# Natural shape or sunken



## Ryanblackheart (Feb 24, 2020)

A young holding female disappeared and turned up dead this had me worried and trying to analyse my tank

Yellow lab keepers help, I'm getting myself all in a muddle some of my yellow labs have a convex undersection, is this a natural shape or am I dealing with sunken belly, *** looked online and can see lots of examples of yellow labs with similar ish shapes please help the noob

Photo top row online pics I've found , bottom row my fish


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

A little concave, I would just feed a little more as long as they are eating.


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## Ryanblackheart (Feb 24, 2020)

Thank you DJ

I may well be under feeding due to worrying about over feeding,

I feed around this much once per day for 18 x 2.5 / 3 inch cichlids plus 5 synos 
(Occasionally twice per day)


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## Ryanblackheart (Feb 24, 2020)

This is the food


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## jcover (Apr 18, 2014)

Seems light to me for feeding considering the bioload. I would do twice per day and monitor the sunken belly. Monitor your nitrates as well. whats your water change schedule?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Ryanblackheart said:


> This is the food


What other food is available to you? The ingredients in the food you posted are not really a good quality.


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## Ryanblackheart (Feb 24, 2020)

jcover said:


> Seems light to me for feeding considering the bioload. I would do twice per day and monitor the sunken belly. Monitor your nitrates as well. whats your water change schedule?


I do a 60% once a week (half the tank but the bottom of the ya k has lots of rocks so I assume it's over 50%)


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## Ryanblackheart (Feb 24, 2020)

Deeda said:


> Ryanblackheart said:
> 
> 
> > This is the food
> ...


I'm U.K. based the food was highly recommended here but I am happy to buy any food recomendations and serve a mix of foods


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## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)

What have you been using..? 
I've tried a few different brands and now stick to New life spectrum pellets. 
Im also in the UK and get mine from EBay. I feed 1mm pellets to my main tank and 0.5mm to my fry tanks. 
My fish seem to go crazy over the NLS 'Thera A' with added garlic.


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## Ryanblackheart (Feb 24, 2020)

shiftyfox said:


> What have you been using..?
> I've tried a few different brands and now stick to New life spectrum pellets.
> Im also in the UK and get mine from EBay. I feed 1mm pellets to my main tank and 0.5mm to my fry tanks.
> My fish seem to go crazy over the NLS 'Thera A' with added garlic.


Origin Malawi pro


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## aconite (Aug 9, 2019)

I use the small Vitalis Rift Lake Green pellets - they're 1.5mm. Been using them since I first kept mbuna. I have wondered if the NLS stuff is better (it should be given the price difference) but I've not had problems with Vitalis. I've used the same sized pellets for everything from small juveniles up to the big fish. There are 4 fry in my main tank that have unintentionally (from my perspective!) managed to survive without me feeding any differently.


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## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)

Stick to works. If your fish like it and it contains quality ingredients why change a winning formula. 
Yes NLS can be a little bit more expensive. Maybe there clever marketing/ads have drawn me in but I do like what Pablo Tepoot from NLS has to say about fish nutrition.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Vitalis ingredients:
Fish and fish derivatives, algae, derivatives of vegetable origin, molluscs and crustaceans, oils and fats, minerals, vitamins.

NLS ingredients:
South Antarctic Krill, Herring, Squid, and New Zealand Mussel protein, and several all-natural color-enhancing ingredients for a balanced diet that boosts immune system function and enhances the full spectrum of your fish's color. With the belief that all fish require a complete and fully balanced varied diet, New Life also contains Algae Meal, that consists of Seaweed, Kelp, and Haematococcus pluvialis (a micro algae), a premium grade of natural Spirulina, as well as a fruit vegetable extract that consists of Spinach, Red Green Cabbage, Peas, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Kiwi, Apricot, Pear, Mango, Apple, Papaya, and Peach.All New Life Spectrum products also contain a generous inclusion rate of Garlic


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## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)

Love the added garlic


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## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)

Tempted to try out there Probiotics pellets but are very expensive.


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## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)




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## aconite (Aug 9, 2019)

DJRansome said:


> Vitalis ingredients:
> Fish and fish derivatives, algae, derivatives of vegetable origin, molluscs and crustaceans, oils and fats, minerals, vitamins.
> 
> NLS ingredients:
> South Antarctic Krill, Herring, Squid, and New Zealand Mussel protein, and several all-natural color-enhancing ingredients for a balanced diet that boosts immune system function and enhances the full spectrum of your fish's color. With the belief that all fish require a complete and fully balanced varied diet, New Life also contains Algae Meal, that consists of Seaweed, Kelp, and Haematococcus pluvialis (a micro algae), a premium grade of natural Spirulina, as well as a fruit vegetable extract that consists of Spinach, Red Green Cabbage, Peas, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Kiwi, Apricot, Pear, Mango, Apple, Papaya, and Peach.All New Life Spectrum products also contain a generous inclusion rate of Garlic


That's what has got me wondering about changing - far more detailed description of NLS. However, if you look at the list a lot of the NLS ingredients could be slotted into the really broad categories that Vitalis list. Hard to tell if NLS is just written up to be better marketed, or they're just more thorough in listing ingredients and Vitalis just don't bother.

Think I'll try some out when the current pot starts getting low and see if there's a noticeable difference.


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