Meredith Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 Hey I read that these fish are pretty vegie so will OSI spirulina flake be good for them or something just a little bit meatier. Also can they eat bloodworms and brine shrimp. Meredith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmilfish Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 Hey I read that these fish are pretty vegie so will OSI spirulina flake be good for them or something just a little bit meatier. Also can they eat bloodworms and brine shrimp. Meredith ← Hi ,OSI spirulina flake is all you need cheers jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nannat Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 mine get spirulina and general flake as well as occasionally brine shrimp its a bit hard [for me]to feed one tank exclusively spirulina and most of the other tanks general flake all the time.i need to mix it together for most of my fsh.though i tend to pull the clumps o spirulina from the feed tub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropheusQueen Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 Hi there, Again a topic that appears all too often. Well done Meredith for asking the question before going ahead I have sold over 500 demasoni fry over the past couple of years and unfortunately only a handful appear to have survived in the hands of others - well done those that have been able to keep them alive and thriving . I feed vegetarian fish- veges - OSI spirulina, algae wafers and fresh veg. The protein content of these foods is quite high anyway . Demasoni are not fast growers and I think that in an effort to increase the speed at which they grow individuals are tempted to feed them soft animal proteins . These proteins are potentially lethal to a fish that has a long vegetarian gut. In the wild they also feed on zooplankton however the animal proteins in our prepared food far exceed the quantities that they are able to obtain in the wild. I feed over 40 tanks each day, carrying a tray of assorted a la carte food stuffs and feed the inhabitants a balanced (I hope) appropriate diet according to species. Call me mad but my colonies are living proof that something is going right. En garde!! The gauntlet is thrown. Good luck Meredith. Cheers Aline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rol&Jas Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 I couldn't agree with Aline more. An adult or subadult demasoni can bloat given the wrong food. It really doesn't matter if you give them OSI, Sera or HBH spirulina flake they are all OK. Stay away from spirulina pellets though, even though they are made of spirulina as well pellets contain a bonding agent and that makes them more difficult to digest. I give my demasoni fry a mixed diet until they reach 4cm. Young fishes do not have the sensitive digestive system as adult fishes. Fry of lot of vegetarian species are omnivourus when they are young, before they develop their long vegetarion intestines. Roland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 I don't like to disagree with Aline or Roland as a general rule, but I have had alot of success with my demasoni also, and I do it a little differently. I am not quite so stringent with their feeding as Aline. Mine get a good quality general use flake in a 50-50 mix with a spirulina flake. I think the key is finding a good quality flake which is not too high in animal proteins. As has been pointed out in other recent threads, the bulk ingredient in the 'spirulina' flake is fish and shrimp meal anyway. The reason I chose to experiment with a proven winning formula was investigating the ingredients and make-up of the different flakes, the spirulina and cichlid flake seem VERY similar to me for example, the main exception being a couple of dye's. I believe this is because spirulina is all green while the cichlid mix has 3-4 different coloured flakes. What I would not do, is go out and buy cheap flakes, whether they claim to be vegetarian or not, Stick to tried and true quality foods like the OSI, HBH or Sera 'African Cichlid' varieties and spirulina. Mine also get frozen brine about weekly, but they tend to not eat much and it generally gets smashed by the peacock's in the tank. As an aside, as proof of my word, I have never lost any demasoni from stock I bought or grew out to larger sizes. My fry survival rate is fantastic, and everybody I sold them to reports they are very happy with them. My adults and fry get the same diet - and I have been supplementing the spirulina only diet for almost as long as I have had them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWs Fish Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 Hi Cameron, As per msn, I feed my demasoni adults tetra 'spirulina' . Its expensive stuff, as it only comes in a 52g container. It contains 48% protein. The flakes are crisp and solid as opposed to other stuff that turns to dust as soon as you touch it. Fry get HBH spirulina from NSWCS, as it can be turned into powder quite easily for them to eat. I've never used OSI before but have heard nothing but good reports about it. Might give it a go on my fry. I think it has more protein than HBH. HTH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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