# BEST FRESH VEGGIES TO FEED MY MALAWIS ??



## YELLOWRAVEN

* Hello I just bought a few more things for my Malawi Cichlid tank today and a Veggie Clip 

was wondering what would be the best and healthiest fresh veggiew to feed the Malawi cichlids ?

please if you can list me the best suited for these fish to eat and why,,... I would like to have very healthy strong vibrant Cichlids 

kind regards and thank you for your help :fish: *


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## typo

unsalted sushi nori
broccoli
zucchini
peas
carrots
squash
romaine lettuce
any green veggies

make sure its fresh, canned veggies lose nutrients in the water its packed in. remove any uneaten veggie matter from the tank.

for the most fun go with peas. toss em in a couple at a time. peeling them makes it a little easier for them but not necessary.


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## John Doe

If you want vibrant healthy africans, the best thing to feed them is new life spectrum. I'd return the veggie clip.


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## st.jimme26

Spirulina usually will give them the best color, although supplementing that with other varieties of vegetable protein is definitely beneficial. Don't return it! I personally supplement MY diet with spirulina (human grade  ) and its horrible tasting! haha so I'm sure your cichlids would love peas and lettuce now and again.


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## beccam

John Doe said:


> If you want vibrant healthy africans, the best thing to feed them is new life spectrum. I'd return the veggie clip.


keep it! feeding the same food and only that food becomes boring for them! nls is a great food and i'm not saying not to feed it, but for the behavioural need of the fish offer them different food! it will make them happier and they will show great colors when feeling mentally stimulated by hunting different foods.

+1 typo's list
cucumber is another great one!


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## YELLOWRAVEN

WOW !!  
Thank you all for the adivse.. so keep a nice variaty of foods mainly veggitarian diet for Malawis and most frsh veggies are OK and will stimulate them eh,.. good to know, I just was worried to give them the wrong veggie if it may harm them ? so I guess any dark greens such as romane lettuce spinach broccoli etc etc are ok

thanks again I appreciate the advise :thumb:


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## Timkat4867

beccam said:


> John Doe said:
> 
> 
> 
> If you want vibrant healthy africans, the best thing to feed them is new life spectrum. I'd return the veggie clip.
> 
> 
> 
> keep it! feeding the same food and only that food becomes boring for them! nls is a great food and i'm not saying not to feed it, but for the behavioural need of the fish offer them different food! it will make them happier and they will show great colors when feeling mentally stimulated by hunting different foods.
> 
> +1 typo's list
> cucumber is another great one!
Click to expand...

Feeding certain veggies can be beneficial for malawis, but they are not dependent on them to display certain behaviours or their most vibrant colors. A food like NLS really has more to offer a malawi fish in terms of what they really need, (spirulina, shrimp, etc) than veggies. In my opinion, all you need is a good quality food and it will naturally bring out the best in them. I think it is more for the enjoyment of the fishkeeper, than the fish to feed them things that naturally they do not have access to in the wild.


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## beccam

i fully agree that high quality fish foods contain everything they need, and by no means imagine pieces of cucumber floating around in their home lakes. but they also are not going to be finding pellets everywhere... they feed on what is available and do have to scavenge.so yes a lot of it is for us to enjoy, but the fish have everything provided for them, so they lack that mental stimulation. since their is no harm in giving them the appropriate veggies every once in a while, why not indulge in watching them eat it? but they should have their main diet as a very good quality pellet or flake.
:thumb:

Becca


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## Timkat4867

Nothing wrong with watching or feeding fish veggies, I used to do it a lot, religiously once a week. I just personally feel that they have little nutritional value compared to a good quality food. I came to realise for myself it was a waste of time and money. Im just not a fan of the veggies anymore. I think we humans feel that if something is good for us, it automatically must be good for our fish. However i realise that a lot of people do like feeding veggies. If they feel feeding veggies gives them that mental stimulation that they lack, well thats fine, but again no offense, but I think that it just stimulates us, not the fish. and that the whole veggie thing is overated. My fish never went crazy for any veggies like they do for the Dainichi brand I feed them. 
Hey, Id rather eat the veggies myself than toss them in the tank. :thumb:


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## monisaab

LOL. My 2 cents.

Feed them all the available great artificial fish foods and also give them veggies once a week.

