Green Terror "Egg" spot question

[KCK]

Green Terror
I fed him a pretty large chunk of chicken heart yesterday but I think he's mostly digested. His "egg" spot is noticibly closer to the dorsal than it should be. I didn't notice if it happened before or after the food, but is it possible for the spot to change location based on body size like stuffed stomach? Besides this he's quite healthy in my observations.

Is this something I should even think about? Or should I let it go right on out the other ear?

 

[cichlid2006]

Are you on about the large black spot in the middle of a GT's body?
If so then it is probably just because you fed him too much and it bloated his stomach to such a degree that it appeared to have moved.

I feed my fish well, to the point they have a noticeable full belly and never has the black spot moved on any of my GT's that I have had.

This leads me to believe you fed way over the top and you are actually putting your fish in danger if you are doing it regularly with chicken heart which is only good for a very occasional treat. Such as once or twice a month because of the type of meat it is, regardless of how much fat is trimmed from the raw ingrediants. I do not know if you are doing this regularly or not, I'm just trying to advise caution.

 

[KCK]

Yes that spot. I've only ever heard it as the "false egg".
I was trying to feed my bichir and the terror decided he'd eat out of my fingers for the first time ever practically. So he got two large pieces of meat, but nothing he couldn't handle. He's about 3.5"-4" and he just recently decided he'd eat the chicken heart. He used to be flakes/pellets only.

He did eat a little too much yesterday, but I'm not feeding him until tonight or tomorrow morning so he'll be fine.

The bichir gets chicken heart about twice a week or whenever his stomach is almost the same size as his head. And I usually feed the terror flakes 2-3 times a day.

I'm almost out of chicken heart and I'm eventually going to go get a beef heart from a butcher.

I don't know anyhing about "trimming fat" from the heart. But I cut off the whitish fat chunk at the top of the heart first.

Is this too often for chicken heart? I'm not worried about the "ABSOLUTE BEST DIET EVER!!!" but I will try to do my best..

Thanks

 

[cichlid2006]

A quality pellet, supplimented with various other items. IMO mammalian meat is not good for fish. Their bodies aren't designed to handle that type of fat. Twice a week is way too much, once or twice a month if you feel like you have to use it. Beef heart is even worse than chicken because it contains a lot more fat. You can't cut it all off.

IMO it is much better to feed a quality pellet (I use NLS) supplemented with live crickets, live mealworms, frozen bloodworm, raw prawns aka shrimp, raw squid, spirulina pellets, blanched & shelled peas, algae wafers, etc. And yes both bichirs and GT's eat algae wafers and spirulina pellets.
The pellet should be the staple diet with everything else rotated into the 2nd/3rd feed of the day or one as a 2nd meal every other day but the pellet should come first before the fish get their "candy".
Avoid feeders IMO, they are too risky, unless you breed your own, and generally nutritionally poor.
So many alternative foods to chicken and beef hearts that are easily stored and are generally cheap to buy. So many to choose from that there is no need to feed your fish food that is bad for them.

 

[balton777]

^^I agree. Skip the chicken and beef heart altogether, it's fouling up your water more than it's doing any good for your GT and as said, the mammal fat is difficult for him to digest....you might bloat him as GT's are known to do sometimes. Stick with good quality pellets and maybe some frozen foods such as krill, mysis shrimp, blood worms etc for treats, or even market shrimp.

How about putting your green terror as your avatar?

 

[Gruff Master]

When referring to egg spots, it's usually the spots on the anal fins of African Cichlids when this is mentioned. I could be wrong, but I don't think there are any CA/SA cichlids with egg spots.