Large Male dovii

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A

AJohnson

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 21, 2010
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0
31
California
I have a 10-12" Male dovii in a 150 gallon tank with a pleco. (he has killed all of his tank mates) I am having trouble getting him to eat any pellet foods. This may be crazy but he loves dry dog food. I have only given him this a few times but is this bad for him? its Iams lamb and rice, I know it is crazy....anythoughts:headbang2
 
i wouldnt get him use to dog food. you dont know if it is harmful. I would put some other devils in there with him and make a species tank. devils are by far the most aggresive south american cichlids I have seen. little amount of species can take their aggression. they are beautiful but probably the worst tank mates. feed him some frozen food or sinking pellets. good luck
 
get him a 300 then try to keep other fish with him.
and from what I've seen Doviis are the nastiest of the americans,
shocking tempers.
 
swervo513;4370467;4370467 said:
i wouldnt get him use to dog food. you dont know if it is harmful. I would put some other devils in there with him and make a species tank. devils are by far the most aggresive south american cichlids I have seen. little amount of species can take their aggression. they are beautiful but probably the worst tank mates. feed him some frozen food or sinking pellets. good luck
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Most RD don't have the same level of aggression as a Dovii. In a 150gal tank that a 10-12" Dovii has claimed for himself, it will be hard to introduce another cichlid. A Red Devil of the same size may work but I honestly think they would fight until one was dead. Ok back to the dog food. I know that Purina and some other dog and cat food companies also make fish food but I would think that the recipes would be drastically different. The ingredients that go into dog food may not be good for the digestive organs of fish. I could be wrong. I think you are safer leaving the dog food to the dog only. Have you ever compared the ingredients and nutritional information of your dog food to a good brand of fish food? That may answer your question for you.
 
read whats in the ingredients to check for additives because as far as i know cichlids benefit from mixed diets ( meats and veggies) so maybe get cat food with a fish main ingrediant - )contact food company and ask if its not safe
 
Not sure how long you have had him but if he is eating that's a good thing. I would not feed mine dog food though. I would let him go on a hunger strike if he wants but sooner or later he will eat. I feed my Dovii and Jags a mix of Hikari cichlid gold+, Krill and shrimp. I also have massivore delight on the way to mix it up a little more. They all love the krill so be careful as that could spoil him. I would get him on the Hikari cichlid gold+ first as that is a good pellet for his main diet. It has garlic in the ingredients to help the picky carnivorous fish crave it. I would think he will not go longer then a week on the Hikari since he is already eating pellet food. The last thing is I doubt the dog food is sufficient for carnivorous fish. Good luck
 
Thanks for the replies everyone I agree that the dogfood could be bad for a fish so I will not give it anymore. He is just gonna have to have his Hikari gold or nothing. I will also try the krill . As far adding in a few Red Devils, They would just be play toys for this guy, He has already had his way with a Red devil that was larger and a Flowerhorn (just to name a few) He wont eat them but just strips them raw. He wont be getting any new friends again. I have had him since he was about 4" so he must be eating, I just never see it. Thanks again.
 
dry dog food isn't very dry. its actually quite oily. my guess is that the dog food is fattier than your fish needs, probably harder to digest, too. starve him for a week. he'll eat.
 
yeah i wouldnt do dog food, the meat that is does have in it is land animal meat and not easy for fish to digest, it probably doesnt hurt him to have it sparingly as a treat but i would just stay away from it and stick with pellets as a staple and frozen raw seafood and insects for treats
 
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