# New Life Spectrum Cichlid Pellet Food



## Ferdy (Mar 7, 2011)

Hi group,

I just bought a pair of German Blue Rams a couple of days ago---one mature and fully colored up, the second a juvinile that hasn't developed full color and doesn't even have the large black spot yet. I'm not sure if they are both male, both female or one of each. The mature one, from reading posts here, appears to be male based on the first 2 rays of the dorsal fin and the black spot. The second ray is VERY elongated (to the point that is bends backward when the fish is swimming) and no blue speckles in the black spot. The juvi--well, I guess I'll just have to wait until it gets older I suppose, although the first 2 rays on its dorsal are the same length as the rest of the rays. I cannot detect any pinkish or purplish color in the abdomen on either of them.

Being new to GBR's (but not new to keeping aquaria---I have several tanks and know it's more about keeping water than keeping fish), I did want to know if anyone has used New Life's Spectrum Cichlid pellets for their GBR's? I've started them out on Tetra Color flakes---the mature fish is eating and coming up to the surface to grab them, but the juvi has not shown interest in the flakes even when they float down to him/her. I do know that the juvi was fed frozen brine shrimp at the LFS I bought it from, so maybe just spoiled from that and just not hungry yet, idk. He/she is acting normally, swimming around the tank and picking at the fixtures and gravel.

Opinions and/or experience with the New Life Spectrum cichlid pellets and comments/advice about the pair? They are in a 29 gallon community tank with a shoal of neon and glow light tetras, a pair of ottos, a pair of julii corys and half a dozen guppies.

Thanks!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I have a sample and most of my fish like it and it has a good ingredients list and reviews. however, the size I have is too big for rams. I've only tried it on bigger fish.


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

I have been using NLS for years along with color bits and a good staple flake (HBH). If you use the .35mm pellets you should have no issues on the fish taking them. NLS is a messy food, so be aware that you will have more house cleaning in the tank more often. I get a 5lb pail for $50 in any size so it's relatively inexpensive. Just be sure to feed your fish at least 4 varieties....

Also, be mindful of bloat with NLS, it's a high protein food.....


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## Ferdy (Mar 7, 2011)

girth vader said:


> I have been using NLS for years along with color bits and a good staple flake (HBH). If you use the .35mm pellets you should have no issues on the fish taking them. NLS is a messy food, so be aware that you will have more house cleaning in the tank more often. I get a 5lb pail for $50 in any size so it's relatively inexpensive. Just be sure to feed your fish at least 4 varieties....
> 
> Also, be mindful of bloat with NLS, it's a high protein food.....


Thanks girth.

But why so small? .35 mm is 1/128th of an inch---which is FAR smaller than the head of a straight pin---which is about 1 mm (1 mm = 1/32nd inch)---so about 1/3 the size of a pinhead. Seems like that small would get lost in the space between the gravel---even 1 mm will be hard not to get lost in the cracks----my GBRs should be able to easily fit even a 3 mm pellet in their mouths----


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

girth vader said:


> ...Also, be mindful of bloat with NLS, it's a high protein food.....


It depends on the formula. The protein percentage content of NLS Cichlid Formula is 34%.



Ferdy said:


> ...my GBRs should be able to easily fit even a 3 mm pellet in their mouths----


NLS Cichlid Formula shouldn't be an issue then. The pellets are 1mm pellets and I've got 1.5" tropheus and mbuna juvies than can eat these. 

I'd recommend NLS pellets that are less than 1mm in diameter (e.g., NLS Small Fish 0.5mm pellets) for fish smaller than 1.5".

The 3mm pellets may be too large (I feed those to my frontosa's which are about 12" in length).

From left to right: 

NLS Small Fish Formula/0.5mm, NLS Cichlid Formula/1mm, and NLS Large Fish Formula/3mm (next to a non-metric ruler):


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## Ferdy (Mar 7, 2011)

Thanks for the photo---that helps out a lot.

It appears that the .5mm pellets would fit for my guppies and tetras---and the 1mm should be just about right for my GBR's. The juvi is about 2" and the mature one is about 2.5", so I'll try the cichlid formula for them.

About how many 1mm pellets per fish per feeding would you estimate? Once or twice a day? I hate to go by the "all they can eat in 2-3 minutes" thing, because GBR's tend to "mouth" their food for quite awhile before they actually swallow it, ya know? I usually stop when they no longer look interested in more---at least that's what I do when I'm feeding them bloodworms with my turkey baster. 

Funny little guys, it doesn't take them long to understand what the turkey baster means and they swim right up to the end of it waiting for me to squeeze it, LOL!


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

I'm not familiar with keeping GBR's so I don't know how often they require feeding or how many 'pellets per GBR' would work. 

The freshwater fish I keep I fed once a day (and some days I don't feed them), and due to the quantity they're in I can't track how many pellets each fish gets (the entire group goes into a frenzied 'all I can get mode' when the pellets hit the water). Very few pellets actually make it to the substrate.

You'll have to determine how much your GBR's require based upon your direct observation of them during feeding.


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