Jack Dempseys won’t eat

[duanes]

Many people are under the impression that JDs are carnivores, eating only meaty foods.
The reality is they are omnivores, and when analyzed, the stomach contents of wild JDs was half filled with filamentous algae which grows profusely in the habitat, and detritus (such as leaf littler), the other half aquatic insects, hardly ever fish.
I always found a pellet high in sprulina algae such as (AlgaeMax) worked well.
I have snorkeled with them, and watched them try to eat live bearers they are surrounded by in nature, but noticed they missed at least 9 out of 10 times.

2 videos of JDs in nature below,
Cristalino
Eden2

 

[markeymarks]

Many people are under the impression that JDs are carnivores, eating only meaty foods.
The reality is they are omnivores, and when analyzed, the stomach contents of wild JDs was half filled with filamentous algae which grows profusely in the habitat, and detritus (such as leaf littler), the other half aquatic insects, hardly ever fish.
I always found a pellet high in sprulina algae such as (AlgaeMax) worked well.
I have snorkeled with them, and watched them try to eat live bearers they are surrounded by in nature, but noticed they missed at least 9 out of 10 times.

2 videos of JDs in nature below,
Cristalino
Eden2

awesome thanks i’ll look for some algae wafers at my local store. if i raised them a juvenile they’d be on pellets lol

 

[duanes]

This omnivores trait occurs with many and most other cichlids, very few are strict piscivores or carnivores.
I raise hair algae for many cichlids, so they have constant grazing throughout the day, which helps clean the gut (just as fiber does in humans)
Below Panamanian G.T.s eating clumps of hair algae.

and below, Cincelichthys bocourti doing the same

 

[markeymarks]

This omnivores trait occurs with many and most other cichlids, very few are strict piscivores or carnivores.
I raise hair algae for many cichlids, so they have constant grazing throughout the day, which helps clean the gut (just as fiber does in humans)
Below Panamanian G.T.s eating clumps of hair algae.
View attachment 1366273
and below, Cincelichthys bocourti doing the same

awesome. do they sell those at the stores? i won’t need any plant lighting or Co2 for it?

 

[duanes]

When I lived in Wisconsin, I would put containers in the yard outside in full sun filled with old water from water changes (nutrients) in spring the early fall, I'd grab a little snippet of algaefrom the edge of my pond drop it in the container and about a week later, it'd be filled of hair algae.
Here in Panama, I have my sump in an area with about half day full sun, and it simply appears.