I feed my Malawi cichlids NLS Cichlid, and am in the final stages of weening the adults from flake after introducing the NLS. As predicted, it produced a spurt in growth and additional color, not to mention two holding females.

I give frozen brine shrimp + spirulina once a week as a treat.

Anything else I should add as part of the rotation? Is once a week right for this kind of supplement?

One tank is Mbuna, one Haps/Peacocks.

I hate being the first one to answer this!

I'm not the biggest proponent for NLS, so I generally try to steer away from these topics!

I'm a pretty big stickler for my herbivores getting a strict herbivore diet. They tend to be the ones I see long term gastrointestinal problems with if I stray from that diet, so this is why I don't think one food is appropriate for all fish!

With that being said, NLS is supposedly a good staple food to use, for those who want to use one food as a main diet. Alot of hobbyiest do just that. Whether you need the extra protein from the brine shrimp or not would depend on the species who are eating it. The same goes for the spirulina...

My biggest problem is that you can't drop two different kinds of food (one for herbivores and one for omnivores) into a tank and expect the right fish to choose the right food! They just aren't that selective!

I do believe that no matter what brand you choose to feed, you should feed it in both pellet and flake form, rather than using one or the other completely. This makes it easier to introduce new fish that are accustomed to different foods, and it makes it easier on your fish when they leave your tanks to go live elsewhere. I really think we "condition" these guys to eat what we are giving them, and if we aren't keeping them long term, we need to make the potential transition period a little easier for them and the new owner.

Kim

I feed my mbuna NLS primarily, and like to mix it up with some HBH veggie flake, and some Spirulina. As Kim mentioned, fish just aren't selective and most eat all food you put in. I add shrimp pellets into the tank for my Clown Loaches, and they love them, but so do the mbuna. So, I find adding the HBH veggie is a crucial component for plant matter so bloat doesn't develop.

I believe that feeding only one type of food (any kind) is just an excuse to make our life easier. I agree totally with Kim that different Cichlids have different needs. I feed my herbivorous Cichlids a good spirulina based flake and that's it. All others get a variety of different foods in frozen, live, flake and pellet form.

I have lots of different things here...frozen brine shrimp, frozen cichlid delite, frozen krill, frozen homemade meat mix (mostly for discus), spirulina & veggie flake, mixed flake, premium crumbles, NLS at times, algae wafers. I pretty much do anything and everything really.

I think I've done everything in the book. I feed my tropheus a combination of spirulina/veggie flake, mixed flake (yes it has seafood in it, and yes my fishies are healthy as pie), also a premium cichlid crumble. They've also been known to get NLS, or other quality type foods...I just don't feed them straight frozen brine or other type products!

I have absolutely no routine with my fish, and I've had less problems since. I don't feed at same time or same amount each day, and somedays I don't feed, somedays I feed three times. Whatever it is I'm doing, my fish are happy, healthy and spawning!

I think that sometimes we can be a bit too anal with our fishkeeping!

But since we are keeping fish prone to bloat and similar gastrointestinal problems, I also believe it is key to be very aware of their dietary needs and adhere to that diet. Good Job

I didn't realize just how important it was until I started moderating the health and illness folder on a large forum. You'd be surprised how many people don't recognize occasional losses as dietary related. They chalk occasional deaths up to aggression, which is very easy to do when you are keeping highly aggressive fish. In reality, digestive disease spreads slowly through a tank, and can be difficult to pinpoint. IME, once they get the diets of their fish straightened out, the problems usually resolve, and the losses come to a halt.

Kim