Do not stick to just 1 diet, keep varying it and the fish will be healthy & vibrant.


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## DJRansome

Timkat4867 said:


> I think that it just stimulates us, not the fish


+1
It's fun for the fishkeeper, but I don't do it any more because of the problem of removing the excess. Take a look at all the veges and fruits in NLS. :thumb:


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## Glaneon

The fish have enough to worry about than "what does my food look like today".

My fish LOVE the NLS, they crowd up to the top when they see me even stand up from my computer desk across the room.

They follow people as they walk by - and they're not starved! I feed them twice a day, a good amount too.


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## YELLOWRAVEN

Is it bad to over feed then malawi fish maybe 3-5 / day ?


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## Glaneon

It can be. They can get bloat and it will create a LOT of nitrate in your tank.

Fish can go 3 weeks without eating...

Now, fry on the other hand, I feed 3-4 times daily.


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## Rhinox

beccam said:


> John Doe said:
> 
> 
> 
> If you want vibrant healthy africans, the best thing to feed them is new life spectrum. I'd return the veggie clip.
> 
> 
> 
> keep it! *feeding the same food and only that food becomes boring for them!* nls is a great food and i'm not saying not to feed it, but for the behavioural need of the fish offer them different food! it will make them happier and they will show great colors when feeling mentally stimulated by hunting different foods.
> 
> +1 typo's list
> cucumber is another great one!
Click to expand...

Not saying anything about feeding veggies, but my mbuna have been getting the same NLS pellets since day 1, and to me the appear the opposite of bored with it! In fact, I'm convinced my fish are very stimulated at feeding time by trying to figure out how to jump out of the tank and land in the jar of NLS! :lol: My fish are never more excited and active and colorful than when it starts getting dark in the room and they know its almost feeding time. During other times of the day, they graze on the algae on the rocks and sift through the sand, or the males chase females and dig spawning pits. In fact, I bought JPC medicated pellets one time I was worried about getting a bloat outbreak. Maybe they sensed the medication or something else undesireable about them, but they wouldn't touch them at all. I swear I was getting glares from them about it. "Hey, this isn't my NLS! Toss in the NLS!"

I'm not saying this is a reason to not feed veggies, I'm just saying that your assumption that the fish will get bored with the same food all the time... well it doesn't seem to be the case. At all.


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## Timkat4867

YELLOWRAVEN said:


> Is it bad to over feed then malawi fish maybe 3-5 / day ?


You should feed at least once per day, no more than twice... have a day in the week where you dont feed at all, which allows them to clear their system out.


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## YELLOWRAVEN

Timkat4867 said:


> YELLOWRAVEN said:
> 
> 
> 
> Is it bad to over feed then malawi fish maybe 3-5 / day ?
> 
> 
> 
> You should feed at least once per day, no more than twice... have a day in the week where you dont feed at all, which allows them to clear their system out.
Click to expand...

That sound right to me proper and healthy,..  ..but everytime I go near the tank they all go crazy and give those puupy dog eyes and look like thay want to ffod to be dropped in 

I guess I should be more strickt and firm and not allow them to pursuade me with their sweet looks,.. lol I will cut down the feedings to twice a day :thumb:


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## Timkat4867

The thing is with Malawis is they are very obnoxious and persistent. If you keep feeding them, they most likely end up with health problems, and your fish will grow unusually large and fat. Ignore them and they will be fine.


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## YELLOWRAVEN

Timkat4867 said:


> The thing is with Malawis is they are very obnoxious and persistent. If you keep feeding them, they most likely end up with health problems, and your fish will grow unusually large and fat. Ignore them and they will be fine.


 so in perticular do you recomend feeding them seldonly ( 1-2 /day and maybe even a no feed day ? )

regards :fish:


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## YELLOWRAVEN

* seldomly *


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## Liquid_Pyro

You could always make your own food as well...its not too difficult, I usually use home made food 2 or 3 times a week and pellets the rest of the time...maybe some fresh veggies to mix it up, no harm done, but thats just me, I am sure there is no perfect answer here


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## Timkat4867

feed them once in the morning, once in the evening. Then choose a day during the week for an "off" day. My day is thursday.


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## YELLOWRAVEN

does anyone know what kind of rock is used on the side of railroad tracks? I may wanna use some in my next malawi tank, the rocks seems almost like iron rock or somthing im sure its probably hight in minerals and would make for excellent high GH and PH levels

what do you guys think ?

