New here Question about pelvicachromis taeniatus

[disruptfam]

Hey all

1st post Picked up my first dwarf cichlids and had a few questions...

I recently picked up a pair of Pelvicachromis taeniatus "kienke" (wild caught)

Have had them in the tank for about 5 days give or take...

They have seemed to settle in ok... but the female has no interest in the food i put in the tank. The male eats the food then spits it out... are they being fussy or do they need to be worked onto dryfood?

I've tried several different brands and foods... flakes, granules and pellets

Is there any particular brand that stands above the rest?

whats the best way to get them on dryfood? Should i just keep feeding them the same food everyday until they eat it or wait a couple days then try again? I have also tried frozen brine shrimp the male does seem to be a lil more interested in that but once again the female pays no attention...

Both fish are fairly pale and not showing any real color.. they did have nice colors when i bought them but atm very washed out..at first i thought it was new tank getting used to the new surroundings...but 5 days later no color ... not sure exactly why though as i mentioned these are my first dwarf cichlids so i'm not sure...

any info would be appreciated thanks in advance

and its great to be on this forum

cheers

Tank specs:

2ft x 18 x 15 100L
800lph internal + 500lph internal
Couple pieces of driftwood couple plants sand as substrate 1 large cave tank is fairly bare
Also have 6 x lemon tetras in the tank

Last time i checked water parameters were:

ph 7.4 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10 gh 6 kh 4

there were added to a new tank but used two established filters and did a 7 day course of stability to get the tank going.. before they were added

[Bojan Dolenc]

This species need rellative low temperatures: 24-26°C; pH 5,0 - 7,0. In nature Pelvicachromis taeniatus feeds above all on detritus and biocover ("aufwuhs”)= algae – particularly green algae and diatoms – make up the dominant component of aufwuchs communities; small crustaceans, rotifers, and protozoans are also commonly found in fresh water and the sea, but insect larvae, oligochaetes and tardigrades are peculiar to freshwater "aufwuhs” faunas.
Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of dead organisms as well as fecal material; it is typically colonized by communities of microorganisms.

Try then consequently some live foods and some live green algae

[disruptfam]

thanks for the info will try some live green algae and see how i go

[Boyneburn]

Nothing to do with the feeding but I would say that your tank is a little over filtered 800lph + 500lph =1300lph your tank is only 100l