So I impulsively bought a baby Kenyi Cichlid yesterday.

I had intended to pick up another betta I recently lost two of my bettas (one to an unknown reason, probably to some internal bacteria infection or something she might have gotten it from another female I picked up a few months ago that also died for unknown reasons... and the other to dropsy) so I was feeling devastated and set up my 10 gallon to prepare to give someone a new home.

Went to the pet store and there were no bettas to my liking, but while passing the cichlids the little bugger stole my heart.

ANYWAY, the question I pose here today is... how much and how frequently should I feed it?

The fish is only about one and a quarter inches right now (SO CUUUUTE), and I tried looking for that information but everywhere was just like "feed it a little bit, several times a day" and frankly I don't find that very useful. I have been feeding it about 4 pellets (all cut up because they are a little too big for it to eat whole right now) twice a day. Is that good enough for now?

Another question is... I bought HBH African Cichlid Attack pellets because they were the only brand I could find at the pet store that didn't contain ethoxyquin as a preservative. But later I read that too much protein will cause Malawi bloat, and the Min crude protein here is 45%. Does this mean I should find other foods to alternate with? And how frequently should I alternate between them?

Thank you for any help! I wanna be a good Momma for my baby cichlid.

give him about 8 pellets a day, if he eats them all give him more, if he doesn't use a net and scoop the excess out. wardly cichlid pellets are a good brand try your local walmart (assuming your american) they usually carry them. and at his size it is best to feed sun-dried shrimp.

To date, the FDA has found no scientific or medical evidence that ethoxyquin used at approved levels is injurious to human or animal health. I remember that whole debate, and it has been generally discredited. I wouldn't worry about that issue.

The general consensus is to feed him about enough he can consume in about 2 minutes each feeding. I usually drop them in one at a time, let him consume it (i.e. until I see bits of pellet coming out of his gills), then another until the 2 minutes are up. Dumping them all in at once either causes him to gobble them all at once and spit them out etc. etc., or you end up having to fish out several uneaten pellets as opposed to maybe only one.

Amount of pellets is relative to the individual fish, it's maturity, and the size of the pellets, so there's no single 'amount' table to follow. Remove excess. Smaller feeding amounts more often is better than less, 'larger' feedings. I usually do about 3 feedings a day depending, with my morning feeding being pellets and mid day/evening being shrimp or frozen fish....although a little guy might prefer 4 very small feedings.

Thank you!

Haha, well I'm just being cautious; it's better to be safe than sorry!

I tried feeding it one at a time xD but he would mouth them for a bit and when they wouldn't fit into his mouth, he'd just go off and ignore it. When it softened up he would go back and tear it up into smaller bits and then eat it up. So I tried cutting them up and soaking them, it still made a big mess but he eventually cleaned it up.

Is that much protein okay for his diet? '' worried about him getting Malawi bloat.

Hi and Welcome... I feed Cichlid pellets to all of my Cichlids (Africans and Oscars alike) and I have never had a bloat problem. I have a breeding problem but never a bloat problem. My pellets also contain 45% protein! I hope this helps!

BakaMandy wrote:


It's totally understandable given the types of conflicting information you can find on the internet.

Often one can read one article and find out somethings supposed to be very bad for fish and another saying it's just great. You'll find this is true for alot of things regarding chiclids...hence why its nice to have a forum to ask so you can filter through all the conflicting information and get people's opinion through experience.




One thing you can feed him that's great for small chiclids is Mysis shrimp. They are available at all local petstores and chains, and they are very tasty, small, and easily gobbled up by the smallest of fry. Most pellets have about 35% protein while the Mysis shrimp around 10%. Just defrost a frozen block (or half since he's just a little guy) in some tank water and pour it in. You'll enjoy watching him dart around gobbling them up, and I think they like them too b/c the way they float around the tank with the current gives the impression they are live, swimming prey.

Feed just a few small pellets in the morning and/or afternoon and shrimp at night if you're worried about too much protein in a pellets 'only' diet...although your fish will be just fine with the pellets until you decide to begin varying his diet.

www.hikariusa.com/products/bio-pure/bio-pure_mysis_shrimp.php

Also, do you have the smallest size pellets or are you using the medium?

Okay that's good. I was really worried when I read that too much protein causes it x_X;; so I wondered how I was supposed to feed him to prevent it!

Ohhh! That's good to know! Thank you very much everyone! I'll probably go out and get some shrimp tomorrow :3 Is frozen brine shrimp alright in the meantime? I bought some sometime a ago for my bettas, but my bettas won't eat it, so if it's okay then at least I can use it up!

The container says they are small sized, but their almost twice as big than my betta fish pellets.
www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp...cancichlidattack80oz

"African cichlid attack!" rawr...

I love the name

Anyways, mysis aren't actually shrimp, but a very shrimp like crustacean. The Mysis contains beta carotene which helps promote vivid colors and overall Mysis is much better nutritionally than brine, however brine shrimp will do fine. Briiiine is fiiiine...

xD I know right? I lol'ed at the name when I saw it.

I soaked the frozen brine shrimp in some Freshwater VitaChem before I fed it to him D: silly fish is just chasing it around and spitting it back out! xD You're supposed to eat it you little twit! Oh well, looked like he was having fun.

=v=;; I'll probably do a water change to get all that uneaten brine shrimp out... sigh.

Now I need to figure out a name for it. o-o;; but it's gonna be hard because I don't know if it's a boy or girl because I don't know if it's old enough to determine that yet.

BakaMandy wrote:


Quite right.

Plus, given today's somewhat 'ambiguous' gender classifications you don't want to confuse him/her, or be insensitive to its emotional needs by assigning it a predetermined sexual identity...all I can offer is be supportive and provide a warm, welcoming atmosphere, whatever the fish eventually decides it's role is/will be.

D': Yeah... I want it to be a girl though, I like the blue!

BakaMandy wrote:


Well, they adapt remarkably well to our own atmosphere considering its specific nutritional requirements. The only thing we really don't know about them is temperature, really. Keep an eye on him/her, they tend to develop an outer layer of protein polysaccharides, and have a funny habit of shedding their cells and replacing them with polarized silicon, which give them a prolonged resistance to adverse environmental conditions.

Let us know. All in all it's an interesting combination of elements making him/her a... tough little son-of-a-bitch, so to speak.