Flowerhorn FOOD variety?

[Jay88]

I have come to understand, fish like flowerhorns, oscars and most big fish...need a vary diet...

For the last 6 months, my FH basically ate a mixture of different pellets.... I later understood, pellets should not be the primary food.

The PROBLEM is... my FH does not want to eat anything else, I threw in some fresh Prawn meat, he goes close to it, doesnt eat....threw in some LIVE earthworms (from the LFS, packaged worms)...he wont eat... threw in 2-3 pellets, goes straight for them lol...

How important is food like bloodworms, prawns, shrimp etc in his diet? And how do I get him to stop being dependent on pellets? Thank you.

 

[Water]

Wrong. Pellets should be the main diet of any/all cichlids and most fish for that matter. Prawns and worms are only good for treats. I don't even feed my fish live foods anymore.. Stick to pellets.

 

[Jay88]

only pellets? But i hear ppl feed the FH's beef heart, blood worms...shrimp? I wanna give him some treats but he never eats Worms or Prawn lol only his pellets.

 

[Water]

Just because they do that doesn't mean its the healthiest alternative. In fact, most breeders in asia do that simply because bloodworms and beefheart is dirt cheap, pus they buy it in bulk. I could go to the supermarket and get 5lbs of beefheart for 5 bucks, still wouldn't buy that crap. Anyway, Try feeding your fh bloodworms, most fish go nuts for those.

 

[RD.]

I've been feeding pellets exclusively for as far back as I can remember. A high quality premium pellet will contain all the variety that any species of fish requires to thrive in captivity. As an example, on a daily basis my fish consume Krill, Herring, Squid, Algae (seaweed, kelp, and several micro-algae), Spirulina, Garlic, a fruit & vegetable extract that contains Spinach, Red & Green Cabbage, Peas, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Kiwi, Apricot, Pear, Mango, Apple, Papaya, and Peach , fortified with a mega dose of vitamins & trace minerals.

If that isn't a varied diet, I don't know what is ......

 

[Jay88]

im using this... www.chingmixusa.com mind having a look? was feeding him this throughout his life, and a couple of weeks ago i purchased NUtrafin Max...Algae pellets for his vegetation needs

 

[RD.]

You can feed whatever you are comfortable with, but next time that you are in one of your LFS take a look at NLS. (New Life Spectrum) One food that covers it all, and then some.

 

[Jay88]

^^ EXPENSIVE ...one of the most expensive pellets ive seen...for the calmer
cichlids i believe

 

[RD.]

I'm not sure of the cost in AU, but the price in NA is FAR less expensive than any of the so called FH foods, especially if you purchase a 5lb pail. Also, you are only feeding 1 fish, so the cost for food shouldn't be an issue. I have no idea what you mean by calmer cichlids, I feed it to glass banging monsters, as well as a few hundred other species of cichlids that I have kept over the years. Just trying to help you out bro, feel free to feed whatever you please.

 

[Jay88]

Yeah to get that brand to Australia bro, its $50 lol and you are correct garlic helps internal problems

I actually have a friend who has two beautiful flowerhorns he raised, and he feeds them Spectrum and Grand sumo..hes a fan of Spectrum... he keeps two lovely FH's in a 4x1.5.x2 with a divider in the middle

(How come so many ppl do this with flowerhorns? Put a divider in a 90gallon and keep two on both sides?) Like if you do that with oscars, they get really unhealthy i hear! :/