Red Devil waste question...

[Community Disorganizer]

I don't know if all red devils are like this, but mine is a high-maintenance cichlid. Not a day goes by where I am vacuuming up his waste and scrubbing algae off the glass, as I can't keep an algae eater with him.

Is it the food I give him that causes him to produce so much waste? I feed him NLS 4.5 mm.

 

[BuffaloPolypteridae]

How much/how many times a day?

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[Community Disorganizer]

usually around 10 pellets once a day. Do red devils hate the light? I noticed when I have the aquarium light on my guy is usually quite shy, but when I turn it off he is alot more active? These aren't nocturnal fish are they?

 

[ehh]

How if is he? How big is his tank?

My red devil is not shy at all. Whether the light is on or not. He is about 9inches and in a 75 gallon with a xp3 and gets 50% water changes every week. Water and tank stays really clean.


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[Manu8__too]

How if is he? How big is his tank?

My red devil is not shy at all. Whether the light is on or not. He is about 9inches and in a 75 gallon with a xp3 and gets 50% water changes every week. Water and tank stays really clean.


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Agree with Ehh. You're most likely overfeeding and/or do not have adequate filtration on its tank. In addition, a 4.5mm pellet is far too big for your RD (assuming it's the fish from your avatar). My 10" Red Devil/Midas gets the NLS 3mm pellets, and they're a perfect size for him. If your fish has to chew the large pellets, a significant portion of the food is being expelled through the gills, thus making your tank more messy.


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[virgil2090]

You can try some different pellets, see if it affects the waste made.10 of them sounds about right.I skip 1 or 2 days a week feeding, its good for them.algea-check your light the bulbs get weak and the lower spectrum can help the algae.I think most regular bulbs are good for less than 2 years.I use light timers also,8 hours or less.switching to leds would be help, no bulb

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[Community Disorganizer]

You can try some different pellets, see if it affects the waste made.10 of them sounds about right.I skip 1 or 2 days a week feeding, its good for them.algea-check your light the bulbs get weak and the lower spectrum can help the algae.I think most regular bulbs are good for less than 2 years.I use light timers also,8 hours or less.switching to leds would be help, no bulb

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I have LED lights on a timer as well. I usually keep them on about 3 hours a day.

 

[Community Disorganizer]

How if is he? How big is his tank?

He is about 8 inches in a 40 breeder.

My red devil is not shy at all. Whether the light is on or not. He is about 9inches and in a 75 gallon with a xp3 and gets 50% water changes every week. Water and tank stays really clean.

He gets a few buckets of fresh, new water everyday, as I vacuum up his waste.


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[Community Disorganizer]

Agree with Ehh. You're most likely overfeeding and/or do not have adequate filtration on its tank. In addition, a 4.5mm pellet is far too big for your RD (assuming it's the fish from your avatar). My 10" Red Devil/Midas gets the NLS 3mm pellets, and they're a perfect size for him. If your fish has to chew the large pellets, a significant portion of the food is being expelled through the gills, thus making your tank more messy.


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I am filtering it with a penguin 350. Should I switch to the Hikari cichlid gold small pellets? I also have them.

 

[Manu8__too]

I am filtering it with a penguin 350. Should I switch to the Hikari cichlid gold small pellets? I also have them.

I'd add another Penguin 350 (or even better, an AC 70), as well as switch to the NLS 3mm pellets. At 8", he/she will be able to swallow the pellets whole which will reduce fine particulates in the water. As for Hikari, IMO it's not nearly as good of food as NLS, therefore I'd stick with your current brand.


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