Starving???

[cichlid savage]

Nice writeup on the preparations for feeders, makes me feel better about giving my fish them, I haven't seen dead fish in feeder tanks at my lfs before so hopefully that and preparing them the way cichlid savage said should do the trick, how much salt do you use...tablespoon to 5 gallons? I am deathly afraid of internal parasites in my fish for some reason, I guess I still have the no feeder mentality. So they should take the crushed up hikari cichlid gold no problem then?

I use about 1.5 Tablespoon per 5 gal. the feeders take the hikari no problems at all.

Let me just say its good to see someone asking so many questions and accepting advise on the care of your fish. you are to be commended for your efforts.

 

[High City Rida]

thanks for sharing info guys.. i also didnt know their temp is kept higher than africans (i keep them at 78-79 degrees)

thanks again..

Yea 87deg is a must with cichla. It sound extrem but it is a requirement for there ultimate survival. When 8'' and under they are extremly sensitive to there enviroment.

Always glad to help Navygirl. I hope you take on keeping Cichla in the future. They will bring you a new prespective on Cichlid keeping and you too will get the passion for them as I know you have for your African's.

 

[channarox]

I do share your thought's. I don't know what is this new way of thinking. You can't raise cichla on pellet's. Pellet's should not be feed until this cichla is 8'' PERIOD! You should be feeding exclusivly LIVE FEEDERS until this time. These cichlids are True Preditors not little cichlid and needs major nurishment. I feel like when keeping cichla. You need to ignore all of the myht's. Far to many people who dont keep cichla trying to tell you what else you can feed beside's live food. These fish want need and must have lot's of live food period. It's getting bad around here for the cichla lovers. If your a yuppie cichla keeper and don't believe in live feedings then no problem but I think some of the new keepers are being mislead and really need to know that FEEDERS are there main staple the other foods are just treat's until after the cichla reaches 8''.

I know some won't agree with what I have said or only agree with part's of my opinion but I will put my cichla up against anybody's as far as size,color, and there general healthy happy apperance I have to say I am doing a good job but I don't falter form the script. FEEDERS and lot's of them Cichlids are even better to feed to your Cichla or even Africans. But forget about the cheap choice of foods or just forget about keeping CICHLA.

i think i totally agree with you.
but i feed market prawns and a variety of foods to my cichla no matter how big (no pellets though....) simply because it can be hard going to the store constantly to buy feeders.
cant have another tank either,so no quarantine.
but IMO if theres food that can substitute feeders in terms of pumping them up and nutrition etc.,then i dont see why not.
live can always be good,but isnt always a choice.

 

[channarox]

Yea 87deg is a must with cichla. It sound extrem but it is a requirement for there ultimate survival. When 8'' and under they are extremly sensitive to there enviroment.

Always glad to help Navygirl. I hope you take on keeping Cichla in the future. They will bring you a new prespective on Cichlid keeping and you too will get the passion for them as I know you have for your African's.

agreed.
in fact,i think my cichla actually enjoy warm temps.

 

[bOOsteN aUdI]

so if you all go through so many feeders wouldnt it be cheaper to just set up a small tank and breed guppies or something as feeders? if i kept cichla thats probably what i would do..

just asking questions-i love the pbass and am starting to read on how to keep them, right now i have africans and will be doing a sa/ca tank again.

cichlid savage-your fish are stunning also.. its nice to see cichla that are healthy..

i tried so many time with different types of fish. they never seem to breed and grow fast enough to keep up with the amount it takes to satisfy and adequately feed cichla.

Good stuff, I've read here they grow faster on live food as well... is this true?

i would say this is true that you get better growth rates. i feel this is the main reason we feed our cichla feeders when the are young. a baby cichla can be an extremely tough fish to keep for some, so we use feeders to bulk them up and get them out of that tough stage.

thanks for the info high city and cichlid savage! i love learning about all fish..

im with ya savage-i keep great care of my fish and they get a varied diet-they are my babies and i do everything i can to help them have a good life..

thanks for sharing info guys.. i also didnt know their temp is kept higher than africans (i keep them at 78-79 degrees)

thanks again..

Hi navy girl we keep our cichla in such high temps for a few reason. the main reason i would say is because they are so prone to iche at a small age that if you dont keep the temp of your water 87+ you have a 70 percent chance or greater of loosing them within the first week. it also keep them away from other parasites. the second reason is that it keeps their metabolism fast and also cichla tend to become sluggish in colder temps.


as for feeding cichla feeders. i believe that you really should feed them feeders to the 6-8 inch mark if you want a healthy cichla. don't get me wrong i wont just feed my cichla feeders all the times but a combination of black worms, guppies, rosies, ghost shrimp ect.. some will feed them earth worms and crickets..( im not a big fan of either) normally my cichla will get feeders once a day and something different of choice for their second daily feeding. i will also imply that i do not qt my feeders either but do put them in one of those plastic tubs and feed them a quality crushed pellet (i love hikira gold). i feel that if your tank is 87-88 you should not run into any problems, for i have never qt any feeders ever and i have been in the cichla game for about 7 years and never ran into a problem. a question for everyone to think about and i know mike ( high city ryda) agrees with me.. do you think that ever fish that a cichla grabs in the wild is healthy? only the strongest of fish survive and the weak get eaten. (usually the sick fish) cichla are PISCIVORE which is a predatory fish who's diet mainly consist of fish. so while they may be eating they passing along bird or duck that hits the water, frog, snake ect ect they are mainly eatting fish there whole lives. (now thats alot of fish!!! do you think they are all healthy?)

ok now what to feed to feed your cichla after 6-8". well by this time your cichla should basically be begging for food and smashing what ever you throw into their domain. if your trying to get them off live and they don't eat the first run then they will the second time and if that doesn't work then you throw a feeder in and then a piece of shrimp or whatever your trying to feed them and they will most likely take both and slowly learn. once you have them off of live food then you can feed them feeders as a treat once a week if you would like. a VARIED DIET is key when keeping healthy cichla. feeding them just shrimp won't kill them but it isnt going to help them either. i like to vary my cichlas diet with market shrimp, vitamin enhanced krill, silversides, sardine ( when your cichla get larger, unless you can find small sardines) in the summer i net my own mullet, cut pieces of tilapia, some extra i have from myself filleting a striped bass i caught, fluke ect., what ever is on sale at the super market and looks *fresh*... i can't believe some people actually buy that fish to eat. and of course we can't forget pellets. if you can get your cichla on pellets then you are set because of the broad spectrum of nutrients they hold, but this doesnt mean to only feed them pellets. variety is key to a healthy cichla.

 

[franchise513]

alright thanks guys this was actually very helpful, looking into getting some small pbass pretty soon and i was going to use pellets, thanks for the info. And I will make sure to use pellets and market shrimp after 8"

 

[bOOsteN aUdI]

p.s. beef heart is bad for your fish. its a filler and hold no nutrition at all

 

[pwmin]

some real good info in here. I tried pellets with my bass, but the two that tried them spit them out. those 2 eat other dead foods, though.

 

[Venom SS]

Its about time someone spoke up about Cichla and live food! Prep food is grand if you can get them on it but from my limited experience, your fish will love you and try to eat you through the glass everytime you walk by the tank if you feed them feeders. Live is by far their food of choice. My feeder tank has a big porcelain grim reaper in the center as "decoration". Eat up little fishies your time draws near...

 

[CichlidDan]

I fed live for the first time yesterday, I must say that I was impressed with the speed and accuracy of these predators, it was much more entertaining, one even hit a feeder so hard that it folded in half like it had its spine broken. Now every time I walk by the tank they all watch me intently like I am going to give them more.