i agree with this totally, in "captivity" they are omnivores. most Tangy's areFLESHY;3479542; said:
Frontosa Feed
- Thread starter FLESHY
- Start date
If a fish is anatomically not suited for eating at the surface it should effect all frontosa.
All types of frontosa, burundi, kigoma, mpimbwe and zaire should get it.
All generations should get it WC, F1, F1+ etc.
But guess what it is rare for anything but WC to get it.
It is also rare for any type but mpimbwe and kapampa get it.
Actually, not even all mpimbwe get it, they are collected at both karema and masalaba.
so if F2 don't get it then it has something to do with being WC.
but if other wc don't get it, what is unique about kapampa and mpimbwe.
Mpimbwe and Kapampa are the deeper species.
so i will explain what is happening.
by the way, the article written by Mr. Price was nearly 10 years ago.
along time ago in scientific terms regarding an unknown condition, when they had no clue what was going on, so people did anything they could.
When frontosa are caught at 1oo feet below, they can't simply bring them up right away because of decompression.
what they do is they bring them up about 10-15 feet a day.
as the divers raise the cage, they STOP when they see a frontosa swimming funny.
they do this in stages every day.
after a week or so they reach the surface.
in this time this is what has happened.
1. Some fish died from decompression.
2. Some fish did not die, but have damaged bladder, and they show it by forever swimming in an abnormal manner.
3. Some have bladder damage, but look normal, however when they are stressed the float condition will again present itself.
4. Some will have zero damage what so ever.
this is why SOME WC mpimbwe will have zero problems, when you feed them floating foods, have air bubbles, wands etc.
this is why some otherwise normal looking mpimbwe will sometimes get float, because they were damaged in various degrees during decompression.
You could feed F100 burundi floating foods, have air bubbles and they will never have a problem.
You can do the same thing with F2 mpimbwe.
Its the WC mpimbwe, kapampa and some of the other deeper types that will have problems.
All types of frontosa, burundi, kigoma, mpimbwe and zaire should get it.
All generations should get it WC, F1, F1+ etc.
But guess what it is rare for anything but WC to get it.
It is also rare for any type but mpimbwe and kapampa get it.
Actually, not even all mpimbwe get it, they are collected at both karema and masalaba.
so if F2 don't get it then it has something to do with being WC.
but if other wc don't get it, what is unique about kapampa and mpimbwe.
Mpimbwe and Kapampa are the deeper species.
so i will explain what is happening.
by the way, the article written by Mr. Price was nearly 10 years ago.
along time ago in scientific terms regarding an unknown condition, when they had no clue what was going on, so people did anything they could.
When frontosa are caught at 1oo feet below, they can't simply bring them up right away because of decompression.
what they do is they bring them up about 10-15 feet a day.
as the divers raise the cage, they STOP when they see a frontosa swimming funny.
they do this in stages every day.
after a week or so they reach the surface.
in this time this is what has happened.
1. Some fish died from decompression.
2. Some fish did not die, but have damaged bladder, and they show it by forever swimming in an abnormal manner.
3. Some have bladder damage, but look normal, however when they are stressed the float condition will again present itself.
4. Some will have zero damage what so ever.
this is why SOME WC mpimbwe will have zero problems, when you feed them floating foods, have air bubbles, wands etc.
this is why some otherwise normal looking mpimbwe will sometimes get float, because they were damaged in various degrees during decompression.
You could feed F100 burundi floating foods, have air bubbles and they will never have a problem.
You can do the same thing with F2 mpimbwe.
Its the WC mpimbwe, kapampa and some of the other deeper types that will have problems.
mymindseye81;3479713; said:
Most fish are not pure or totally one thing or the other.
tropheus do not solely eat plant matter in the wild.
they like frontosa will also eat aufwuch.
most of frontosa meal is other fish.
but if something looks interesting on the rock they will nibble it.
most of tropheus food is plant matter growing on the rocks.
but if something looks interesting on the rock they will eat it.
but the key is to look at them dissected.
frontosa have a relatively short digestive system, indicative of a meat eater.
tropheus have a very long digestive system, indicative of a plant eater.
tr6;3490888; said:
I agree that most fish are not one or the other but I have often heard of african fish needing some degree of plant matter in their diets. Disecting them will not show whether or not they are carnivores or herbivores, it will merely show what the most abundant food source is that is available to them and "edible" in their eyes. In the aquarium, thats what you feed them. I started this post to see what kinds of plant matter people were feeding their frontosas.
