Re: live food?

[EMAIL PROTECTED] (wayne p) wrote in
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]: 

> I was wondering if there is a live food I could feed to my
> cichlids as a treat? I have a 55 gallon tank with about 15
> cichlids at about 3 or 4 inches long.I feed them cichlid
> flakes,african sinking pellets or staple floating type pellets
> rotating them every couple of days so each is happy.Every once
> and awile as a treat I offer them krill crumbleing it for
> them.They love it.I have tried to make the tank enviroment as
> natural as possible with many stones arranged as caves and real
> plants that most seem to play and hide in and around and a 
> couple of others that stop at nothing to pull each plant up.I'm
> new at this and have had this tank for about a year.I guess
> becouse I want it as natural as possible I wonder often what
> most (wild) cichlids eat.Most of mine are african with a couple
> of jack dempseys,convicts,electric yellow,electric blue and a 5
> or 6 inch algae eater to help clean up.Thanks for any advice.

I would recommend that you first do a bit more research on your 
fish.  Different cichlid species have different dietary preferences 
and needs.  They also have different natural habitats -- some 
naturally occurring in rocky areas, others in open sandy areas, 
others with lots of plants.  You have a very wide variety of 
cichlids in the same tank.  Frankly, I do not believe there is any 
live food, or any tank environment, that will be natural or 
entirely appropriate for all of them.  But if I had to pick one 
live food, it would probably be live brine shrimp or live fish fry.

Meph