What cichlid food is best?

Question

My son just got two cichlids from a friend. Before we got the fish we prepared the tank replaced the biowheel-a-ma-bob thingy and bought food. There were several kinds (floating, sinking, balls, flakes, etc) and seeing as how I did not have a cell phone on me (and don't trust Petsmart clerks) I just bought Tetra TetraCichlid Cichlid Crisps.

We've had the fish in the tank for a day. They have not eaten. The crisps are still there....soggy but there. Most floated but some sank. It looks like they haven't touched them. Their is nothing in the tank but rocks, the fish, and some floating, feather boa-type live plants.

At their previous home, they ate like, well, pirahnas. The friend said they'd eat all the time, even if they weren't hungry. I'm going to try to get answers from the friend (she's 12 but knowledgeable) tomorrow but wanted to see what you all thought about it here.

All I know about these are that the male is brownish/greyish with stripes and the female is "a pink" but her color is whitish and creamsicle orange. Yeah, I'm not so brilliant with fish. lol.

Can you help? What might be the problem? What do you think is the best cichlid food?

Answer 1

Honestly, Tetracichlid is what I use on Oscars and out cichlids. They simply love it, however, the cichlids do eat the scraps the oscars spit out. I also noticed that our Cichlids like the Tetramin pellets and flakes.

Either way, the tetramin is the way to go. Perhaps the animals are just a bit spookish at their new habitat. Give them a bit more time. Live food also is a generally good way to coax fish to eat. Frozen blood worms and such. But for the time being, just settle for the Tetracichlid and let them get used to it.

Hopefully they do. :D Cichlids are wonderful.

Answer 2

...i concur with Jon V....in all aspects regarding your question

Answer 3

A couple things here.

1.  What species are these?  It's important to know what types you have for temperments, and foods too.  Not all cichlids are vegetarian or carnivoric.  The only way to know what types of food they naturally perfer is to know what species of fish they are.

2.  That they are not eating now is ok.  They are most likely acclimating to the new tank.  Is this new tank however, cycled out in terms of the nitrogen cycle?

The Tetra flake foods will probably serve you well.  I buy from a local seller, who makes their own foods.  I keep and breed Africans myself and gear my flakes around a Spiralina coated flake food.  I never have liked the crisps myself since they tend to be bigger then my fish can eat outright and have to be nibbled at.  You can very well get pellets too that sink.  It again does depend on what species you have as to what would work best for them.  If they are carnivores, you can also use high protein type foods such as bloodworms, brine shrimp, and krill.  Need to know just what you have, and would really like to know if this new tank is nitrogen cycle mature.