# malawi cichlid feeding



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

i was looking at some yellow labs, yellow top mbambas and ps. demansoni's and heard from some people they are herbivores and some places say carnivores, 
one thing.. will they all eat brine shrimp ?


----------



## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

yes but they graze on algae in the lakes and are more herbivores some supplements of zuchinni or cucumbers with brine shrimp/mysis shrimp will do them good.


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

so maybe a frozen brine shrimp cube one day and a couple pieces of cucumber another night ? a little balanced diet


----------



## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

yea pretty much, just skin the skin off the cucumber, and put under hot water for couple seconds, and stick it on a fork place it in the tank, u'll notice the next morning they were pickin at it..


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

thanks, i will use that, i think you know a lot about malawi cichlids, can you look at my post in Bottom Dwellers and help me out really quick, by your name i think you can be of some good help


----------



## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

just a name...lol but alot of these people here helped me out when i first got into this whole thing couple yrs ago. Good people here. I'll take a peek at that post


----------



## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

I have decided to get Yellow Labs and Yellow Top Afras, not Mbumbas. I need to know what to feed them, ive seen you all say to give them brine shrimp and zuccinni or lettuce or something, what about live fish, do these fish enjoy feeder guppies or goldfish at all? and if so how do i make sure that they each get a fish and one fish isnt eating 3 while a couple dont get any ?
thanks


----------



## Beerleader (May 31, 2005)

I also found some vegetable flakes that they loved! I fed them that along with brine, and some fresh veggies such as cucumbers.


----------



## ritzgirl34 (Jan 20, 2005)

I have labs and orange back afras (and some others) and they get fed:

- flakes
- spirulina pellets
- algae discs
- hikari cichlid gold pellets
- froze brine shrimp cubes
- live ghost shrimp

I like to give them a very mixed diet so they don't get tired of eating the same thing every meal.


----------



## IloveCichlids (Jul 11, 2005)

I stick mainly with New Life Specrtum pellets from LFS, I have used them for over a year and have had wonderful results with them. Every once in a while I will throw in ghost or brine shrimp, but not to often.


----------



## Orbital (Jun 11, 2005)

I would *not* feed brine shrimp *every* day, but maybe once or twice a week. Nor would I feed them feeder guppies, the larger predatory Malawi haps can have feeders but I wouldn't with Mbuna. I feed mine New Life Spectrum, HBH Graze Spirulina, and spirulina algae waffers. They do just fine on that diet. I keep Yellow labs, Afra Yellow dorsal (Jalo). Two of the species you are thinking of.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/malawi_bloat.php

But hey I'm not an expert, just my 2cents.

Chad


----------



## judya (Jan 23, 2005)

It is also thought that too rich/meaty a diet is a contributing cause of Malawi Bloat, a fish disease. These are not really predatory fish, except for little shrimps and bugs that are mixed in with their algae.


----------



## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Also, most worms shouldn't be fed to mbuna, except for some carnivorous species like melanochromis. Most mbuna species will fed off free floating micro-organisms and graze on algae in the wild. But in the aquarium, as I say to all my customers, variety is key, then they end up buying the whole shelf of dried and frozon foods. :lol:
Never leave cucumber in the water for more than 24 hours as ammonia spikes will become a problem and can result in internal bacterial infections.


----------

