Feeding Cichlid Fry Basics

Learning what to feed cichlid fry is not a difficult idea to grasp, but if you are new to the tropical fish world and you have some newly hatched fry, you may not be sure what you should do. All you need is a few pointers to get you headed in the right direction, and that is what I am going to try to help you with.

In the world of cichlid breeding, there are two different types of brooding that these interesting fish engage in. Open brooding and mouth brooding are typically what you will find with cichlids. If you are unsure what these different types are, don't worry about that for now. Feeding your cichlid fry once they are free swimming is the information that we are interested in.

Newly hatched cichlid fry will survive for quite some time on their yolk sac alone. But after their yolk sac is depleted, what should you feed them while they are still so small? One of the best foods for newly free swimming fish fry is newly hatched brine shrimp. They are packed with protein and the little guys just love them.

There is no doubt that brine shrimp make an excellent food for any type of fish fry, but if you are not prepared, you may not have any brine shrimp ready to go. So what else can I feed cichlid fry?

Have you ever thought about feeding cichlid fry hardboiled egg yolks. It is a very simple tip and the little guys will gobble it up. All you do is take a little bit of egg yolk and mix it with some water in a bowl. Eggs are inexpensive, so if it doesn't look quite right, just try it again.

Here is a word of caution. Make sure that you do not put too much of the egg yolk in the tank in one go because it could damage the water quality. You want to feed them an amount they can it in about 20 seconds or so.

For the best results, put a small amount of the egg yolk mixture into a thin glass pipe or some tubing. Lower it into tank where the fry are and release it just above them. This seems to work best for me.

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