have u ever tried feeding your cichlids with pellet catfood? yes...the same pellet catfood u buy for your cats...and im not refering to catfish many many years ago i knew this guy..i forgot his name, i think its ah hee, or was it ah boon. he wore thick glasses, the same type of glasses wore by the thin bowtied softy who always had a hard time from the street bully...but when it comes to tropical fishes, he is a real expert.after all he has an aunt who runs a FS first in BB plaza(this was 1987), then in taman melawati. when i ask him how come his cichlids always outgrown mine ...he was reluctant to show me his secret at first, later after much bodek, he whip out a box of catfood. there are 2 types..one is the soft pellets, the other one is the hard type. he uses the soft type, but i protest since i found the pellet was abit oily. anyway i tried it, and my fish happen to like it, so i continue using it till the present day. i havent found any bad side to complaint about cat pellets , only praises...since they are much cheaper , and the fishes love them. try it!