How to Feed African Cichlids
African cichlids are tropical fish that hail from the lake sand rivers of Africa. They can range widely in color and size, but as a species they have colorations and markings that are unique from other fish. These markings make them extremely popular for hobby aquarium keepers across the country. Because African cichlids fall into four different categories--carnivorous (eat other fish), herbivorous (eat plants, mainly algae), omnivorous (eat plants, invertebrates and fish) or micro-predators (eat invertebrates)--it's important to know what type of cichlid you have before you feed them.
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Things You'll Need
- Spirulina
- Frozen peas
- Romaine lettuce
- Spinach
- Brine shrimp flakes
- Shrimp pellets
- Krill
Instructions
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Feed the herbivorous fish a combination of spriulina, frozen peas, romaine and spinach. Feed carnivorous fish spirulina, brine shrimp flakes, shrimp pellets and krill. Every time you feed the fish, feed them a different amount of each of the substances (more spirulina in the morning, more romaine in the afternoon, etc), to vary their diets.
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Sprinkle the food evenly across the surface of the water. African Cichlids eat very quickly, and will attack the food as you drop it. Do not continue feeding them as the food disappears; serve only the designated amount at each feeding. It should be just enough for them to consume within 30 to 40 seconds.
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Feed cichlids two to three times a day to keep them well fed and less aggressive about their food.
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Tips & Warnings
Aggressive African cichlids don't need food to play rough. They should not be placed with smaller fish because they will kill them.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit angel fish image by michael luckett from Fotolia.com
