Shy Cichlids ???

"Elaine T" wrote in message
m...
Gill Passman wrote:
"Elaine T" wrote in message
m...

Samuel Warren wrote:

Okay, I added 6 Black Neon Tetras and sure enough the cichlids came out

from

hiding. So the dither fish idea worked.

I also started to feed the cichlids some Tetra-Min "Crisps", they seem

to

enjoy that very much. I have krill, dry blood worms, algae tablets,

flake

food, frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp and some frozen Veggies

from

feeding my community tank, so I think I should be able to vary their

diet.

The cichlids are still too small to consume the Tetras, but if they

should

ever do that is the way of nature.



I wanted to reinforce what Tim said since you've posted about feding
high-protein foods again. Mbuna are herbivores and get bloated and die
if fed high protein foods. Don't feed krill, bloodworms or brine
shrimp. Even the Tetra-Min crisps aren't intended for these fish. To
keep them healthy, feed algae-based foods or specialty foods made for
specifically for mbuna.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__


Just bought my first Mbuna's (Yellow Labs) for my new tank yesterday and
LFS
suggested Spirulina Cichlid Sticks, Daphinia, krill, brine shrimp and
cucumber which kind of ties in with the research that I did. He told me
to
totally avoid any bloodworms etc.

Now confused......


Yellow labs IF you're talking about Labidochromis caeruleus are a little
different from rock dwelling mbuna. They're omnivorous open-water fish
from Lake Malawi with a more flexible diet and les susceptibility to
Malawi bloat. There was another thread on labs here a while back, and
if kept alone, they do best on a pretty even mix of spirulina and
protein foods. Your Powder blue mbuna (Pseudotropheus socolofi?) are
the ones I talking about being herbivorous and susceptible to bloat.

For this mix of fish, my understanding is that you will still need to
feed mostly algae based and vegetable foods. Maybe someone who's kept
this combination of fish can suggest how often to offer the higher
protein foods because I've only kept tanks with the strongly herbivorous
mbuna and never fed anything like krill. My best guess would be only a
couple times a week.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

Thanks Elaine. Haven't given them anything other than the Spirulina yet but
if they are better off being veggies I'm sure the Community Tank will enjoy
the Daphinia :-) Just looking at it like I wouldn't give the pet rabbit and
guinea pig meat so why force it on the fish if it isn't what they would
naturally eat. If the occassional meal of krill etc. would be natural for
them then again it might be worth feeding once a week or so.

Personally, what I'm trying to do is get a mix of fish that eat the same
diet. I like to give a variety of food wherever possible so whatever
ideas/advice anyone can give me would be great. Already been on
malawimayhem.com for stocking ideas. It's a new project so only just put in
the first fish yesterday and the only ones I was 100% I wanted were the Labs
so thought it a good place to start although I have some on my "shopping
list" that seem to need similar diet. The variety of Malawi Cichlids
available is awesome so I'm pretty sure that I should be able to get some
that share the same dietary requirements.

Gill

BTW I love the Hexagonal - already working on hubbie - thinking my Fan Tail
Guppies would look great in there plus it would lighten the load in the
Community Tank - but at the moment he thinks 5 tanks are enough (LOL) even
though 2 of them belong to my son.

Currently I'm keeping two Male zebras (M. Estherae hybrid, and P. socolofi),
1F M. auratus, and 1F N. livingstoni.
The Mbuna feed fine on the bottom on pellets, cucs, and zucs. Sometimes they
eat the duckweed on the surface. The Melanochromis and Nimbocromis are also
fed frozen bloodworms 2-3 times a week. It's just a matter of timing the
bloodworms after the Mbuna begin picking granules off the bottom. The fish
seemed to rapidly learn the feeding schedule, and now each goes to the
appropriate place to get the food they want and need.

P.S. Does anyone know if Psuedotropheus socolofi has gone through a
nomenclature change as many of the Pseudotropheus did?

"Elaine T" wrote in message
m...
Gill Passman wrote:
"Elaine T" wrote in message
m...

Samuel Warren wrote:

Okay, I added 6 Black Neon Tetras and sure enough the cichlids came out

from

hiding. So the dither fish idea worked.

I also started to feed the cichlids some Tetra-Min "Crisps", they seem

to

enjoy that very much. I have krill, dry blood worms, algae tablets,

flake

food, frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp and some frozen Veggies

from

feeding my community tank, so I think I should be able to vary their

diet.

The cichlids are still too small to consume the Tetras, but if they

should

ever do that is the way of nature.



I wanted to reinforce what Tim said since you've posted about feding
high-protein foods again. Mbuna are herbivores and get bloated and die
if fed high protein foods. Don't feed krill, bloodworms or brine
shrimp. Even the Tetra-Min crisps aren't intended for these fish. To
keep them healthy, feed algae-based foods or specialty foods made for
specifically for mbuna.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__


Just bought my first Mbuna's (Yellow Labs) for my new tank yesterday and
LFS
suggested Spirulina Cichlid Sticks, Daphinia, krill, brine shrimp and
cucumber which kind of ties in with the research that I did. He told me
to
totally avoid any bloodworms etc.

Now confused......


Yellow labs IF you're talking about Labidochromis caeruleus are a little
different from rock dwelling mbuna. They're omnivorous open-water fish
from Lake Malawi with a more flexible diet and les susceptibility to
Malawi bloat. There was another thread on labs here a while back, and if
kept alone, they do best on a pretty even mix of spirulina and protein
foods. Your Powder blue mbuna (Pseudotropheus socolofi?) are the ones I
talking about being herbivorous and susceptible to bloat.

For this mix of fish, my understanding is that you will still need to feed
mostly algae based and vegetable foods. Maybe someone who's kept this
combination of fish can suggest how often to offer the higher protein
foods because I've only kept tanks with the strongly herbivorous mbuna and
never fed anything like krill. My best guess would be only a couple times
a week.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__