CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

this afternoon, my bf & I went to PETsMART shop for feeder fish, we saw a pink/white fish in a tank which have those sea glass inside, and i was like, wow, there's a fish inside... when we're ready to leave, those girl who work at petsmart discover there are two fishes in the sea glasses tank, and they found out it's not their fishes. somebody just walk in and dump the fish inside the tank, so my bf said that he'll take the fish home. and the manger in petsmart said that she doesn't mind coz she doesn't want that two fishes...
so..... we took it home, thank god we have a big tank next door, it's around 50 g, we put these two fishes in, and those people in petsmart said that they are cichlid, one of them are bigger than my feet, the other is a tiny tiny, me & my bf don't really know how to take care of these two fishes... and we bought these two fishes home like 9 hours ago. i am wondering what should i feed them? i bought them cichlid food, those dry one, but they are not eating it... So i guess i have to feeder them feeder fish? what else i can feed them? and also, we bought a heater for them too, and my bf is buying a filter online right now, what else should we buy??
also, the big one seems like he is chasing the little one, if the big one is in the right side, the tiny one will on the left side,what should i do? and if that person dump this fish together, they should be in the same tank together right? or should i take the tiny one out???

very funny post by pinkbabe, agreed, but guys please try to tone it down a bit-Joe
--original post by oscar_pack removed by Joe

hi pinkbabe.can u get some photos of ur cichlids?they sound interestin,
also sounds like u need to seperate them to stop the larger 1 killing the smaller 1.

alright, i will post some pic lata on, and i actually did seperate them saturday night coz i seems like the large one wanna kill the small one badly... unfortunately, the small one died sunday morning.
also saturday morning i bought some feeder fish for them, the little one didn't eat at all, but the large one ate two of them. since then, when i try to feed him, he will just kill the feeder fish and that's it.

DONT feed them feeder fish, go get some flakes... then your fish wont die.

feeders offer no nutrition at all, get some pellets or something then atleast you wont loose both fish

hi again-hi craig! pinkbabe,as craig said NO feeder fish.they CAN introduce disease and parasites to ur aquarium.and there is no need as there are plenty of excellent researched foods on the market which ur fish will benefit from so much more than a pesky feeder fish...be warned...and good luck.

hey jay, how goes man

try feeding worms and stuff, its alot cheaper then feeders, and the fish enjoy the killing part, and the moveent just the same. pellets, flake and bloodworms are your best bet.

and to keep the fish occupied, try putting in a load of daphnia or brine shrimp, their so small the big fish will spend hours seaching for the little goodies.

here's the fish picture
http://www.geocities.com/lap1314134

what is bloodworms and where can i buy it?:(

there tiny little worms, you buy them from pet shops and stuff

here's the fish picture

Those are midas cichlids.

They'll eat just about anything that will fit in their mouths.

try pellets as their main diet and add the other stuff as a treat - if you try feeding two midas cichlids bloodworms and etc.. as the main part of their diet it will get expensive.

or should i take the tiny one out???

yes

Also, as for the fish not eating...you might just not be seeing it eat. My O when introduced into its tank seemed to not eat for about a week, but now he'll finally eat in front of me when I feed him. I guess he was just getting used to me. That could be it.

hiya people.didnt realise until yesturday u can get two different sizes of bloodworm on the market.the ones i got yesturday were huge.......much bigger than the average bloodworms.the o,s love em....pinkbabe u can buy them live or frozen in nearly any fish shop.

thank you so much guys.. but my fish tank smells really bad, is it every cichlid like this??

If your tank has developed an odor, then you have not been doing something you should. A well maintained tank should be virtualy odourless. The list to check is as follows.
Last Water change
Last Gravel cleaning
Filters, need changing?, or cleaning.
Tank Lid, Cover assy.
Do you remove the uneaten food from the tank?
The Water Clarity?, clear, or is it cloudy?