Peasei cichlid diet

[Fishguy679]

I got a pearsi cichlid about a week and I plan on him/her being my big main fish for my 180 gallon (for those of you who followed my thread on what else to get for my 180 gallon, I gave the Oscar back to my LFS and replaced it with a pearsi). I know that they like a diet mainly consisting of veggies, so I've been feeding him tiny peices of lettuce and peas (he's pretty small only 2-2.5 inches). He easts a fair amount of veggies but most of his diet consists of pellets / flakes I give to my other fish. Is it OK if his diet mainly consists of pellets/flakes and eats a fair amount of veggies on the side? What I do is feed him his peas and lettuce before I put the pellets and flakes in so he fills up on them and doesn't eat as much as the other food. So with pearseies is it bad if most of his diet isn't plant based or is it.oo if I just supplement with plant based foods but feed him pellets/flakes for the most part. I was also thinking about picking up some Omega one vegia flakes, would that help?

 

[ragin_cajun]

Man, just feed him pellets. If you find pellets that have a higher mix of veggie / algae, like NLS Algae Max, that's marginally better. But, a quality pellet, like NLS, Xtreme, Hikari, whatever, that's gonna be an excellent diet for a Pearsii.

If you supplement that with big Romaine leaf lettuce on the bottom held down with a rock, that's good. Or a Nori Algae sheet is even better. Or a half a Zucchini stuck on a fork. Something like that once a week would be plenty.

Feed veggies like that sparingly, though. They pretty much just pass through the fish and end up all over the tank if they eat too much. So.....a little bit once a week.

 

[duanes]

I agree a high spirulina/algae content pellet will work. Nothing wrong with peas, in nature these fish graze on overhanging terrestrial vegetation.
In summer I fed my pearsei and bocourti dandelions (I never use pesticides)

 

[Fishguy679]

Also I don't know if this is a problem or not, during feeding time he stuffs his face with as much food as possible and has an enlarged stomach after every meal(I do 2 large feedings a day) will this cause any problems? It goes away after a few hours but I'm worried it might cause problems.

 

[duanes]

This is one of the reasons I believe leafy foods are a good choice for these vegetarian cichlids with elongated digestive tracts. I would drop a half head of romaine or bunches of dandelions in the tank, and they would basically graze all day. I think of pearsei and bocourti in almost the same vein as cattle, or other ruminants.

 

[Fishguy679]

Well apparently he only likes flakes/pellets now and doesn't eat peas and lettuce anymore.

 

[ragin_cajun]

Try to feed it to him a couple times. He'll eat it. If not, buy some nice plants and plant them very carefully in the substrate, just where you want them, get them just perfect--he'll definitely eat that.

 

[jaws7777]

Also I don't know if this is a problem or not, during feeding time he stuffs his face with as much food as possible and has an enlarged stomach after every meal(I do 2 large feedings a day) will this cause any problems? It goes away after a few hours but I'm worried it might cause problems.

Well apparently he only likes flakes/pellets now and doesn't eat peas and lettuce anymore.

I think the real challenge with these fish are avoiding over feeding on a constant basis resulting in health issues.

Seriously ive put more effort into making sure he doesnt over eat than anything else. Have to feed tankmates with after lights out or with tongs. I used to use a pvc pipe to keep him away while the other ate.

I feed a mix of nls therA , algaemax, omega one kelp rounds, romaine, peas (gotta start again) just ordered some northfin veggie pellets to add to the mix.

Post some pic of the little guy !!

They really are great fish mine was always hard to keep with othwr cichlids for the most part he's either too aggressive or not aggressive enough but very interactive and intelligent. I'll dig up some older vids when was a complete pain in the rear end. Now hes calmed down a bit

 

[jaws7777]

He had it in for this pleco from day 1....not much he could do to a fish that was covered in spikes besides get all torn up, eventuallyhad to rehome the pleco...smh such a nice looking fish. I coulent feed at lights out due to my work schedule at the time

 

[Fishguy679]

He's my favorite fish so far, very interactive and fun to watch. I don't care much for the coloration of this fish juvenile or adult but I like there personalities and they have a cool "body shape" especially as juveniles. He's already grown a lot in one week of having him, he's growing faster than an oscar right now. Here are some pics