Blood worms

midposted comments...

"'nutherBob" wrote in message
m...
3 Red Zebras

As you are using common English names (not the most accurate), some
guesswork is needed. Zebras (pseudotropheus) are iirc, herbivores from
Lake Malawi, so they would suffer from a heavy diet of bloodworms. Three
or 4 feedings a week would be a maximum target.

2 Electric Blues
2 Electric Yellows

Some type of Haplochromis (Ahli?). These guys are omnivores and will
process bloodworms with no difficulty.

1 son-of-a-gun pleco, all black, growing like a weed and apprently
doing his
job very well.

Most common plecos are opportunistic scavengers, specializing on algae
with their scraping mouths. A quick check of their belly (should be flat
or protrude outwards) will tell you if he is eating well.

A complete circus. So much fun to watch as they watch me =0)

29 gallon (US) Eclipse Tank with Bio-wheel
(again, I inherited this tank and fish.)

If the tank has been running less than 6 weeks from the date the fish
were introduced, beware of ammonia build-up. The tank needs to be
cycled.

My question is how much and when should I feed them frozen blood worms?
Should I put it in room temp water before I feed them to defrost them
first?

I try to have a minimum of 3 foods for each fish. If your pleco if a
herbivore, then algae, algae wafers and the occasional slice of zuchini
will suit him fine (with a piece of driftwood in there for him to gnaw
on). For your zebras, in addition to bloodworm, I would feed brine
shrimp and spurilina pellets or sticks. They will also eat (steal) from
the pleco's menu. I also occasionally throw in some bottom-feeder
pellets for my plecos. Your Haps are the easiest to feed. In addition
to stealing from everyone else's menu, throw in cichlid pellets (the
types that have a mix for herbivores and/or carnivores), and as the fish
get bigger, go to larger pellets.

It's usually a good idea to defrost the bloodworms first. This
distributes the food more evenly. I use a bit of tank water, or tap.
Drain off the excess water.

I was also given a package of frozen brine shrimp. Same questions.

Same answers, except shrimp can be eaten more often by herbivores (than
the bloodworms). Shrimp are meat, which eat algae (so they are full of
greens) and their shells make them mostly fibre (which is very good for
fish, who in nature consume about 50% fibre in their diet). Shrimp can
be given almost daily to all your fish IMO.

Although perhaps not likely in your tank, don't overfeed or allow any
food to go uneaten. The more food you drop in, the greater the
biological load, and the more filtration you will need. It is not
uncommon to filter a 30g cichlid tank as a 60g tank or larger.

I appreciate your help in the past folks, this hobby is growing on me,
but
not as fast as my very friendly cichlid fishies are swimming right into
my
heart.

Hopes for the future are a 100 gallon and all the good bio stuff I need
to
keep them comfortable and happy.

There is definetly a larger tank in your future, with the fish you have.
Research final sizes. Your 4 Electrics will be looking for a 3 or 4'
tank for swiming area, the Zebras want want lots of rockwork to play in,
and garden variety plecos can reach 18" long (and more). Have fun ;o)

NetMax

'nutherBob