Many Cichlid questions

[JDEE]

I have been running my 5ft tank now for about 6 weeks and over the last couple of weeks i have added the following fish. Parrot Cichlid x3 Firemouth x3 silver sharks x4 clown loach x4 large rainbow shark x1 (10-13 cms). I have set up rocks to make hide and go seek holes for fish as well as some plants of which appear to be on borrowed time . The cichlids all of which are small juvenille in groups of 1 male and two female appear to be happy and very active. I am currently doing 20 % water changes weekly (was told that would stimulate growth and colour). My questions are when will i start to see signifigant changes in colour and size? The Cichlids range in size from 4cms to 7cms. I am feeding atm twice daily with pelletts and every 2 days with frozen blood worms?Is there any chance of breeding in the tank?(Not my main goal!) Also i would love to find out about anyone elses experience with this combo of fish or similar.My goal is to grow the fish to maturity as healthily as possible. Also maybe any warning signs of trouble with my fish. I was not planning any more fish to add but maybe some maintenace fish ? Cats etc... Any sugestions and advice would be greatly apreciated.

[jamie2548]

Hi mate. In my opinion your way overfeeding . I feed every second day and have found great results over 2 months.They dont need an awfull lot of food to grow.

[mcloughlin2]

You are doing everything right by the sounds of it. The only issue that may arise is if or when the firemouths begin breeding. I do not recommend feeding anything less then once daily. Most fish, with the exception of larger predatory fish are oportunistic feeders and will graze throughout the day on any food that becomes available. Therefore feeding every second day is not beneficial for anything with the exception of your biological filtration as it will put less strain on it. Call me old fashioned but I feel feeding irregularly is lazy and scabby as the result is you can get away with cheaper filters. I do go by the idea of having break days but feeding regular small amounts of food allows the fishes metabolism to be maintained which helps speed of growth.

By the way, this was not directed at the above poster, rather the general practice of feeding every second or third day.

[oz_gooner]

I don't think blood worms and cichlids are not a good mix. Correct me if I'm wrong but I have read that it's because they digest them too slow and this can cause bloat. I feed pellets twice daily but as a treat I throw in a few bits of frozen pea and prawn mix once a week. I also give them a break every so often.

[Josh]

Blood worms can be feed to Cichlids, just not all of them.

Josh

[oz_gooner]

I stand corrected.

[oakes]

Firemouths and parrots are two of my favourite Americans. The parrots will grow quicker and larger, and are slightly more aggressive but there should be enough room for a pair of each to establish territory at either end of the tank. You wont see alot of colour until they begin to mature.

Silver sharks grow very large and you may have to thin them out eventually. Rainbow sharks are much smaller but keep an eye on them as they mature they often don’t get on well with their own species.

Clown loaches are great but active and inquisitive and will disrupt any breeding activity. Any eggs will not be safe at night when the cichlid’s defences are down.

As for cats, bn’s are ideal.

As a side note, my experience is that firemouths can be susceptible to internal bacterial infections so i don’t feed mine any unprocessed food such as raw meat.

cheers

[dobbin4]

You dont say what sort of pellets?

To much bloodworm , I think.use iot as a treat Frozen Brine srimp is better.

Those chiclids need to be about 10cm for parrots willnot breed till they are about 15cm & say 6 cm for firemouth to start showing more colour,breed at about 9cm+, then they will contuinue to get better colour as they grow to full size. you got at least 6mths to go so your C/L's can stay.

oakes,,, is right those Clowns will love the eggs so they will need to not be with them to keep your eggs.

Hey Sam he say's he is feeding twice daily pellets and bloodworms every 2nd day.

[mcloughlin2]

I don't see anything wrong with twice daily feeding of pellets. My cichlids are fed upwards of 4 times a day on pellets. Mind you each feeding is small amounts. He could cut back on the bloodworms a bit, but nothing wrong with what they are doing at the moment. It isn't going to kill the fish at any rate.

I didn't address your breeding question in my first post. What types of parrot cichlids do you have? There are a few cichlids referred to as 'parrots' The firemouths should breed given a few months and that you actually have the correct sexes. They are notoriously hard to sex at a small size due to females colouring like males sometimes. They also pair up so if your lucky enough to get a pair, you'll most likely need to remove the odd one out.