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Hi, I was wondering if CA/SA cichlids have any specific needs in their diet? With tropheus couldnt have a protein intake. I was curious if these cichlids had anything similar?

Thank you all.

there are some new world cichlids that require specialized diets. the ones I'm thinking of are Nandopsis haitiensis, exCichlasoma istlanum and exCichlasoma beani. Of the 3 I've only kept haitiensis. I had 4 and they died of bloat. Most experts agree that, at least as juveniles, these 3 species are highly succeptible to bloat if fed foods too high in protein. this means no worms at all. the recommended food is either a pure spirulina or veggie flake or pellet food. once these species get to 3-4" though they are much more hardy.

the Thorichthys genus is often said to be susceptible to bloat if fed worms as well. this isn't exactly true. While I wouldn't feed any Thorichthys worms on a daily basis, they can be given worms or other high protein foods 1-3 times per week or every other week. the key with Thorichthys is to vary their diet (as with all cichlids) and not to overfeed. I've lost a few Thorichthys that I've kept in community tanks. What happened was one dominant male would emerge and eat way more than his share. If this keeps up, this dominant male will very likely get bloat and die. When keeping Thorichthys in groups or in community tanks, just make sure that they are not eating more than they should.


I'm sure there are more New world's that have certain dietary requirements, but these are all I can think of at the moment. Most New World's will do best on as wide a variety of foods as possible.

Thank you for you hasty reply Jason. So, if I keep my Texas and Parrot cichlids on a varied diet (with veges and worms and such). They should live long healthy lives?

Texas and Parrot cichlids(are these the hybirds?) are pretty good when it comes to diets. I fed my Texas Hikari Gold(good staple pellet),ocean plankton, sprulina flakes, and other live foods. As long as you don't feed them too much protein and mix it up a bit, they should be very active and healthy, and of course, don't forget the water changes

Parrot cichlids(are these the hybirds?)

Blood parrot cichlids and Jelly bean parrot cichlids are hybrids. The true Parrot Cichlid, Hoplarchus psittacus, is not a hybrid but is extremely rare.

Everyone talks of 'sprulina' but I got no idea what it is, or what teh pack it comes in looks like. Can someone educate me please?

here's the web definition of spirulina

Spiral-shaped, blue-green algae is said to be concentrated with proteins and nutrients like beta carotene and vitamin B.

Basically in pellet or flakes it's a veggie based food that should be lower in protein than most mean-based foods. I do have some sinking spirulina pellets that have the same percentage of protein that my cichlid pellets do though.