The priorty of this thread, being the emphasis on the non-critical aspects of diet (to me) is a bit over blown.
In nature, omnivorus cichlids (a majority of species) get the bulk of their diet from decaying leaf litter, detritus, picking at ubiguitous algae, and an occasional prey item.
So most wild caught cichlids are thin, and so seldom get daily meals.
Yet these same diet obsessed aquarists will only do a 25% or 50% water change per week, and allow nitrates to soar into double digets of 10 or more ppm,
when considering something as important as normal nitrate levels in nature that barely reaches 1 ppm in nature, which should really be prioritized.
In nature, omnivorus cichlids (a majority of species) get the bulk of their diet from decaying leaf litter, detritus, picking at ubiguitous algae, and an occasional prey item.
So most wild caught cichlids are thin, and so seldom get daily meals.
Yet these same diet obsessed aquarists will only do a 25% or 50% water change per week, and allow nitrates to soar into double digets of 10 or more ppm,
when considering something as important as normal nitrate levels in nature that barely reaches 1 ppm in nature, which should really be prioritized.