Most New World cichlids at least in my house won't even touch feeders, my Piranha won't even eat'em he prefers imitation crab meat however I do have a few Characins other than piranha that will only eat live foods. As for Cichlids my Jag refuses pellets, has for a year, will only take flake and the growth rate was extremely sub-par. The Jag luvs feeders, his growth rate after a few months is now outstanding. I'd rather him eat massivore but ain't gonna happen he'll die before eating prepared foods. This is probably an extremely rare case as I've never came across this with any other new world cichlids.
I also have Vampire Tetra, Spotted Pike Characins, red tail cudas, Gangantic leaf fish, and wolves - these guys only eat live foods. I use several tanks to house the feeders. I feed the feeders Hikari Micro pellets, crumbled massivore,supirulina, etc... to get the vitamins and protiens into the carnivores. Because of the size of my Characins - rosey's and guppies are outta the question. They'd eat 20-30 daily so it has to be large gold fish. Seeding the feeders works well for me. Disease can be an issue so I carry plenty of mardel cletted cooper - works fast. I also uses half doses of salt in the feeder tanks to help stop the spread of disease. The feeder tanks get 50% water changes bi-weekly - it helps, it's alota work and you gotta be johnny on the spot for the long hall.
As for breeding your own - even more work - after the fry are born convict or goldfish it can take many many months before the reach eatable size and with 2ft Characins - years.
So just as everyone else suggested - use prepared foods - better for growth, health, and a far site less work with no risk of infection.
