Vegetarian cichlids, some of my Favorites

[duanes]

Although many of these cichlids grow up eating everything, and even as adluts won´t pass up an easy protein meal,
as they age, and as their digestive systems mature they become more and more vegetarian.
And if given a verry high in animal (fish) protein, those systems can get blocked up.
The genus Cincelichthys has 3 primarily vegetarian types

Above are C bocourti, equally adept at eating algae, and higher plants, mine mowed down think stands of Papyrus.
Below C pearsei, left, and right with Vieja melanurus, on that like to feed on fallen fruit


Below Vieja bifisciatus another fruits and terrestrial plant eater.

Vieja maculacauda are are know to enter the sea, to feast on marine (salt water) algae
Another of my favorite vegetarians is Etroplus suratensus, from India and Sri Lanka.

Xray of Cincelichthys with digestive blockage

 

[RD.]

And if given a verry high in animal (fish) protein, those systems can get blocked up

I don’t believe that’s ever been proven to be factual. Lots of things can cause gastrointestinal issues in fish, including those fish designated as herbivores, but protein isn’t one of them. Overfeeding, yes. Diets high in fat, yes. Diets high in terrestrial based ingredients, yes. Stress from aggressive tank mates, yes.

Protein, no.

There’s a sticky on bloat in the African cichlid folder where I go into more detail.

 

[RD.]

There seems to be a lot of confusion with regards to bloat, and how it can effect various species of cichlids.

Hopefully the info below will help clarify some of the common misconceptions surrounding this condition.

 

[duanes]

There are a number of recents studies that call into question the idea that all fish species require the same nutricional needs.
Just one such study below.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11160-024-09853-3&ved=2ahUKEwjv_Yn-opiRAxWpSDABHZNLOyAQFnoECDQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1RaWsKw1qZVrbLqgZNfiZp

 

[HUKIT]

I’m always incredibly fascinated with such studies but to be honest I always feel like I’m reading Shakespeare.

 

[Roger Mcfish]

I agree. I don't know what 90% of the scientific names/words are or let alone even mean . Im just a senior diesel technician lol

 

[RD.]

I didn’t read the info in the link, no need to. I wasn’t debating the nutritional needs of any of the various species of fin fish. I was simply pointing out that your implication of protein being the cause of systems getting blocked up, was incorrect and is based on outdated hearsay. Excess amino acids get deaminated and excreted, they don’t cause blockages in fish.

In fact, lower cost grain based carbohydrate fillers are typically the problem, not protein. Soybean, corn, rice, wheat, etc. Dixon found that excessive carbohydrates cause Lake Malawi Bloat. (“Isolation of Clostridium difficile from the African Cichlid, Nimbochromis venustus, with Malawi Bloat”, Dixon 1997).

Personally I suspect that the vast majority of blockages are the result of overfeeding, no matter the nutritional make up of the feed.

 

[tiger15]

Regarding what caused bloat in fish is not simply nutrition, but multi factorial. I started keeping African rift lake cichlid in the 80s when they were newly introduced. My Africans died from bloat often then, but rarely nowadays even though I fed them essentially the same commercial fish food. On the other hand, I lost more newly introduced SA, CA and non-rift lake African I kept lately due to bloat. Commercial fish food is typically low in animal protein, but high in plant protein, carbohydrate and fibre. High protein food is associated with life food, beef heart, shrimp and fish fillet, which I never fed to my fish. So nutrition is not the primary reason why my fish died from bloat, but rather adaptation since all bloat death of my fish were newly introduced fish, never old timers.