What Do You Feed Baby Mbuna

[Sonny Disposition]

I brought the yard fish in because of the cool evenings we've been having. One of the Melanochromis johanni females is holding, so I put her in a 2 1/2 gallon on the window sill with some java moss and a hunk of dead coral.

It occurred to me that I really don't know what baby Mbuna eat, having never worked with them before. Are they like sailfin mollies, needing animal fare before they get bigger and turn herbivorous, or should I just let them pick off an algae wafer, like their parents do? (Wouldn't want to see them come down with bloat. On the other hand, if they'd get bigger with a few weeks of animal food, I'll start them off on decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, like I did with the mollies.)

 

[longstocking]

All baby fish need more protein than when they are adults. Same principle as other animals

 

[Sonny Disposition]

Thank you Sarah. So if I give the baby M. johanni decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, it shouldn't make them sick?


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (longstocking @ Sep 22 2008, 11:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

All baby fish need more protein than when they are adults. Same principle as other animals [/b]

 

[longstocking]

No it shouldn't. Just be careful for how long you do this for. Once fish hit about an inch I have them completely off of it. Mix other stuff in with it as well.

 

[dogofwar]

I feed my baby mbuna (peacocks, haps, also) ground flake... They're pretty good-sized when they're released and can handle it. Kensfish (www.kensfish.com) has some higher protein varieties, but I just use a good quality one. Some lower protein flake like spirulina will work as well. More (small) feedings (and water changes) are better than one bog one, as well.

When they get a touch larger, I feed floating pellets. It gives them a chance to fill up and its stays there long enough for all of them to graze on it.

Also, don't forget to re-condition Mom before tossing her back into the tank with the male. Same stuff will work.

I generally stay away from brine, especially with mbuna..

 

[Pat Kelly]

I feed my Demasoni fry brine shrimp and also New Life Spectrum Grow.

 

[marge618]

I use NLS. If the pellets look too big I grind them first. When the fry are really tiny I pulverize the pellets and then feed with a turkey baster so the food really gets to the little ones rather than just clouding the tank.

 

[Sonny Disposition]

I have some Aquamax fry starter that I'll probably pulverize and give to them. (It's very similar to the NLS grow formula.) Thanks Marge.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (marge618 @ Sep 23 2008, 05:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I use NLS. If the pellets look too big I grind them first. When the fry are really tiny I pulverize the pellets and then feed with a turkey baster so the food really gets to the little ones rather than just clouding the tank.[/b]

 

[RIFT_LAKES_RULE]

I always crushed my spirulina flakes real fine for my Mbuna Fry (Melanochromis Johanni was one species), they would eat it just fine. What they really liked was Cyclop-eeze, I had the frozen stuff, they also have freeze dried. They would come running out of the rocks when that stuff hit the water, they were pretty content to just let the spirulina float down to them and they'd get it as it went by, but it was a feeding frenzy when I put the cyclop-eeze in. They all seemed to do just fine with a mixture of both.

Mike

 

[SubMariner]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pat Kelly @ Sep 22 2008, 06:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Bob, I agree with Pat and crushing flakes is what I do as well.

I too crush my NLS 1mm pellets sometimes.

Good luck buddy and congratz on the new babies.


RM

 

[shamu57]

I bought a cheap pepper grinder...fill it with nls pellets and give it a few cranks....easy way to grind up the pellets...

 

[Sonny Disposition]

I've been giving them trout starter, although, I guess as they get older, I'll need to start them on something more vegetarian.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shamu @ Oct 31 2008, 06:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I bought a cheap pepper grinder...fill it with nls pellets and give it a few cranks....easy way to grind up the pellets...[/b]