TStone21

I have 2 Juvi JD's and I know that they can have a variety of foods (blood worms, brine shrimp, live fish once they are older and they can even have lettuce and such) but my question is how often do I feed them? 2 times a day once in the morning and once at night? or..?

One more question also, my fish seem to be getting along, they swim together in the tank, quite close to each other, but I've noticed on one that it's tail fin has been nipped a little, I never noticed it before but it could be from the pet store, and it could be from my other JD, can someone advise me on what to do about this matter?

Shawnie

unless you raise your own feeder fish, I wouldnt buy them from the pet stores for food...their feeders are raised and kept in poor conditions and not a healthy food source for your jd's...I feed mine twice a day ..one in the morning and one at night...and a little bit of stress coat+ with a few extra water changes will help his fins...who knows who did it as you werent sure if he came like that

TStone21

Thanks Shawnie, I'll keep an eye on them just to see if one of them is biting.

Also, if I got fish from the stores and took good care of them, would the nutritional value of them increase so I could feed them to my jd's? or would you suggest breeding them..?

I have read that Dempsey's appreciate live food such as fish, I'm just stumped as to how I could get some good feeders

AlyeskaGirl

Hello,

I've got an adult JD and when he was a baby I feed him small chichlid pellots, when he got bigger I upgraded him medium size.

TStone21

I was thinking of switching to pellets.. right now I am feeding them 'Omega one natural protein flakes', I'm not sure if this is doing the trick for them or maybe I'm not feeding them enough at each feed they go pretty crazy for them.

Shawnie

omega one is great flake food but I do use hikari cichlid pellets for my jds...they make a small med n large depending on the size of your fish..and they float so you wont over feed as you will see how many are there at all times

TStone21

maybe I will use up the rest of my flakes, since you know more about JD's then i do (learning as much as I can though) and you say omega one is good, it can't hurt right?

I also just added some rock to my tank to give them some more places to hide (they didn't have many places, but I think it might of freaked em out a bit, also.. how big of a water change should I do for these little guys? I have a 35 gallon tank, not a 45 like i thought I did. maybe 20 - 25%?

Shawnie

nope it wont hurt them...I just choose the pellets so I can see them eating it..where as flakes kinda go throughout the tank and to me, they arent getting them all...

they will love the hiding spots...I have alot of fake plants and they love it as well as any caves or logs they can fit in...are you water changing on tank maintenance or are you still doing a cycle with fish? how old are your jds?

TStone21

My biggest jd's is probably an inch long and my other one is a bit smaller, I haven't done a water change yet, I was thinking about doing one tomorrow and I'm done the cycle (I think) lol

Also about plants.. plastic ones take oxygen out of the water right? so.. would it be better to get live ones and maybe put them in places my jd's can't dig them up? or is there a way to put more oxygen into the water then the plastic plants take out?

Shawnie

plastic plants take out oxygen? that would be new to me...but we all learn something new every day here

I buy silk plants at walmart...and I also have a bubble wand in my tank...they dont seem to be lacking oxyben..and they are almost a year old...

if your tank is cycled, whatever you want for regular maintenance ...I do 20% or so with a gravel vac

TStone21

hmm, I've always been told that plastic plants take oxygen, I've just googled it and it seems lives plants do and plastic ones don't.. there must be good things that come from having live plants in your tank though, right?

I'm goin to set up a small water change for tomorrow until I can get a larger bucket, hopefully it will be ok until then.

FL CommunityFans

I feed all my fish 4-5 times a day. Not large amounts, enough to sprinkle the top and let them snack for a minute or so. The bioload is increased insignificantly, for my mbuna tank anyways, and it also helps keep aggression down a bit. They seem to play much nicer when on a full stomach.

Shaina

Plastic plants should be inert...the only effect they have on your tank's water is, to varying degrees, providing more surface area for beneficial bacteria or, on the flip side, providing places for fish waste to accumulate depending on the setup and cleaning thoroughness.

Live plants use CO2 and release O2 during the day, and vice versus at night. The main benefits of live are that they use up nitrogen (ammonia, nitrate) and nutrients in the water column and, well, look really nice, lol.

TStone21

So it might just be a good idea to have a couple live plants in my tank and situate them so my Dempsey's can't dig them up? course.. they might just eat them.. I suppose it's kind of a hit and miss thing, your kinda taking your chances

Shawnie

mine dont bother my plants...just hide in them

TStone21

So i recently purchased some beefheart for my little jd's and was wondering what the best way to give it to them would be? Should I just drop the cube into their tank abnd let them pick at it, or unthaw it and cut it up?

FL CommunityFans

Run it under the water for a second or two to wash it off and also dethaw it a bit before letting it drop in to the tank. Also, you may want to take a steak knife to it and cut the cube in 1/4 or 1/2. Don't let them overeat themselves

Other than that, there's not a whole lot I do with those frozen food cubes.

TStone21

Great, thank you