
 
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