best food for cichlids?

so there are so many different types of food out there and ive tried many different kinds but im wondering what are the best things to feed my african cichlids? i like to give them a good variety of food some of the stuff i feed mine are apples, zucchini, earth worms (caught outside on rainy days) ,
blood worms, brine shrimp, cichlid pellets and cichlid flakes.
is what i feeding them good? is there stuff i should feed them different?
any input is great
thanks everyone!
fishyladdy

The great food debate begins.....

Some say you should feed (***) exclusively and make you think fish would just drop dead if they are not fed this product even though they seem to thrive in nature. Others believe variety is the best way to ensure your fish are healthy. I am a believer in variety. I do think that a high quality pellet should be the basis of their diet with frozen foods and other things added as treats in moderation.

(*=N, *=L, *=S) I use this food but not exclusively, never have seen the miraculous results of an exclusive diet. Color has always been the same. I have excellent color, health and growth with my NLS, Dainichi, Hikari, Omega One mix.

I normally use NLS, Hikari and Omega pallet (all african cichlid formula). I rotate the food every other day. NLS and Hikari is my favorite. They bring out the color of my 2-3" at such a young age. My fusco normally doesn't color up until about 5-6" but it colored up at 3-4". Thats IMO. I wouldnt feed them worms or anything that has high protein because cichlids are known to get bloat from high proteins.

I know many African species can suffer from bloat, but some are omnivores that would benefit from small amounts of protein in their diet.... It depends on the type of fish doesn't it?

I have a CA cichlid that is known more as a vegetarian and even it will get an occasional earthworm treat. But I dont feed these treats often.

Yeah its just really depend on the type of fish. I have had bad experience with high protein for aficans. So I try to avoid that as much as possible.

What's the best food to feed? The answer is water changes. Virtually everything becomes equal with more water changes.

Also more important that the type of food is how often you feed and small portions. Those two will do more than the type of food.

NLS and frozen blood worms. That's what I use. Don't know if it's the best, but I've never had an issue with fish not eating it and I am a Frontosa guy, those bastards are finicky!

i am a big fan of NLS. xtreme is great stuff too.

For foods with the best ingredient lists, Repashy and NLS hands down. I'm with cory on this one, water changes together with a quality food is win.

VARIETY, I feed a mix of several brands, I like variety in my diet , so I guess fish might get tired of ther same old thing everyday, too.

I feed a mix of kensfish.com products. Occasionally my Africans will also get some of the "derpy" fish from my growouts, which seems to help them want to spawn. They've had everything from guppies to convicts, and anything in between. I only feed my own stock though because I know the fish aren't sick. And never put too many small fish in at once.

Other than that, all of my cichlids seem to eat whatever I put in the tank and are happy with the variety. I literally have just about every brand fish food container in my house.

I am ordering a new brand today that I have just come associated with, it is called Southern Delight.
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Otherwise it is a combination of NLS, Hikari, Omega1, Xtreame, Dianichi, a small selection of Kens (he has a lot of fillers in his food) freeze dried Superba Krill & Mysis shrimp, and my own home made concoction.

I've boiled whole shrimp in garlic just for my Fronts..lol

That Southern Delight sounds interesting. Let us know if it turns out to be any good. What kind of price is the product compared to something like NLS?

NLS is about $1.50/oz at the 5.3oz size and $1.33/oz at the 10oz size. Southern delight on its Cichlid pellets is $1.11/oz and on its specialty formulas (color, growth etc) is $1.33/oz.

So fairly comparable, and not more expensive just a tad cheaper actually.

Southern delight looks to have some really great stuff going for them and is rising quickly in the hobby which is awesome.

My staple in the fish room is now NorthFin foods and exclusively NorthFin. I finally found a food that meets every aspect of what I've been looking for in a food. Simple as that.

The price is good on that stuff. I would be interested in trying some once I put a dent in the stuff I have. I really want to try NorthFin also. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This might be a slight digression to this topic, but as I walked outside tonight to lock my cars, I noticed a lot slugs crawling around..... Has anyone ever tried to feeding them to cichlids? Is their any nutritional value to them? Yes, I'm aware of google, but I just thought it might be a fun topic to explore

Ive never thought of doing it because they are so slimy. I know someone who fed them to his red ear slider turtle. Said the turtle loved them. There are some snails that are said to help prepare fish to breed.

Got a lot of those here in maple valley backyard. Im wondering now also. Google.

