Vegetables for Cichlids

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Casper

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Jun 11, 2003
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How do you feed them and what kind?
I have African Cichlids.
I sometimes put cooked peas in there after taking off the peel...lol, that's fun!

But I saw someone post that they fed lettuce? Is that right?
Do the vegetables have to be cooked or just put them in raw?

All I am feeding them is cichlid flakes.

thanks
 
Many species of Rift Lake cichlids do appreciate vegetables in their diet, although it would help to know which species specifically you have. If you have mbuna or tropheus, then definitely yes.

Zucchini, peas, and lettuce (especially red leaf) work well. With the zucchini and peas, lightly cooking (blanching) to reduce buoyancy of the food is a good idea. With the lettuce, there are clips available that will hold it in place while they rip it apart.

There are also spirulina flakes and wafers available if you don't have the time to be running to the produce department for your fish every day.
 
In my part of the world, every person with a garden seems to plant about fifteen times the amount of zuchinni that any single family can (or would want) to consume. As are result, we get lots of free zuchinni. I cut it into slices (at least 1/4" thick), blanch it, and freeze it.

The mbuna love it. I'm doing my part to reduce the amount of zuchinni clogging our landfills. It's a win-win situation!

Jim
 
My Africans like zucchini (so does my pleco). They also love the sheets of roasted seaweed that is used to make sushi. I just tear off a piece and put it on a veggie clip stuck on the tank wall. It softens up nicely in the water and they rip pieces of it off. They do love it!
 
I have central american fish in my 55 gallon which love plenty of veggies! I have a Blackbelt and 4 Silver Dollars, as well as a Blue crayfish. I have fed them quite a few things and they like them all, but certainly have favorites. I have fed the following, in order of preference (the fish's):

1. Cucumber (circular slice)
2. Squash (circular slice)
3. Romain Lettuce (raw)
4. Spinach (raw)
5. Zuccini (raw)
6. Iceberg Lettuce (raw)
7. Peas (shelled is better)

My fish don't seem to like blanched or pre-chilled Lettuce, etc. They seem to enjoy ripping them off the veggie clip raw. I have excellent results with Cucumber and Squash. The Blackbelt is all over it as soon as it's on the clip. I cut them about 1/4" or more thick and there is usually a hole in the middle of the slice within 10 to 15 seconds! It seems odd, but he eats the middle first, then works his way outwards. The Silver Dollars only get the leftovers. The seeds in the middle are their favorite part;) I think the blackbelt prefers veggies to any other food.
 
I don't think you will have any pro0blems feeding veggies to most cichlids. My GT and convict will eat shelled peas..and once I get the 55gal setup in 2-3 weeks, I'll try some other veggies. Nothing like a well rounded diet to keep your fish healthy and happy!
 
Hey sumpin, how is the agression of the blue crawfish towards your regular fish, I had a wild caught one that I kept for a while but it was extremely aggressive and would swim at the glass to try and get me, and once escaped from the tank and chased my daughter! I love these creatures but do not want them to kill my fish, how big is your black belt? Do your fish and the craw fish fight at all?
 
well i must say that is quite an aggressive cray you got there, lucky for me the one i keep (not a blue claw) its only about 1.5". I used to feed all my aquatic creatures veggies especially zuccini..but i didn't have enough creatures to eat it fast enough and the vege went off quite quickly, i guess i didn't know about the freezer :rolleyes: but I'm feeding lettuce to my gold severum, just washing it down and then putting it into the tank and he grabs at it and eventually eats it..

now blanching - soaking in water, but for how long you guys do it for?

and these clips, they sound good, I might get me some of those. I just used a paper clip threaded through a fishing sinker, that did the trick okay too

basically no vege will kill your fish (correct me if i'm wrong?) its just a matter of acceptance by your fish, so if you think they may like it chuck it right in and if they don't eat it, then no biggy...my severum tears up all aquatic plants I put in there, so everytime a branch comes free from my wisteria plant in my 15gal i just grab it and in it goes..
 
You can also freeze the veg although admitadly it does not sink as well. The important part of blanching (cooking "au dente" in boiling water and shocking in ice) or freezing is exploding the cell wall as the fish have a hard time digesting large amounts of raw roughage but the nutritional benefits are undoubted. I just read an article that said even predominately piscivorous pikes caught in the wild had up to twenty percent of their belly contents filled with soft veg matter.
 
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