MoliroMan Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Hi Guys! I have heard many people who have kept tropheus swear by a strict vege diet in order to prevent bloat due to their long intestines making them highly susceptible to high protein foods. Some feed only spirulina flakes, while others feed brine shrimp, Tetra Colorbits, and the Europeans make their own shrimp mix. Some have moved onto strictly NLS pellet diet. What are your experiences out their? Is a strictly vege diet just a myth? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrdog Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I used to feed OSI Spirulina flakes and Vege Wafers. I had no losses and good results. I now exclusively feed NLS Cichlid Pellets. I have had no losses and excellent results. The growth rate of my Tropheus has increased and I now have more females holding. You could argue that my Trophs simply had a growth spurt and more females are holding since they are now older. This may be true. One thing is for sure though, the old recommendation of only feeding a Spiruluna Flake does not hold true where NLS is concerned. I wouldn't say though that Tropheus can be given any type of food. NLS is highly recommended for Tropheus. My fish are thriving. Having said that, there are many that have equal success with Spirulina Flake and will continue to do so. Whether it be NLS or Spirulina Flake, if it's working and your Tropheus are thriving, keep going with it. I know I'm fence sitting on this one and I haven't got enough experience with Tropheus to give an answer to the myth theory. It is documented though that in the lake there are small organisms that the Tropheus take in whilst grazing Algae. Jamie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropheusQueen Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 While they graze on algae in the lake, there is definately a liklehood that they will consume forms of zooplankton as well as Jamie has said. I have always fed spirulina and fresh veg in various forms and have not had an issue. Why fix it if it ain't broke theory . Again as stated by Jamie the growth rate of fry is a little slower. In seven years however, with various moves I might add, I had not had a case of bloat till last year. The famous bloat incident of 2005 occurred for maybe a number of reasons with my new Nkonde colony discounting all normal parameters as they were fine- stress at two recent moves, change in H2O or the fact that I started feeding soft and moist pellets sparingly - so change of food may have caused it. I am keen to have a trial with some fry on NLS and to do some comparisons - so I may break my food paradigm yet I will however use it sparingly at first. Looking forward to this post especially Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormboy Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I obviously can't say I have much experience but I can say for sure that snails are a bad for their guts. Dont worry I wasnt intentionally feeding them snail meat. The story is that I have a few ramshorns in my T tank which my moliros strictly left alone. I thought to myself Ill just try a loach in there to see if he can make a dent in the numbers, a bit of biological control. So in goes the loach which promptly starys munching on the snails. Unfortunately one of my Ts saw this and decided to pinch a bit from the loach . Needless to say that my little baby stopped eating and began hanging around in the corner of the tank. So the moral of the story is, snails are bad food for tropheus. For all those worried, dont be. I removed the loach, clouted the tank and all is now well. She has been happy now for about 6 weeks and I am somewhat wiser. -Mat- Oh yeah, thier normal diet is OSI spirulina on recommendations from this forum. nothing (apart from above) but success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 There is only one food for Tropheus thats OSI spirulina or if you have to Sera Flora. Its is true that in the lake when they are grazing they do ingest diatoms from the rock I have read some where that it helps with there digestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrdog Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 As I said, I also have had very positive experiences with OSI . I just have found that my Trophs have reacted more positively to NLS. I think it's safe in my opinion to say that you can feed either of these foods to Tropheus and have great results . Jamie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I have always used sera flora/hbh veg but have been using NLS as well of late. All seem to be wonderful foods for them. On the flip side...years ago when I started work at an LFS, there were 2 very large duboisi in a 6 x 2 x 2 "community cichlid" tank. They had been in the shop for longer than 6 months (in with mbunas, haps and even a dovii and a very large b'koferi - god bless Some LFS's ). Anyway, they had been throwing anything and everything into the tank, including frozen bloodworm blocks/beefheart by the packet and still the "T's" survived. Go figure! Not a practice I condone (or continued with)...so I don't think they are as touchy as people are led to believe. I think unsuitable or sudden changes in water parameters are far more likely to cause bloat. Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bijengum Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 My Duboisi love it when I clean the front of the tank with a scraper. They love the bits of algae that come off the scraper blade. I have to be very careful that they don't get cut. They go nuts over it. Hi Guys! I have heard many people who have kept tropheus swear by a strict vege diet in order to prevent bloat due to their long intestines making them highly susceptible to high protein foods. Some feed only spirulina flakes, while others feed brine shrimp, Tetra Colorbits, and the Europeans make their own shrimp mix. Some have moved onto strictly NLS pellet diet. What are your experiences out their? Is a strictly vege diet just a myth? Dave ← Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 OSI spirulina. It is working great so I wont change it. I have heard nothing but good stuff from people who use NLS, but havent tried it myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoliroMan Posted January 13, 2006 Author Share Posted January 13, 2006 Andrea..i have heard exactly the same stories about feeding tropheus bloodworms!!! I don't think u should risk it and try it on your tropheus but i think they are a lot hardier than we are led to believe. I think we as responsible tropheus keepers should feed everything in moderation and try to keep things consistent and not change the diet too often. I still feed all my trophs a staple of OSI spirulina. But have started feeding them with automatic feeders NLS pellets since these are less likely to be sucked into the filter or down the weir into the sump. They are doing OK. I just recenlty tried feeding some presoaked Hikari Cichlid excel mini size pellets which they devour with gusto! Hopefully this does not prove to be something i regret later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trofius Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 i feed exclusively sera flora, but they eat algae on the glass and rocks all day. used to use osi but had the worst tropheus luck to date while using it( not blaming th efood directly) it is also much more expensive, and goes yuk quicker. Tropheus are not vegetarians, but are Aufwacks feeders, so that include sall the little microbes, and small crustacea that live within the biolayer.. long intestines just means no hard to digest products like red meat, and not tooo much fishy meat, but they need the fibre that is provided by the plant based foods to get the food out the other end before it goes septic. I know of people thgat feed their small dubosis just blood worm and it is growing VERY well, i nearly died when i saw it, and tried to stop them....its been 6 months now, and he is a monster .. i also chuck frozen brine shrimp in the dubosisi tank for my foi, the duboisi spit it out and now mostly ignore it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Till recently I use to always use OSI spirulina. When I don't have it or can't get it I used sera flora. However, recently I purchased a colony of ikola, I couldn’t resist them when I saw them. They were feed on Spectrum Cichlid Formula. It was really strange to see red waste in the bottom of the tank. Anyway I bought a bucket and they love it. I have never seen a Tropheus go for food like they do for this stuff. I have heard really good things about this food from the US. So now days all I feed is Spectrum Cichlid Formula and frozen brine shrimp a few times a week. MAIN INGREDIENTS: Krill Meal, Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Amino Acids, Algae Meal, Soybean Meal, Fish Oil, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal- Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine, Biotin. GUARANTEED ANALYSIS: Protein 34% Min., Fat 5% Min., Fiber 5% Max., Ash 9% Max., Moisture 10% Max. What’s NLS for the dummies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrdog Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 NLS= New Life Spectrum (the company that makes the food you and I are feeding our Trophs), ie NLS Cichlid Formula . I hope you were asking what NLS stands for, otherwise I'll feel like a goose . Jamie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Thanks Jamie. Don't I feal like a Di...... fool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrdog Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Don't they just go nuts over it mate . Jim actually used to use it years ago and then switched to OSI because of the price of NLS. It seems he must have switched back. I know he always said that he got more mouthfuls and bigger broods with NLS. I love those Ikolas of yours. I bet you got them for a steal . Jamie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoliroMan Posted January 13, 2006 Author Share Posted January 13, 2006 Ben, i think u are making yourself the resident tropheus subforum moderator/administrator!!! U should change your avatar/pic to an ikola pic!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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