Found some info on slugs and cichlids.

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I've got some samples of the Southern Delight Fish food on the way. I haven't found an ingredient list yet? anyone see where I'm missing that on the internet?

This was sent to me.

THE ORIGINAL BLENDED FISH FOOD. 100% Made & Packaged In The U.S.A. | Veteran Owned & Operated.

High grade aquatic diets for Pro fish hobbyists. Organic fish foods which offer truly unique properties and features to you and your fish, by way of blending separate diets together. Each different color pellet has its own distinct ingredient set and function. Formulated utilizing the expertise of Fish Biologists and Aquaculture Nutritionists, our custom blended diets mimic the uniquely diverse feeding habits of fish found in nature, allowing for Deciphered-Feeding!

Our Semi-Float / Semi-Sink blends were custom developed to have extraordinary Confetti-Sink properties which allows for the food to distribute evenly throughout your fish's environment. This not only discourages aggression, but insures that each different kind and size of fish in your community has a fair chance at feeding; including both top and bottom feeders, rock-dwellers, resident scavengers, shy, finicky, and even disadvantaged, weak, or injured fish! These benefits can be plainly observed when feeding.

Blending also allows for Phosphate-Sparing, taking great consideration for the biology of your filter system and media! By feeding a high protein/ high-lipid pellet mixed with a more modest protein-lipid diet, you can greatly reduce the overall presence of unnecessary phosphates being fed into your fish's environment, without sacrificing the essential amino acids needed by your fish. Regular Carnivorous diets, particularly, tend to be much to heavy in oils and lipids. Our diets with a 'more modest' protein-lipid level used to achieve these properties and benifits, are by no means "fillers", but rather formulated with highly beneficial vegital protein supplements, which promote proper digestion, boost immunity, and encourage osmotic balance: Spirulina Blue-Green Algae, Kelp Seaweed, Alfalfa, Brewers Yeast, and a proprietary Probiotic marine & plant bio-active compound applied topically and absorbed in the oils after extrusion.

Made with the inclusion of Stay-C (A vitamin C source with 60 times the potency of regular sources- for proper metabolic system function), as well as enhanced with Shrimp, Krill, Squid, & both Cantaxanthin and Astaxanthin for increased color pigment vibrancy.

Also, with all natural and pure Probiotic Immunostimulants, powerful Antioxidants, Electrolytes, Multiple Vitamins and Essential Trace Minerals; as well as Marine and Plant Protein Carotenoids which boost Nutritional Health, Digestion, Immunity, Growth, and Color!

Looking for ingredients list.

My samples are being shipped out next Wednesday as their new labels for their new products arrive. So I should be able to list the ingredients after that.

The semi-float/sink is what I do with my mix of foods. I have sinking Dainichi, NLS, mixed with floating Omega One, NLS, Hikari. I think that is it in my mix currently...   Anyway the mix had worked out nice to let everyone feed evenly. Would like to see how this new product does with that.

this may sound stupid but what does NLS stand for?

New Life Spectrum fish food
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im a big fan of hikari. used it for years. just wish discus gold would come in the big bags too like the other lines they have. ive used their algae discs, the marine foods, cichlid bites, discus gold...they are my go-to source for non flake/non frozen foods

the ad copy for NLS makes me a bit too leery. ive dabbled in it for saltwater but generally it sits around unused. not ready to drink the kool-aide

just got some seachem discus flakes that somehow ended up at my favorite marine store, saltwater city...still evaluating how I feel about seachem foods


my marineland flakes are my dirty little secret. the fish seem to like em though

DMD123 wrote:The price is good on that stuff. I would be interested in trying some once I put a dent in the stuff I have. I really want to try NorthFin also. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I think Forrest, (fishman) is a sponsor of this stuff now.

madness wrote:

DMD123 wrote:The price is good on that stuff. I would be interested in trying some once I put a dent in the stuff I have. I really want to try NorthFin also. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I think Forrest, (fishman) is a distributor of this stuff now.

Nope not a distributor, but they have sponsored his YouTube channel.    

hmmm...that stuff looks interesting. I am looking for a slow sinking marine pellet...

The NorthFin looks to have good ingredients like NLS but also the benefit of the clay as found in the Dainichi. I actually prefer using the Dainichi over NLS because it just seems to be a cleaner fish waste. The fish do have some issues with it because of the way it is encapsulated in the hard vitamin coating. They kind of act like they are not sure its food. They catch on after a while.