:fish:


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## Timkat4867

If they are from the side of the tracks, i would be cautious about putting them in my tank. Do you have a pic?


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## DJRansome

High in metallic content is something to be avoided because some metals are toxic.

See more of the answers given on the rock question (and post replied) in these two posts:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=225724
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=225707


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## YELLOWRAVEN

Timkat4867 said:


> If they are from the side of the tracks, i would be cautious about putting them in my tank. Do you have a pic?


you mention cautious for the track rocks.. for which particular reasons what may be wrong with the rocks please ?

i will try to get photos up here next

regards


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## YELLOWRAVEN

Timkat4867 said:


> If they are from the side of the tracks, i would be cautious about putting them in my tank. Do you have a pic?


here are the pics I just took many the link is below

http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn16 ... D%20ROCKS/


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## noki

If anything at all, fresh veggies give the fish some activity and variety. Roughage may be good for the fish, who really knows. With catfish in the tank, zucchini is all gone after 2 days, and most Malawi cichlids like zucchini.


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## AlphaWild

I would steer clear of rocks along the tracks. Besides the questionable metals content, it likely has any manner of chemical residue from the herbicides routinely applied and whatever may be leaking off the engine and cars. And it's probably illegal to remove their grading too.


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## YELLOWRAVEN

AlphaWild said:


> I would steer clear of rocks along the tracks. Besides the questionable metals content, it likely has any manner of chemical residue from the herbicides routinely applied and whatever may be leaking off the engine and cars. And it's probably illegal to remove their grading too.


 Very true Alpha,, I agree that makes perfect sense Im gonna go buy one big rock from a landscape company and brake off peices to make a nice uniformaty of color

kind regards

Railroad rocks = bad for fishtank lol

:fish:


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## Timkat4867

I agree with Alpha wilds comment of the possible chemicals present in the rocks, i would avoid them.


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## MalawiTopTeam

Im a bit baffled at all the broad generalizations in this thread. I use NLS as a staple (and my fish love it) but not all Malawi cichlids have the same diet or feeding habits. If you have species that are primarily herbivorious then supplementing your staple food with veggies/nori sheets/algae would certainly be beneficial. If nothing else for the sake of their digestive track. *** found that blue and purple species really benefit alot color-wise from nori sheets and spirulina.
There are also a few species that protect lush algae gardens and are able graze off and on all day. These species would benefit from more frequent albeit much smaller feedings throughout the day. In the wild these species would rarely if ever go three weeks without eating. However I dont really belive any of this is critical. Malawi cichlids in general are tough adaptable fish and will likely display beautiful color even with less than optimal conditions.


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## master chi

st.jimme26 said:


> Spirulina usually will give them the best color, although supplementing that with other varieties of vegetable protein is definitely beneficial. Don't return it! I personally supplement MY diet with spirulina (human grade  ) and its horrible tasting! haha so I'm sure your cichlids would love peas and lettuce now and again.


 I use spirulina in my own diet as well. very beneficial.


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## Rhinox

Have you read the ingredients list on NLS?

Proteins: Whole krill meal, whole herring meal, whole squid meal

Veggies: Algae meal, wheat flour, soybean isolate, beta carotene, spirulina, garlic, vegetable and fruit extract (spinach, red and green cabbage, pea, broccoli, red pepper, zucchini, tomato, kiwi, apricot, pear, mango, apple, papaya, peach)

Looks like plenty of variety to me. By all means, feed veggies if you must, but if you feed NLS exclusively, you're already feeding veggies. And spirulina. And algae.


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## Myrock

I use spiralina and NLS. And other foods from time to time. The spiralina will give them some extra color and so will other foods. Spiralina also helps in poo passing quicker so they wont get too bloated. My main food is NLS....But every now and then I give them something different if one of them has a birthday or anniversery. NLS is also good for keeping your tank clean from rotting food. I use to buy spiralina by the bulk. And never had one fish get sick from it. One of the best ways I used to judge fish food was if it had spiralina in it.


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## Frenzy

NLS for me all the way.

Even for tiny fry. I use Grow and grind it down to powder.

Only extras are some mysis or brine shrimp once in a while to my carnivores.


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## zoie

this was a very interesting thread, I learned a lot, Thanks!


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