hey there! i wanted to get some views on live feeding fish to my cichlids. specifically my frontosa which are carnivores and piscivore. currently all my cichlids LOVE ghost shrimp 2-3 times a week only thing is they are .30 each at my lfs.
i was looking for a cheaper alternative. a friend who also has a frontosa, breeds guppies and feeds them to his fronts and other cichlids.

whats your take on live feeding guppies or feeder platies, not from a feeder tank at a lfs which are usually in a crappy water quality, but if i was to breed some and then use for feeding so i know they are good quality.

this isn't a everyday food like i said with the shrimp 2-3 times a week.


PS sorry all you guppy fans but thats how the food chain works :P

It wouldn't be practical unless you had a tank with plenty of guppies in it that are reproducing. They take a good while to grow out to be full adult size. Why not mosquito fish? To me they look like your basic pond minnow and have no fancy colors, but look just like a guppy's body and reproduce in the same fashion.

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Enter your tank into the tank of the month competiton
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f2/febr...ion-27354.html

was going to use a 20 long to breed them i wasn't really in a rush. i have about 30 shrimp left :P to feed. was going to get 7 females 2 males. and see what happens. i wasn't set on guppy's. Feeder platies are very basic looking also endlers. i was wasn't so concerned about what kind of fish i use or the color, I'm worried about other things like. protein buildup in my tank, is it good for them compared to flake or pellets, stuff like that. i know its more natural but is there any benefit from it, aside from the show they put on while chasing live food :P

i use minnow traps in the river over a 2 days course and usually get enough for a week or 2 at a time...but my bullhead eats 2 or 3 a day because they are so small...if i dont feel like doing the work i get tuffies, they are a little cheaper and smaller for the smaller cichlids i have

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Bullheads represent the cookie monsters of the rivers around here...hungry, hungry, hungry

im in NYC lol wish i could just take a walk the the lake or river to get some food for my fish. currently my frontosa's are 2.5 inches. so it will be a while before they need a good size feeder fish to fill them up. for now the shrimp are working fine. but i wanted to stock a tank now with fry, so in a few months when the frontosa are maybe 3.5-4 inches and can eat something a little larger than shrimp maybe a 3-4 month old guppy :P

I think you would have a better chance with endlers as they don't eat the fry themselves. Guppies will if there isn't enough hiding spaces. Once the fronts get bigger you might look into feeding convict fry also. But you could end up over run either which way you go.

Raising feeders yourself is so much healthier than what you can buy, and a lot less chance of diseases. Even better than catching wild as you don't know what they might be carrying.

As with all foods though its best to give a variety each week. I don't believe you would want to eat the same thing day in and day out

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

thank you once again susan

Jason, when did you get fronts. Those are sweet. Also how are the tangs doing?

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

i posted pix in the African cichlid section :P got them on Sunday night. cheap too 20 bucks each. 2.5 inch. and found out they are "burundi" all my other ones are OK. the Daffodils leave the calvus alone now and they just chase the 1 leleupi like they have been doing since the beginning lol he holds his own tho.