# help feeding



## Derks87 (Dec 30, 2014)

I cant find any foods that my cichlids like. *** tried the floating pellets and a couple home made recipes but they just don't seem very interested in anything. could someone give me some advise or some ideas for me to try out?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Welcome to the forum!

What species do you own? How long have you owned them? Could you provide your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Do they eat at all?


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## Derks87 (Dec 30, 2014)

i have a green terror, peacocks, convict, pike, elec blue, firemouth and one im not sure it was a mix..nitrate nitrite and ammonia readings are all good..well my terror eats some pellets and live fish and my pike and peacocks eat feeder but i haven't seen any of the others eat anything..i want to try and be easy on my wallet so *** tries a couple homemade recipes but they aren't even interested in them


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## Derks87 (Dec 30, 2014)

the only thing i can get them all to eat is some carnivore pellets but i don't want them to dependant on just that


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

How long have you owned them? Could you provide your EXACT readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

What are the tank dimensions? That's quite the ambitious mix. Electric blue what? Many fish go by that trade name. What size are the fish?

How long have you been feeding live fish? That could be the problem. I'd stop that right away.


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## Derks87 (Dec 30, 2014)

*** owned then anywhere from a few months to a couple weeks. all readings are 0. dimensions are 48x21x12.5 Electric blue acara and the fish range from 2 inches-6 inches. *** been feeding them live fish for probably a couple month and the only reason I started getting them was because of my clown knife


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

0 nitrate indicates a tank that is not cycled. I'd start off with correcting that. What kind of test kit are you using?

Your tank seems to be a standard 55 gallon. This tank size will not work long/short term with what you have stocked. I'd offer a quality pellet food like NLS or equivalent. Flakes could work too. Cease with the live foods. Some of the fish may be expecting feeders and snubbing the dry stuff. Or perhaps there's an issue going on. Any fish hide all day behind equipment/up in corners? I'd be surprised if there wasn't some aggression problems. What fish are not eating and what size are they?

What fish is your must have? I'd start there and stock around that fish. Post pictures of your fish, especially the one you don't know what it is to see if someone can ID it for you.


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## Derks87 (Dec 30, 2014)

No all the fish swim around the tank and i have not noticed any aggression problems..the pike acara and one of the peacocks are the only ones that dont eat the floating pellets but *** seen them nibble on the carnivore pellets i have..im going to be getting a much larger tank in the near future


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## plumdogg (Jan 21, 2015)

My Texas Cichlid has never ate floating pellets he will only eat the one's that sink, I agree with Iggy take them off of live foods because most fs do not have high quality feeder fish and they can cause disease to your fish. I believe a fish will not starve and will eat when it is hungry as long as you provide the food, have you tried blood worms or river krill just as treats not as everyday feed..


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## Wanton (Dec 5, 2014)

Try blood worms...if they won't eat frozen worms than something is definitely up.


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## Words (May 5, 2015)

Surprised you're not seeing any aggression from the Convict or Green Terror. My guess is it wont take much longer before you do.

I would stop feeding anything for about 5-7 days and then put a small amount of 1mm pellets in the tank. Do that every other day until everyone in the tank is eating. A good, quality pellet like NLS/Omega One is all you really need anyway.


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