Nimbochromis Livingstonii - Diet

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Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 10, 2011
3,213
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38
Plumas Lake, California
Does anyone else own a livingstonii? I'm having trouble finding a food that mine likes, I've tried Aqueon medium cichlid pellets and he eats them but I can tell he doesnt really like them. I've also tried TetraCichlid Jumbo Sticks and he has trouble eating them because they're hard and awkward to get into his mouth (perhaps cuz their too big, but his mouth is huge?). I've also tried TetraCichlid Cichlid Flakes and he spits them out (I looked online and it says its common for them to not accept flakes when they get as big as he is (he is 7 or 8 inches btw).

I would try earthworms but there is no hunting store like cabela's near me.

I haven't tried frozen foods yet because, tbh, it is just too expensive to buy every week. I know he would accept frozen food like brine shrimp though.

If theres any frozen foods that they seem to like and you can buy at a supermarket, I might be able to try that as they usually last longer and are sometimes cheaper

Basically, I'm just looking for a food they like and is cheap and lasts longer.

...hopefully I don't have to start breeding my own feeder fish for him to eat, but that is definitely something I may have to consider
 
try freeze dried krill. NLS pellets and Hikari massavores will also work.

Thanks man, I'll try them next time I go to the fish store
 
mine ate small new spectrum pellets up until my big venustus ate him :(

Thats too bad, must've been a big size difference. I'm going to try the larger new spectrum pellets (3mm) because my livingstonii is quite big, 7 or 8 inches.
 
you could buy slabs of mahi mahi -cut off the skin -slice(pizza cutter works good) into cubes and freeze. just break off a chunk and defrost.
 
you could buy slabs of mahi mahi -cut off the skin -slice(pizza cutter works good) into cubes and freeze. just break off a chunk and defrost.

I'll look into that, thanks!
 
did you find anything he likes to eat??? i just picked up another small livingstoni and a small polystigma...they're each about 2 inches and have plenty of hiding spots so hopefully the big venustus wont snack on them. they both are eating the small new spectrum cichlid pellets.
 
did you find anything he likes to eat??? i just picked up another small livingstoni and a small polystigma...they're each about 2 inches and have plenty of hiding spots so hopefully the big venustus wont snack on them. they both are eating the small new spectrum cichlid pellets.

Well, I bought large cichlid sticks and I break them apart and they fall to the bottom. He eats that, feeders, and brine shrimp. I can't find anything else he likes. I just tried frozen tilapia but he spits them out.

I wouldn't trust those two smaller ones with your venustus, but I don't know how big your venustus is...if hes over 7" then they will most likely become snacks

...Anyone know how to prepare frozen tilapia so that my cichlids will actually eat it? Him and my other africans spit some pieces out and eat others...I don't really understand that
 
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