FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I was wondering if it's ok to put live ghost shrimp in my cichlid tank for a meal. I have the following Cichlids and feed them mostly vegitable matter.

Lab. Trewavesae
Electric Yellow
Psuedo. Esthra

I would not recommend feeding ghost shrimp to the mbuna. One ghost shrimp for the electric yellow maybe okay once in a while, but my yellow usually doesn't touch the shrimp when I have feed my other fish the shrimp. The mbunas are for the most part strictly herbivore and should recieve no live food or too much protein for health reasons.
openwater

Last edited by openwater at 07-Dec-2004 17:19

I think it would be great to feed your fish some live food. I would quarintine the live shrimp just incase for disease. Live food is a great source of meat and protien and i would definitly reccomend it for your fish.


fish1

well it really depends on the kind of live food your feeding. usually feeders are low in nutrition and carry diseases. I think you would be better off getting a couple guppies and feeding the fry to your cichlids.

Those mbunas are herbivores. The electric yellow omnivore. Herbivore live food = vegetables.

I just read your posts and answers. My 2 fish are lab.trewavase and I just got them some brine shrimp. Is it absolutly necessary to feed live food?I I don't like to take live fish and watch them get torn and eaten.( please all, don't take my comment wrong. I understand the balance of nature, It's me, I cannot do that. I am a rescuer in critters, this is my problem. I know you can't keep all born, especially baby fish cause there are so many spawned and the reason is to feed bigger fish.I just can't watch it, MY PROBLEM)So my question is , the dried brine etc, ok? And healthy

Well through owning these guys, and having issues which seemed to be highly diet related, I do feel that the Pseudo & Trewavesa are best on a herbavorous diet.
The Yellow Lab however seems to be able to accept diets and treats higher in animal protein and digest this just fine.
I asked about the Ghost Shrimp because I had previously read some conflicting information where as crustations were good and acceptable for all of my above species, as though it is something they would eat in the wild.

I do not, and would not feed my fish anything live with out knowing for sure that it was desease free first

So hence my question