Do you feed your CA/SA cichlids floating or sinking pellets

[Deadeye]

I do both. Mostly floating, they just like it better. Sinking they will take, but mostly my Dempsey. I do sinking every once in a while just for the cat.

I should add that the food is hikari cichlid gold. They love that stuff.

 

[duanes]

Because my cichlids are wild caught (instinctually aware of bird predation) , they are very leary about coming to the surface for pellets, and usually wait until they sink.

 

[Cich Mind]

Because my cichlids are wild caught (instinctually aware of bird predation) , they are very leary about coming to the surface for pellets, and usually wait until they sink.

Hey duanes ,
I've read your post about bird predation in the wild. This sounds very logical, especially from the fishes and the birds point of view. I would be leery about overhead predators if I were a fish trying to survive in the wild. There are many good opinions in this thread. I'm just going to get a variety of foods, mainly sinking pellets and some floating. I'll let the fish tell me what they want Lol.

 

[Cich Mind]

One question I forgot to ask fellow members is what is the size of pellet you are feeding your fish? My grow outs will be approximately 1 1/2" - 2 1/2" in size. Would these size fish need the "mini" size or medium size? What do you guys think?

 

[Rocksor]

One question I forgot to ask fellow members is what is the size of pellet you are feeding your fish? My grow outs will be approximately 1 1/2" - 2 1/2" in size. Would these size fish need the "mini" size or medium size? What do you guys think?

What brand are you talking about? The mini of one brand is not the same as other brands.

 

[Cich Mind]

Oh, I didn't know that Rocksor . I was looking at Omega One and Hikari.

 

[Rocksor]

Oh, I didn't know that Rocksor . I was looking at Omega One and Hikari.

Just because a fish can put it in its mouth, doesn't mean that it can swallow the pellet. For less mess, the fish should be able to swallow the pellet whole, without any grinding.

If you are talking about Hikari, then baby size is more appropriate. Hikari baby pellets are 1.6mm-2.0mm.

For fish at 1-2.5" total length, I feed Hikari Discus Bio-Gold. It looks to be smaller than Hikari Baby pellets.

 

[Jexnell]

One question I forgot to ask fellow members is what is the size of pellet you are feeding your fish? My grow outs will be approximately 1 1/2" - 2 1/2" in size. Would these size fish need the "mini" size or medium size? What do you guys think?

I feed a pellet just small enough that they swallow it whole and don't need to chew it into smaller pieces.
Start with 1mm for new acquires, increase the size as fish grows.

 

[Cich Mind]

Thanks for the info Jexnell And Rocksor.

 

[Jexnell]

Currently my Nanolutae get 2mm NLS Ultra Red pellets (sinking)
Casper eats NLS extra large floating pellets 6mm
PTC eats NLS medium floating pellets

Both PTC and Nanolutae help themselves to the 1mm NLS floating pellets ment for the Bleeding Heart Tetras