What Do You Feed Your Rams And Dwarf Cichlids?

[RustedKnight]

I need to change my current feeding regime, and looking at alternative food sources.. (currently using frozen bloodworm)

What do you feed your bolivian rams, and other dwarf cichlids (apisto's)

Only live food I can get is meal worms.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Frozen mosquito larvae, blood worms, tubifex, daphnia
Tetra Pro colour flakes, veg flakes, regular flakes
De-shelled & crushed peas
Frozen 'greens' for tropical fish
Sinking algae wafers

....they eat the lot!

 

[RustedKnight]

Frozen mosquito larvae, blood worms, tubifex, daphnia
Tetra Pro colour flakes, veg flakes, regular flakes
De-shelled & crushed peas
Frozen 'greens' for tropical fish
Sinking algae wafers

....they eat the lot!

Thanks for the quick response..

Will they feed on artemia (frozen brine shrimp) or is its nutritional value too low for a daily feed?

Trying to get food that will be taken by all my fish (cory's, bumblebee goby's, boliv rams, and apisto's)

I presume there must be a frozen mixed food block I can buy (get most my food from pets at home)

 

[ZoddyZod]

Thanks for the quick response..

Will they feed on artemia (frozen brine shrimp) or is its nutritional value too low for a daily feed?

Trying to get food that will be taken by all my fish (cory's, bumblebee goby's, boliv rams, and apisto's)

I presume there must be a frozen mixed food block I can buy (get most my food from pets at home)

You can get a 'tropical mix' by Dutch Foods so you could try that. However, I would recommened mixing any fishes diet up rather than having the same thing each time. The foods I listed above are given once or twice a week.

 

[RustedKnight]

Thanks for the quick response..

Will they feed on artemia (frozen brine shrimp) or is its nutritional value too low for a daily feed?

Trying to get food that will be taken by all my fish (cory's, bumblebee goby's, boliv rams, and apisto's)

I presume there must be a frozen mixed food block I can buy (get most my food from pets at home)

You can get a 'tropical mix' by Dutch Foods so you could try that. However, I would recommened mixing any fishes diet up rather than having the same thing each time. The foods I listed above are given once or twice a week.

ok, will try the tropical mix. Also have a half packet of bloodworm left, will alternate the two.

Do you feed inbetween with any other feed? Just trying to get things right.

 

[ZoddyZod]

ok, will try the tropical mix.

Do you feed inbetween with any other feed? Just trying to get things right.

As I said above I feed with pretty much ALL of those foods during the week. I've set up a little daily rota so I can make sure the tank gets a healthy diet. Since I feed twice a day, pretty much all the foods are fed twice a week at least.

 

[RustedKnight]

ok, will try the tropical mix.

Do you feed inbetween with any other feed? Just trying to get things right.

As I said above I feed with pretty much ALL of those foods during the week. I've set up a little daily rota so I can make sure the tank gets a healthy diet. Since I feed twice a day, pretty much all the foods are fed twice a week at least.

Ah that makes sense!

OK.. so i guess then i'll try the tropical mix, and the bloodworm, and anything else I can pick up, and will rotate the food, and feed little amounts twice a day (will cut each blister into quarters, feed 2 quarters a day unless there seems to be a need for more food.

 

[ZoddyZod]

OK.. so i guess then i'll try the tropical mix, and the bloodworm, and anything else I can pick up, and will rotate the food, and feed little amounts twice a day (will cut each blister into quarters, feed 2 quarters a day unless there seems to be a need for more food.

it's generally recommended that food should be eaten within 2-3mins of adding to the tank, otheriwse you could be over-feeding. This doesn't relate to things like algae wafers or cucumber slices though, as these will be eaten over a longer period of time.

just a heads-up on the frozen food, you should thaw it before adding to the tank. You probably know that but just in case. I use the same plate for thawing and never wash it with cleaning products, just rinse with boiling water. You dont want household chemicals ending up in the food/tank.

 

[RustedKnight]

OK.. so i guess then i'll try the tropical mix, and the bloodworm, and anything else I can pick up, and will rotate the food, and feed little amounts twice a day (will cut each blister into quarters, feed 2 quarters a day unless there seems to be a need for more food.

it's generally recommended that food should be eaten within 2-3mins of adding to the tank, otheriwse you could be over-feeding. This doesn't relate to things like algae wafers or cucumber slices though, as these will be eaten over a longer period of time.

just a heads-up on the frozen food, you should thaw it before adding to the tank. You probably know that but just in case. I use the same plate for thawing and never wash it with cleaning products, just rinse with boiling water. You dont want household chemicals ending up in the food/tank.

Well as of the moment, the rams and apisto's aren't in the tank (collection on friday) so there is only goby's and corydora's, both relatively slow feeders (the suggested feeding time to leave food for cory's is apprently 30mins) so the food hangs around a little while, 10 minutes or so, but obviously this will be greatly reduced with the introduction of the rams and apisto's.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Well as of the moment, the rams and apisto's aren't in the tank (collection on friday) so there is only goby's and corydora's, both relatively slow feeders (the suggested feeding time to leave food for cory's is apprently 30mins) so the food hangs around a little while, 10 minutes or so, but obviously this will be greatly reduced with the introduction of the rams and apisto's.

the feeding time thing really is a rule of thumb. As you say different fish have different habits. If you are paying attention to how they feed and the quantity they consume then you'll soon feel your way into the correct regime for your fish. Good luck! And enjoy the rams/apistos.....great characters. They'll soon start watching you as you move near the tank.

 

[RustedKnight]

Well as of the moment, the rams and apisto's aren't in the tank (collection on friday) so there is only goby's and corydora's, both relatively slow feeders (the suggested feeding time to leave food for cory's is apprently 30mins) so the food hangs around a little while, 10 minutes or so, but obviously this will be greatly reduced with the introduction of the rams and apisto's.

the feeding time thing really is a rule of thumb. As you say different fish have different habits. If you are paying attention to how they feed and the quantity they consume then you'll soon feel your way into the correct regime for your fish. Good luck! And enjoy the rams/apistos.....great characters. They'll soon start watching you as you move near the tank.

Thanks, and yes I will.. I wasn't originally planning on getting Rams, but after numerous visits to the lfs I always found myself being eyed by the rams (i've been told this is their "omg we're starving, you want to feed us" look) and eventually could no longer resist, so had to order myself some.

Wanted to order Apisto Cacatouides but the shop doesn't sell apisto's fast enough, so they've been limited to ordering "assorted apisto's", so basically, I need to get lucky with them, I like roughly 50% of the apisto species, and all seem calm enough, here's hoping for a nice pair.

Thanks for the help, and will make a new thread with pics as soon as camera and charger are located.

Rusty.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Apisto Cacatouides are very nice. Fancy some myself but the floor of my tank is a little busy right now. If you look on a certain popular auction website you can often find pairs of them. This would negate the need of a harem of 1m to 3f which is generally considered the best way to keep them, unless you just have a single specimen.

 

[RustedKnight]

Apisto Cacatouides are very nice. Fancy some myself but the floor of my tank is a little busy right now. If you look on a certain popular auction website you can often find pairs of them. This would negate the need of a harem of 1m to 3f which is generally considered the best way to keep them, unless you just have a single specimen.

Out of interest, why is it suggested to get them as a harem?

Just got back from the lfs, got my hands on a tropical mix blister pack.