Good staple food other than pellets

[CombatWombat]

Hi all, I have been feeding Hikari pellets ever since I started with cichlids, occasionally giving them treats like live insects, bloodworms and such. It was my understanding that the pellets provide complete nutrition, without much need to supplement. Now, I have a fish (5-star general, Hemicromis elongatus), who absolutely refuses to eat pellets. You may have seen my other thread about him on this forum. I tried everything, only fed pellets for like 3 months, tried floating and sinking, soaked them in garlick until they got mushy. He does not like them. He'll take them, spit them out, take it gain, spit it out.. Makes a mess. I am pretty sure he ate none of it. However, he eats just about everything else. Live insects, frozen bloodworms, frozen beefheart, dried shrimp (Rainbowfish brand). At this point I am getting resigned to the possibility I may have to feed him something other than I do the rest of my fish.

Which brings me to my question. Are dried shrimp a complete enough source of nutrients to be a staple food? If not, is there anything else that's not a pellet that is a staple, without breaking the bank (i.e. not frozen or live)?

 

[Backfromthedead]

I dont think so...most cichlids are opportunistic omnivores by nature. They will graze on algae and other vegetation as well as various protein sources to fit their dietary needs at any given time.

Shrimp are high in certain essential nutrients but not with others as is the case with all live/raw foods.

You may want to try some other types of pellets. Hikari is quite popular but ive found that many of my fish wont touch it. I personally have found omega one shrimp pellets to be palatable to almost all of my fish. Ive also had success with fluval bug bites and NLS thera a with some of my more finicky fish.

Good luck with your fish. Cichlids can be irritating when they wont eat their pellets.

 

[Ruturaj]

You can try hikari vibra bites. Starving fish is only way to make it eat pellets, try soaking in blood worm juice as well. Once it goes on pellets don't feed other foods for sometime at least.

For frozen foods, krill and spirulina brine shrimp make a good mix but not as good as pellets.

 

[CombatWombat]

I dont think so...most cichlids are opportunistic omnivores by nature. They will graze on algae and other vegetation as well as various protein sources to fit their dietary needs at any given time.

Shrimp are high in certain essential nutrients but not with others as is the case with all live/raw foods.

You may want to try some other types of pellets. Hikari is quite popular but ive found that many of my fish wont touch it. I personally have found omega one shrimp pellets to be palatable to almost all of my fish. Ive also had success with fluval bug bites and NLS thera a with some of my more finicky fish.

Good luck with your fish. Cichlids can be irritating when they wont eat their pellets.

I ordered some of those omega shrimp pellets. I'll see how it goes. I thought about bug bites, but I remember reading on here that they don't quite provide full nutrition.