So My Cichlids Don't Like Floating Food...

[matt_storey]

I have some lovely cichlids, Green sev, jade eyes, ellioti, an angel, and because they are so lovely i feel they deserve to eat well,

as they are relatively small i am "fattening them up" and feed them 3 portions per day of Hikari staple pellets, Hikari Gold pellets, and bloodworm (i'll also drop an algae wafer and some vegetation for the sev) - in what order really depends on where i am in the house when i realise they need feeding

Now, the bloodworm THEY LOVE! i put 2 cubes in and within a minute or 2 its gone! perfect. The pellets... they'll sniff have 1, spit it out, leave it 30mins and i have to take them out.

Now i done an "experiment" and bought a small packet of Tetra Prima sinking pellets, they go for them straight away.


So i'm guessing they are either too scared or lazy to swim to the top for food.

Any recommendations for food?

 

[Tizer]

They will go for food anywhere if they are hungry, fact.

 

[holidayinn]

I've noticed my cichlids go crazy for TetraPrima, but they'll eat anything tbh

 

[Proxo]

Took a while for my cichlids to get used to the floating food, they'd kind of look at it then if i moved the slightest they'd take cover.
Now i can pretty much hand feed them with it

 

[Davo86]

I've only ever had one cichlid that I have never been able to tempt to feed from the surface, and that was my nicaragua cichlid that i lost recently.

Didn't realy matter too much though as the hikari cichlid gold sinking is one of the foods i feed as a staple

 

[Lufbramatt]

mine love tetra prima. you can grind it up into powder with your fingers for the fry too.

 

[minnnt]

Prima all the way Matt. Mix it up with a few flakes of what ever i have in and all is good. Try them on Tetra Pro Colour crisps also Matt, they sink after a few seconds and most of them don't even reach half way down the tank before they have all gone. I find that my Angels will eat from the surface, usually at a 90degree angle.

 

[Athena]

Another thing they love (if you can manage to get any) are live baby brine shrimp. My LFS sells them for about £1 a pack. I empty them into a net, rinse over with a cup of tank water that has a few drops of Sterazin in (to aid steralisation), then put them back into another little tub of tank water. Then, using the turkey baster, I suck up a few at a time and squirt into the tank. Make sure that any live foods you buy are from a reputable source and always clean them first.

They swim around and my convicts go absolutely potty for them, frantically chasing and gulping them down in seconds!

Might sound like a lot of bother but the fish really love them so I think they are worth it. I try to get a pack once a week. You keep them in the fridge (yes!) until they are needed. Apparently, keeping them in the fridge prolongs their life (don't ask me how or why lol). Just avoid tubifex worms. They seem to have a bad reputation for bringing disease to the tank.

You could also try different frozen foods, such as daphnia and brine shrimp. There are some frozen blocks in my LFS where you get a different type of food in each row of cubes.

The more varied a diet you give them the better. Too much of one thing is never great.

Regards, Athena