food for mbuna?
- Thread starter davescube
- Start date
davescube;1914057; said:
I usually feed mine a mix of 3/4 spirulina pellets and 1/4 brine shrimp pellets (for the Red pigment). Haven't had a problem with bloat.
I also occasionally make my own food. Basically get a blender and mix about like this:
2/3 frozen green peas (thaw them)
1/3 -- shrimp, canned salmon, whatever meat.. shrimp and salmon are good for coloring
add some spirulina powder, I also have some orange algae that they feed to reef fish for color pigment.
Other miscellaneous veges can be tossed in.. spinach, baby food carrots, etc.. Sometimes I toss a little mysis in there (very little)
Some people toss in a multivitamin as well.
Blend it all to mush. Heat on the stove. Mix in unflavored gelaton.. a little at a time. dissolve it. Then pour the jello/food mix into a bowl and let it turn into fish food jello. Your spouse will love the smelly mess this makes.
If the food does not jell all the way, put it back on the stove and melt it, and stir in more gelatin..
Then cut it up into chunks and freeze. I thaw mine out by putting a chunk in the freezer and letting it sit overnight.
Keep in mind, this stuff doesn't keep particularly long after it's thawed out. So make your chunks about the size to feed for 2-3 days..
The great thing about making your own food is that you can really put the pigment enhancers in there. The colors of the fish really pop when you do this. Too much spirulina will make dark spots on some fish, but it doesn't hurt them.
I make a batch of split pee jello for my fish every few months. Takes a while to burn through a whole batch. I add a little garlic. They seem to like the taste.
Never added any canned Salmon, great idea, will have to do that next time.
I feed my mbuna these chunks at least once a day. They go crazy for it and I never have any bloat issues.
Never added any canned Salmon, great idea, will have to do that next time.
I feed my mbuna these chunks at least once a day. They go crazy for it and I never have any bloat issues.
plus cucumbers put alot of seeds in the tank and just mess it up lol. i use yellow squash along with zucchini as a treat-just slice them longways, freeze them and then rubberband them to a rock and sink them in the tank. as their main staple i feed mine krill pellets, spirulina, and something called Cichlid Attack ( i buy it off of an ebay seller-he makes really good spirulina and other pellets). i also feed NLS brand flake and pellets..
i try to give them a varied diet, and they seem to love it!
i try to give them a varied diet, and they seem to love it!