# can mbuna eat earthworms??



## jeremy1 (Sep 1, 2009)

not sure if this is the right forum for this question...if not sorry!well i know they will eat them if i give them some lol  but is it safe? of course only as an occasional(sp?) treat not a dietary staple.any thoughts? thanks :thumb:


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

From my understanding, most Mbuna grace on algae. Their digestive systems are not meant for foods high in protein (e.g., meat). Feeding Mbuna high protein foods usually results in an outbreak of bloat - a deadly disease.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Even for carnivores, I would worry about earthworms obtained from lawns due to chemicals.


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

With regards to feeding 'meat' to mbuna - that would be meat from warm-blooded animals like beef, pork, etc.

Earthworms should be safe for your mbuna provided they don't introduce anything to your tank. Genus' such as _Labidochromis_ and _Cynotilapia_, which feed on non-aufwuch (algae) foodstuffs should have no problems with earthworms and insects.. As you stated, as a treat, they are fine - I just wouldn't make a staple of them.

Definitely make sure you only feed clean stuff, which is the risky part.


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## theswede (Oct 5, 2009)

I agree with why_spyder. If u are sure that the earthworms comes from clean good soil there is no problem giving your cichlids them. But why take a chance when there are better foods available in the petshop market.


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## gmoney88 (Oct 25, 2005)

I had a male Red Zebra that loved earthworms. I used to have another tank that had Largemouth Bass in it and we fed them feeder fish and earthworms from the bait shop. Every so often we would cut a worm up and feed it to our cichlids. The Haps loved them, most of our mbuna ignored the worms except for one Red Zebra male. One thing I did notice though, if you drop a worm in whole and the fish does not eat it right away the worm will burrow underneath the substrate in the tank. Otherwise I had no problems with bloat or diseases.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

about 10 years ago i had some really big oscars and i would feed them feeder fish, earthworms, crickets, and pretty much anything living that i wanted to see them eat. they got hole in the head and both died. since then i have never feed any fish anything that isnt a flake food or commercial fish food.

as far as mbuna go i personally wouldnt feed them earthworms. spirulina flakes work great. if i ever want to give them a treat i will throw in some fry if i dont need them or dont have the room for them.


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## jeremy1 (Sep 1, 2009)

ok thanks for the insight guys!!!


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Throw in some fry that's just cruel! :x


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

Dj823cichild said:


> Throw in some fry that's just cruel! :x


i am sorry you feel that way but i dont see it as cruel. i normally let the moms spit in the tank anyway so why not relieve the moms after a few weeks of holding by stripping their fry and also providing a snack for my fish.


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## Hthundar (Apr 10, 2009)

> i am sorry you feel that way but i dont see it as cruel. i normally let the moms spit in the tank anyway so why not relieve the moms after a few weeks of holding by stripping their fry and also providing a snack for my fish.


Agreed :thumb:


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## Cognition (Oct 14, 2009)

IMO(and im not very experenced) but mbuna are "herbavorus" however in nature they wont hesitate to eat fry, insect larvea and other meaty high in protein foods. so it only makes since to me to offer high protein items from time to time. i actually get very small feeder guppies and drop them into the rocks in hopes they will actually use the rock work to evade my mbuna.... altho they are dinky little guppies, so it never works like i want.... so i thank earthworms should b good as long as they are clean as stated above.

And about the feeding of fry.... i've considered a seperate tank for breeding convicts for this purpose... maybe convicts would dodge the mbuna a little better... it is fun to watch


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

There are so many better alternatives to feeding earthworms.
You could do any type of shrimp really, like krill or mysis even the kind found at the grocery store.
Still high in protein but also high in beta carotene and other vitamins.
I am big on seafood so I would definitely skip on the earthworm.


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

Most quality fish foods all ready include everything your fish need and can act as a staple.

So the benefits of adding worms as a supplement will be pretty low.

Some of the risks have all ready been mentioned but there is also the issue of the soil actually being inside of the worms digestive tract. There is a way to remove it but I forget how, strange that I would forget such an important fact.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

And it's almost like to keep the balance, if you supplement with protein you should also supplement with veges.


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