dwarf cockatoo cichlids eating

[jollysue]

I just introduced a pair of pretty young cockatoos (although the male has begun to show color.) They had settled into a 12 gallon quaratine tank with two clown loaches. They were happy little folk, although it took a few days before they found and accepted their new food. They settled on the Hikari freeze dried bloodworms.

I have now transfered them to a very active 100 gal. tetra community tank. There are lots of potential homes and hiding places. They have not yet been adventurous enough to shoot for the top to grab off the bloodworms. Tetras are ravenous so I can't imagine them spending much time in the free-for-all, dive-for-it fray. I have dropped some shrimp pellets for them and the loaches et all. Are they going to adapt to this community?

 

[lucky62]

If they are healthy eventually they'll come up for the food , mine do .

I have danios, rasbora and blue eyed rainbow fish .


Try soaking the food in water , put it in a bowl , a dish , a cup whatever , 5 minutes should be long enough .

the wet food should sink , try some frozen blood worms too , feed the tetras first with some freeze dried than put some frozen in for the cockatoos

Mine come right to the top when they see me .
It may also be that they are a little shy in their new home .

Good luck , and enjoy your cockatoos .


You could also try feeding the tetras at the opposite side of the tank from where the cockatoos are .

 

[jollysue]

Hey, Long Island! Fresno, CA here.

They are shy little guys. They used to come running and stare at me (esp. the lady) when I came to look or feed. She seems bolder--women's rights. The boy put up a fuss when I netted him--My bumbling So he got wedgied several times.

I do eighteen day quarantines since I had an ich scourge and lost a clown loach and a couple of neons.

I'm so delighted with the cockatoos I have thought briefly of turning my 20 gal ex-goldfish tank that is just cycling into a dwarf cichlid tank (it may be a cold water hosp. tank, though.)

I'm not ready to do frozen food yet. I may try the wet trick, but I think the tetras will gobble them if they sink. My tank has two Emperor 400's, so it has lots of water movment. There is no such thing as feeding in one place.

I believe that you are right, once they get their bearings, they will come to the top. It will be better feeding for them.

Thanks for the input and reassurances, Lucky62

 

[lucky62]

You're welcome .

Actually it's highly recommended to soak freeze dried food prior to feeding .....not always good for the food to rehydrate in the fishes stomach .

 

[jollysue]

Thanks again. I think I've heard before that freeze dried should be rehydrated. I'll do that in my morning feeding. I was surprised; Hikari are very moist, and the fish seem to prefer them to Azoo by far.

The cichlids came to the surface tonight. By the time they go for it the hi-fin sepaes have figured out what's going on and are darting for and nipping everything in sight.

But I'm sure the lovely little couple will catch on too and figure a way to grab what they need. Just so it's not a green neon tetra.

I also remembered that although it is noisy, the emperor filters can be turned down so they don't cycle so fast. The food stays longer in one section. So thanks for setting me on that road to consider.

 

[jollysue]

Hey, New York! It took awhile to get back. The little couple are doing well. When I turn the filters down, crumble the flacks for the tetras, he soon comes out looking at the surface. I then swish some blood worms around and he comes up . He has found a place where he's comfortable and he waits for just the right bites. A little later she will come out and join him.

I had heard that about freeze dryed and rehydrating. I've checked the Hikari package and it doesn't say, The Hikari are very moist and not at all dry. They go soft right away as soon as they hit the water. I also keep forgetting until it's time to drop them in. I will double check with the vets.

Thanks again for your interest.

 

[lucky62]

Hey, New York! It took awhile to get back. The little couple are doing well. When I turn the filters down, crumble the flacks for the tetras, he soon comes out looking at the surface. I then swish some blood worms around and he comes up . He has found a place where he's comfortable and he waits for just the right bites. A little later she will come out and join him.

I had heard that about freeze dryed and rehydrating. I've checked the Hikari package and it doesn't say, The Hikari are very moist and not at all dry. They go soft right away as soon as they hit the water. I also keep forgetting until it's time to drop them in. I will double check with the vets.

Thanks again for your interest.

It's good that they're getting food.


I read somewhere that fish eating dehydrated food could lead swim bladder problems as well as other health issues .

For the longest time I just put them in dry ........until I read this .............though I honestly never noticed any ill affects .

Also the freeze drying of food is said reduce nutritional value some say frozen is better , I use both .

 

[lucky62]

How are they doing ?

 

[jollysue]

They are sweeties. I never wanted cichlids, because they were all about aggression and feeder fish. But these two are delightful. I got two more baby females today. I hope they are both females. I will quarantine them for eighteen days with Aquasol, then he will have a harem.

Right now it takes them so long to come to the table that the food is hydrated. The Azoo freeze dried stuff is very crisp and crunchy. But as I said the Hikari is moist. They have also been multi-vitamin enriched and are parasite and bacteria free. They claim to have advanced their freeze dry technology so that the food retains its flavor and nutrition. I also have a good regular selection of high quality tropical flakes and bottom wafers. I will eventually brake down and get some frozen stuff. If they were darting right up to grab the food, I would be more concerned. But as I say it takes him 5 minutes or more to come out and look. And she sneaks around every back alley to get there, when she finaly gets started.

I went through with a wrecking ball yesterday, adding a new cave for the clown loaches and more tall artificial plants, so everyone can have a comfy spot. Everyone is busy investigating the new digs. They seem quite happy. The clowns have been dancing around ever since. The otos even got brave. One cory poked his head out to see what was all the commotion then disapeared.

How did you decide on rasaboras, danios, and rainbows? Do you have some cichlids? Tell me about your tank/s.

