Feeding Malawi Cichlids

[Rouseabout]

Hi all

Just wondering if it is ok to feed bloodworms to my Africans?

:bounce:

[ryanjury]

I wouldn't feed bloodworms to any fish African or not, there are all sorts of theories about them being bad, who knows if they are true but when you can get so many good foods (NLS) straight off the shelf that don't cause issues then my opinion is it is best to use them.

This is just my opinion, I know there are tons of people who regularly feed bloodworms and have no issues but to me it isn't worth the risk.

[smidey]

I feed a range of foods to Africans when I kept them but I think it's best to have two main food and give them the odd treat if you like. I feed my tropheus two main food, nls and JBL novorift. When I had Malawi species I would also feed shelled peas, sushi wrap, cucumber and blood worms occasionally. They did well without any issues so I figure it was good for them but maybe it wasn't ,I just didn't feed to much to make it an issue. Only scientific studies wood prove that for sure either way.

I'd also give them mosquito larvae, was cool to watch then hunting them in the tank

[Rouseabout]

Thanks guys - ironically since I first posted this question I have read a number of comments attributing a link between bloodworms and dropsy - though the tank I lost a couple of tetras from recently (Wifes 240L) due to dropsy, the occupants have never been fed bloodworms.

When I started keeping tropicals I was feeding NLS as well as JBL but stopped the NLS when I found out HFF was no longer going to stock that. All my fish certainly loved NLS.

My Africans now fed JBL Novo Rift and Novostick M.