Feeder guppies and Cichlids

[Guppy Mama]

Is it ok for a cichlid to eat a guppy? Can they phyically eat one, and is it unhealthy? Would they swallow it, or torture it and peck it to death?

Educate me, I would very much appreciate that!

 

[vantgE]

It is likely that a Nw cichlid would but unles you are getting a large carnivorous african like a venustus or compresceps maybe a frontosa they will only kill it in m,y expeirience but i have read of them eating at dead fish abit however the common african cichlids are mostly herbivours

 

[Guppy Mama]

Thank you very, very much! I really appreciate the information!

 

[freshmike]

African cichlids, fryeri and aulonocara....even my caeruleus have eaten feeders before....they swallow them whole. No torture.

 

[Vip]

Dont feed your fish guppys, they will kill it buy making it sick.

 

[ger87410]

Vip, From my own personal experience about feeder guppies, you're comment is totally false. I feed my oscar and jack dempsey feeder guppies all the time that I raise. Guppies are really quite clean. Another good source of food for cichlids is ghost shrimps.

 

[semper fi]

if i have raised the feeder fish on my own i have fed it to my cichlids with no problems. it is when they are purchased that the problems can start. i have also heard of people feeding earthworms found out in their gardens to their fish. i would not reccommend this either as you do not know what the worm has been in. cichlids will eat anything that will fit in their mouths.

you do want to watch how much protein that you feed to africans. protein based food needs to be fed not on a daily basis as their cycstems cannot handle the high amounts of protein and can lead to bloat or constipation.

 

[ger87410]

You got a point there, if you get the guppies from walmart or someplace you don't know real well. If you know the place, go in about once or twice a month, ask a lot of questions about when they got their fish, it should be pretty safe. I haven't had any problem with feeding guppies straight from a lfs I know well.

 

[vantgE]

I think Vip means the guppy's will die from stress from the cichlids, the stress makeing the guppy sick, and guppy mama most here aren't refering to africans if you need to get rid of fry go to the Nw. section or if you have a large tank their are some very large predatory africans

 

[wolfie33]

i must admit that i dont feed guppies to freshwater fish myself.
i was always told my a guy who'd kept them for 30 odd years that feeding tropical to marine and marine to tropical is cool,no probs but it is a big no no to feed freshwater to freshwater fish and likewise with marine.

i'm not sure that the people who do feed guppies to freshwater fish truly know the biological reasons behind why they should'nt so therefore they think its ok.

Whats that i here
"but fish do it in the wild"

do you know this as a fact because don't forget in the wild there are many other living forms of food such as insects etc...... that they will prefer than other fish.
And if i'm not mistaken tropical fish who prefer to eat other fish tend to be near brackish water waiting for marines to come in!

i'm sure many people will disagree with what i said but its a rule i work too.

 

[Vip]

Everyone has really good points here, im still against it due to my fish getting sick from it and alot of info i read up on say the same but its the first time a couple of people here have breed them thereselfs to feed there fish, that i would understand would make the fish conditioned doesnt it?
Do you guys have a freeder net on the side of your tank to condition it in the cichlids water so then it lowers the risk of infection?

 

[Nethius]

if i have raised the feeder fish on my own i have fed it to my cichlids with no problems. it is when they are purchased that the problems can start. i have also heard of people feeding earthworms found out in their gardens to their fish. i would not reccommend this either as you do not know what the worm has been in. cichlids will eat anything that will fit in their mouths.

you do want to watch how much protein that you feed to africans. protein based food needs to be fed not on a daily basis as their cycstems cannot handle the high amounts of protein and can lead to bloat or constipation.

yep! i agree here!

also, you may be able to get worms from a bait shop, if they breed their own, just make sure they dont use anything in the soil that would hurt your fish (they shouldnt tho!)

and yea, if your fish ate a guppy, it's nothing to worry about

wolfie33, i'm a little confused by your post? are you saying not to feed FW fish to FW fish?!? well IMOE this is fine, and yes i am positive they do this in the wild! sorry if i am misunderstanding you... one fish to think of, is piranha, but there are zillions more

 

[vantgE]

i'm not sure that the people who do feed guppies to freshwater fish truly know the biological reasons behind why they should'nt  so therefore they think its ok.



[...]

And if i'm not mistaken tropical fish who prefer to eat other fish tend to be near brackish water waiting for marines to come in!

Uh what are these bilogical reasons?

and you are mistaken new world cichlids such as magunese or oscars do not live near brckish water, but you ae correct that the entire diet is not made up of fish and only a small portion should be fed to add variety to the diet

also as this is in the african section I will state again mbuna should not be fed fish or worms

 

[wolfie33]

well vantge and nethius

i dont know the biological reasons myself i'm simply quoting what a couple of people said to me.
i know that a FW fish eating another FW fish wont kill it but what i'm saying is that it is not the best food for it by a long way.
infact i'd go as far as to say over time if that were it's sole source of food it would make the fish ill as the original message on this post complains of.
As for piranha's i have never seen a pirahna swin and eat in the wild so even though it seems obvious they would eat FW fish thats more in an aquarium .
Afriend of mine kept 4 piranha in a 5ft tank each one had it's own cave in the corner and kept with them were a cory which quite happily stayed in the middle and should such a time come when the cory was attacked was a symbol that they wasn't being fed enough.And as i said there are many other living bodies in these lakes or rivers other than fish.
I think whats important is i'm not saying you guys are wrong and maybe your even right but i have my methods and they do ok with me..

Good luck all

 

[Nethius]

yes piranha eat fish, and with many piranha it is their priamry diet, but not for all... some will eat vegetation, or insects, and even birds

you are correct in saying that only feeding fish is not good, as like all animals fish need a varied diet. but it really depends on the fish itself, and what they eat in the wild...

back to piranha, let's take the most common (the Red Bellied Piranha) they're primary diet is other fish/fins. so feeding red bellies a diet of fish, and only fish is an excellent diet for them, as long as you're not just feeding them the same kind of fish. when i had mine, i would feed them salmon, haddock, smelts, and every once in a while a few goldfish. and they were in perfect health, and grew quite fast! and as you see there is a mixture of FW and SW fish there

but of course this diet would not be sufficient to all fish

as i've read a lot of cichlids require a mixtuer of fish and vegetation, so obvioulsy a diet of guppies would not work, but feeding them every once in a while is okay!