I didn't see a post notification for you July 6 post. I did get a notice of this post. That's why I didn't reply before.

 

[pnyklr3]

My male generally goes only to about mid-level to eat. I'm not sur why, but he waits for everything to come down towards the bottom. My females, on the other hand, are at the surface waiting for the food!

I figure that if the male were hungry enough, he would venture up a bit higher to get food. I have also found that my cockatoos love frozen foods (brine shrimp, bloodworms, etc.)

 

[lucky62]

They are sweeties. I never wanted cichlids, because they were all about aggression and feeder fish. But these two are delightful. I got two more baby females today. I hope they are both females. I will quarantine them for eighteen days with Aquasol, then he will have a harem.

Right now it takes them so long to come to the table that the food is hydrated. The Azoo freeze dried stuff is very crisp and crunchy. But as I said the Hikari is moist. They have also been multi-vitamin enriched and are parasite and bacteria free. They claim to have advanced their freeze dry technology so that the food retains its flavor and nutrition. I also have a good regular selection of high quality tropical flakes and bottom wafers. I will eventually brake down and get some frozen stuff. If they were darting right up to grab the food, I would be more concerned. But as I say it takes him 5 minutes or more to come out and look. And she sneaks around every back alley to get there, when she finaly gets started.

I went through with a wrecking ball yesterday, adding a new cave for the clown loaches and more tall artificial plants, so everyone can have a comfy spot. Everyone is busy investigating the new digs. They seem quite happy. The clowns have been dancing around ever since. The otos even got brave. One cory poked his head out to see what was all the commotion then disapeared.

How did you decide on rasaboras, danios, and rainbows? Do you have some cichlids? Tell me about your tank/s.

I didn't see a post notification for you July 6 post. I did get a notice of this post. That's why I didn't reply before.

Hard to tell sexes at small sizes , hope you have females .
I chose rasbora because of the size a reputation as hardy , and peaceful fish .
The rainbows are a rare sight around here , again this type does not grow to big .The Danios were a species I'd yet see , kind of a red and yellow color , not the usual .

I keep a trio of cockatoos [MFF ]. breeding

A pair of lateacara curveceps . breeding
" " nannacara anomala. breeding

2 thomasi dwarf cichlids from west Africa. maybe same sex

a pair of rams [ Ramirezi , the blue kind ]. act like they want to breed .

Just got 2 pair of checker boards . in quarantine

4 Apisto Agassizi , at least 3 are males . " "

I keep a few other dwarf sized fish as well .

some medium sized cichlids and some larger also .

And various other species of fish . my Sons and I have , I think 18 or 19 tanks running .

 

[jollysue]

I just lost my second post I am through for tonight. You all tell some more. Huff! I spent an hour on the first one and half an hour on the second--or more.

 

[jollysue]

Hey
I'm rehydrating my brine shrimp and bloodworms. The new little ladies are coming out now, but not to the top yet. I just got them Sat. afternoon.
I've been reticent to start on frozen, because I like to get my supplies on line. It's cheaper. But frozen requires special shipping--costs more.

The new gals don't show any color, and the boys in the tank were showing just a tinge on their tail fins. But I did get the smallest in the tank. My cockatoos look like Fish Freak"s picture.

Lucky 62, you need to open your own lfs. Are fish in all your tanks? Are you selling? Who to? Do you make any profit or cover your expenses? I'll slowly hunt down who all you've got. I didn't recognize bunches. How old is your son?

Rockford Fish Freak, I'm checking out what kind of algea eater that gets about 3 1/2" I might like. I'm definitely interested in the bushy/bristle nose pleco. So far I haven't tracked one. I may have to order. How much should I pay? How many should I have? I have 3 brevriostris cory cats, 2 peppered cories, 3 otos and 3 clown loaches. Would I be over doing my bottom fish yo add a pleco or 2? The otos seem to keep the algae on the driftwood in check. My wood in the quarantine tank is growing hair. It just occurs to me I can switch the wood instead of the fish. Duh

At work we just got a 10 to 12 inch Frontiosa (with the head) to keep company with a 10 to 12" orange Oscar that we've had for years in a 20 gal tank. The house finally invested in a 55 gal and so a 2nd fish. They are not showing signs of friendship yet. Oscar started harassing the Frontosa, but now the Frontosa has Oscar backed into a corner. Neither is eating. A goldfish had been swimming around for a couple hours when I left this morning.

 

[jollysue]

Hey Rockford!

Would the male cockatoo be guarding the females while they eat? I hear cichlids are pretty protective.

 

[pnyklr3]

Give them a few more days to settle in, and they'll probably perk up. Also make sure that you have a lot of hiding places (ie lots of plants and caves; at least 1 cave per fish). What exactly do you mean by the females "not showing any color?" They won't show color in the same way the males do. Females will turn a very bright yellow when they are "in the mood" and when they are guarding a cave full of eggs. Other than that, they are mostly grey with the black line. A few of my females have speckles on their tale (one has yellow, and one has orange). Color on the tails is really only because of how the genes were working during spawning .

I have a bristlenose plec (full grown) and 3 clown loaches in my 55 gallon tank. There are a few things to remember with bottom dwellers: 1) Cockatoos like the bottom 2) Bottom dwellers will compete for food 3) Bottom dwellers will eat any eggs they can get hold of, or cause the female to eat them if she is nervous (only bad if you plan on breeding).

I'm not sure if the male is guarding the females. The females have their own territories that are inside the male's territory. You will see your male cruising around, checking on the ladies every once in awhile. My male def has a favorite female, and he spends most of his time near her territory as opposed to the other girls.

If I think of anything I missed, I'll re-post.