feeding issues

[lightning]

2 things,

i bought some zuccini squash and quarted it, straped a sinker on in and put it in my tank with 11 cichlids, non of them have touched it,, i thought they liked this stuff,, any other vegetable suggestions ?

1 of my fish is pretty plump, looks like he's an over eater, i feed them 2-3 times a day and they eat everything that is put in there within 3-5 minutes,
i mostly feed them tetra cichlid flakes, will it hurt the fish being fat ? or what should i do ?

 

[Paul]

Cut back your feedings to once a day. Feeding more than once a day will cause more fish waste. This could cause you problems in the long run. And vary thier diet a little more. add in some frozen brine shrimp or some veggies.

 

[SoulFish]

what kind of cichlids?

 

[catfishmike]

zuccini is kinda dense,better for rasping fish and gluttons.for a cichlids they browse on soft algae,perhaps a more leafy substitute?also could be the wrong food for them,africans eat more algae than south&central american types.best to find out what biotope they are from.

 

[wayne]

Agree with soulfish, what sort of cichlids - not all cichlids eat veg at all, very few eat nothing but veg.

 

[lightning]

i have assorted cichlids, 2 yello lab, 3 kenys, 1 bumble bee, 1 colbalt blue , 4 others i cant remember the names of, 1 firemouth <i know he doesnt belong> they are in a 55 gal, i have a catfish type and a medium pleco

 

[SoulFish]

shouldnt be feeding those flakes, feed spirulina flakes with occasional brine shrimp treats, 2-3 times a day as much as they can eat in 30 seconds to 1 minute, try other veggies, try something easier for them to eat like lettuce, how large are the pieces of zuccini you are feeding?

 

[lightning]

i bought some spirulina flakes today so i will start those, the ciclid flakes i was giving have alot of the same stuff as in these flakes, and the guy at the LFS said it had spirulina in it,, so maybe it wasnt soo bad,, the zuccini i was putting in the tank was about 3 inches long and about 1 inch wide, i stuck a lead weight into it and sank it on the bottom

 

[lightning]

ok,, spirulina flakes, i got some brine shrimp today, they devoured that about a 1 inch square was gone in seconds, i tried the zucini again, this time wrapping a rubber band around it and attaching a rock, it doesnt move now, and i have seen a few picking at it,, especially the yellow labs, how about the romain,, cut it into little pices or what ?

 

[SoulFish]

you can weight pieces of lettuce down and htey will just chew on that also, feed brine shrimp only once every 1 or 2 weeks

 

[lightning]

how often can i put vegetables in the tank ?
they didnt care as much for the romain lettuce as they did the zuccini

 

[SoulFish]

you cna put it in whenever you like pretty much, just amek sure they arent over eating