What live food do S.A. and C.A. cichlids eat?

[Garrett.turbo]

Hey guys I'm kind of knew to this whole fish deal. I have a 55 gal tank with 1 peackcock eel, 2 jack dempseys, 1 black convict, 1 pink convict,3 tiger barbs, and a plec. they're still about 2 inchs not big at all really. I just purchased a 3 gallon deco tank for a tank to maybe breed something for them to eat.
I was just wondering what my options were. I was thinking of getting a live bearer like 2 guppies and having them spawn and just feed them their babies and keep a couple to try to get them to keep reproducing. Will my cichlids eat them? I just want to know some options, I'm also interested if they'd eat shrimp and if so what kind, and can I breed them. Thanks!

 

[chris.clay11]

only thing that you will be able to breed in that size is guppys and maybe mollys it is cheaper just to go and buy feeders. Why do you want to do live anyway yeah its fun but really jacks up your tank adds alot of ammonia. And if you are not on top of it with frequent water changes it will kill your fish.

 

[ryansmith83]

You don't need live food. You can feed your fish a diet of primarily pellets and dried food with occasional treats like frozen bloodworms, krill, or mysis shrimp. They can also get chopped red wrigglers/earthworms but make sure they come from a clean source so that you don't introduce pesticides or other nasty stuff.

Most of the time, live feeder fish do not offer the complete nutrition required to keep your fish healthy. If you do get livebearer fry, you can feed them, but it shouldn't be their primary food. Also, if your convicts are a male and female, they will start producing plenty of fry on their own that your other fish will gladly eat.

 

[Garrett.turbo]

no theyre both males, frankley I think all my fish are but I'm not sure, and I want to give them a wide variety of food. Ive been feeding them blood worms, and I just bought some cichlid pellits that are really good however they have a hard time eating them, so im thinking Im gunna wack the bag a few times with a hammer and crush them up a bit. My waters crystal clear, I added all my fish within the first 2 weeks I set it up, and it was clear the next day after I put water in it. I just did my first water change a couple of days ago. I don't think I'll have a problem with ammonia I have 2 filters going a undergravel filter, and a giant volcane bubbler so I have tons of aeration going and a bunch of filtering going. will they eat shrimp?

 

[markwright]

i would go with the frozen-blood worms or beef-heart thats what i feed all of my cichlids and they love its good for the color too.

 

[peathenster]

I would get them on (and keep them on) pellets. Try smaller ones since they are still young. Shouldn't be too hard to get the species you have on pellets.

I used to feed my fish with live black worms, but the wife hated them in the fridge. Then I started a small earthworm farm in a plastic bin in the garage.....it went very well and produced all the live food I needed, until we went on a two week trip and the whole "farm" dried up. I still consider it the easiest and the best source of live food though - just need to throw in some veggie clippings and keep it moist.

 

[Jc1119]

I agree with the above. Pellets are probably the most complete nutritional source you can offer them. Frozen foods( krill, bloodworms, brine, etc) do wonders for growth and color as well. Live foods are not really neccessary


On a side note, 3 tiger barbs is going to be very difficult to mantain over the long haul unless you happen to have gotten 3 females. 5 would be the min id suggest because they will spawn at every water change and every time you feed live foods or worms.....my most successful numbers have been high teens low 20's

 

[Maccoy]

I would get them on (and keep them on) pellets. Try smaller ones since they are still young. Shouldn't be too hard to get the species you have on pellets.

I used to feed my fish with live black worms, but the wife hated them in the fridge. Then I started a small earthworm farm in a plastic bin in the garage.....it went very well and produced all the live food I needed, until we went on a two week trip and the whole "farm" dried up. I still consider it the easiest and the best source of live food though - just need to throw in some veggie clippings and keep it moist.

^great advice earthworms are a beast sorce of live food. consider market shrimp too average is around 4$ a pound and a pound feeds my fish for around 2 weeks

 

[Garrett.turbo]

Im pretty sure theyre both males I had 4 but something happened and he vanished, no idea how he died or nothing, he disintigrated lol

 

[pshtex]

cichlids will eat just about anything when i had mine i would through all sorts of bugs and grubs and worms in there that i would find while cutting the grass and they loved them plus the are really good for the fish and they are freeeeeee