Can I Feed My African Cichlids Algae Wafers?

GOT FISH? · Jan 12, 2007

Got a couple of bags of Hikari, is it OK to feed them?

paulf · Jan 12, 2007

Hikari what?

fishfishfish · Jan 12, 2007

i put them in for my plecs and for my synos.the synos love em.the cichlids dont really do much with it though

GOT FISH? · Jan 12, 2007

sorry, Hikari algae wafers....My cichlids seem to like them, just want to make sure it wouldn't harm them....I feed them spirulina flake usually, can't get them to eat any veggies though...Tried romaine, cucumber, and zuchini not much luck....

tnhowery · Jan 12, 2007

Cant see where it would hurt them mine pick at them all the time and usually steal them from my plec and they have been doing it for a while now.

Sicklidcommunity · Oct 21, 2017

Yes you can my cichlids love it ...check it out at

AbbeysDad · Oct 21, 2017

Maybe not as good as you think...
Hikari Algae Wafers Ingredients: Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Wheat Germ Meal, Starch, Dried Seaweed Meal, Dried Bakery Product, Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate Dehydrated, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Brewer's Dried Yeast, Soybean Meal, Fish Oil, Krill Meal, Spirulina, Garlic, Dl-Methionine, Chlorella, Astaxanthin, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E .

I don't get excited when the first ingredient of any fish food is fish meal!
Most fish meal is made from ground heads, bones, fins and scales (aka cannery waste), dried, loaded with preservatives, and warehoused for an extended period of time. Because it's a dry powder, copious amounts of grain starch is required as a binder/filler. Fish don't process grains so it passes right through as excess waste!! High quality foods use whole fish (fresh is best) and little or no grain starches.
Years ago I used to see 'poop trails' behind my fish after feeding that would eventually fall off. After switching to high quality fish foods, I noticed significantly less waste,...and less fish waste means cleaner water!

footnote: <rhetorical> anybody know what 'dried bakery product' is? I'm thinking stale bread and donuts! lol