Feeding regime for haps

[mattybecks]

Hi Guys,
I have a 5ft, 500 liter hap tank.

6x livingstonii
7x compressips
2x venustus
2x poly senegalus
1x Asian upside down cat
1x ancistrus and pleco

All of the them apart from the ancistrus are larger than my hand, so I would say they are mature adults. the cichlids dig holes, drop eggs, brood for a little then they get over it and abandon the eggs only to repeat the process. I am thinking of removing some and keeping only one type to breed and create a proper bio type. But I really like them all so haven't made my mind up yet. Which of the haps would you say are good fish to breed?

Anyway I digress. How often should I be feeding them? And what? My current regime is a high quality pellet food (with the main ingredients being fish and fish derivatives) twice a day, but they chew this up and it can make a mess. I feed them pangasius fillet once sometimes twice a week.
I was thinking it might be better to feed them panagsius fillet every second day, with the pellet food maybe twice a week?
Would this be suitable and healthly for them? Seeing as though they are predatory fish.

I do 85% water changes every week, (can't do them bi weekly in the summer as the water temps from the tap are nearly 40 degrees and I have to put loads of ice in when I change the water) but whenever I test I have perfect water parameters for these Africans, with my nitrates only starting to get noticeable After about 7 days. Not bad, just noticeable.

I have pothos growing out the back of the tank, and AlOT of mayalsian trumpet snails.

 

[Galantspeedz]

i feed mine hikari pellets, both sinking and floating...

 

[tlindsey]

Keep the weekly water change routine. The idea of feeding them the Pangasius Catfish twice a week rotating with the pellets would be fine.

 

[RD.]

If they are making a mess when feeding pellets, try feeding smaller sized pellets. The result will be less chewing, and more swallowing.

 

[mattybecks]

Thanks RD. They do make a little mess but it's a not problem (I actually prefer it) because my snails, ancistrus & pleco clean up pretty fast and get the extra food.
I wanted to target a diet that was more "natural" for them being predatory fish and with the fish protein encourage better growth. Pellets will always be a must for the vitmain/minerals nutrients etc.. just not all the time..

 

[RD.]

I kept haps for many years, and actually still have an adult group of C. moorii (carnivorous), and have never fed fresh/frozen. A quality pellet contains all the protein that your fish require, but it's all good if you choose to feed fillet as well.