I agree with FLESHY 100% on this. Fish will eat pretty much anything that you put in the tank and its up to use to provide them with the best nutrients and diet that we can. i have mostly read that the best plant matter to feed cichlids is food that contains spirulina. i use Nutrafin Max spirulina sticks as more of a staple and i occasionally throw in Hikari Gold pellets. Every saturday i feed them freeze dried brine shrimp for a treat.
IMO, it's good to feed them both plant and meat based foods. That's why (again) I use Excel (plant) and Gold (protien). They've been stealing massivore chunks from my omnivore plecos also.
Other than that, it's really down to brands. I just like Hikari for all my tanks. Nothing against any of the other brands. But to touch on the piscivore subject, I don't think feeding captive frontosa purely fish would be beneficial to the frontosa.
They're like kids, they'll happily eat chocolate cake each meal, but it's up to you as a parent to make them eat their veggies! Haha.
Other than that, it's really down to brands. I just like Hikari for all my tanks. Nothing against any of the other brands. But to touch on the piscivore subject, I don't think feeding captive frontosa purely fish would be beneficial to the frontosa.
They're like kids, they'll happily eat chocolate cake each meal, but it's up to you as a parent to make them eat their veggies! Haha.
What Johnathan Price wrote about float was many years ago. He was really making an anecdotal assumption with the very limited information he had at the time.
I always ask people.
Did they have these fish getting float?
Did they actually know anybody with fish getting float?
Did they actually even see these fish being inported in 93-2000?
Did they have any fish in 1993?
The answer is usually no.
I remember these fish coming in.
frontosa is my main focus.
The fact remains, it was 90% a WC mpimbwe problem.
If it was evolutionary, meaning frontosa evolved to ONLY eat food from the bottom, then all types would have it, and all generations have it.
It would not be limited to a certain type and generation.
And guess what is happening now?
Those same mpimbwe that used to be problematic when imported in the 90's and early 2000.
The problem is pretty much gone.
its rare that we get mpimbwe imported that have float.
despite the claims of evolution and air bubbles/floating foods.
you know why newly imported mpimbwe do not have this problem?
because they figured out a better way to decompress them during capture.
I always ask people.
Did they have these fish getting float?
Did they actually know anybody with fish getting float?
Did they actually even see these fish being inported in 93-2000?
Did they have any fish in 1993?
The answer is usually no.
I remember these fish coming in.
frontosa is my main focus.
The fact remains, it was 90% a WC mpimbwe problem.
If it was evolutionary, meaning frontosa evolved to ONLY eat food from the bottom, then all types would have it, and all generations have it.
It would not be limited to a certain type and generation.
And guess what is happening now?
Those same mpimbwe that used to be problematic when imported in the 90's and early 2000.
The problem is pretty much gone.
its rare that we get mpimbwe imported that have float.
despite the claims of evolution and air bubbles/floating foods.
you know why newly imported mpimbwe do not have this problem?
because they figured out a better way to decompress them during capture.
As far as diet.
yes, a fish will eat whatever it can find, I stated that.
However, as I stated earlier, the actual length of the GI system will indicate what the animal eats, in addition to tooth structure.
If you have a long digestive system, then you are a herbivore.
IF you have a short digestive system, then you are a meat eater.
Does not matter if the animal you study and question is a fish or a mammal.
Dissection and anatomy WILL tell you what food an animal eats in the wild.
yes, a fish will eat whatever it can find, I stated that.
However, as I stated earlier, the actual length of the GI system will indicate what the animal eats, in addition to tooth structure.
If you have a long digestive system, then you are a herbivore.
IF you have a short digestive system, then you are a meat eater.
Does not matter if the animal you study and question is a fish or a mammal.
Dissection and anatomy WILL tell you what food an animal eats in the wild.
I didnt know your aquarium was in the wild. That must be a ***** to get to. At least your fish dont have float.
