Weird Cichlid Behaviors

Question
QUESTION: Hey Ron, I have had my cichlid 30 gal cichlid tank for about a year now. The cichlids refuse to eat any of the food that I buy for them.  I have tried almost every type of (floating, sinking, big, small, pellet, flake) food there is and they do not seem to take to any of them.  I don't know how they are surviving except for the rare occasion when I catch them eating the Algae eaters feces.  Also, recently they have all began to twitch as spasm frequently.  Do you know of anything that I can do to help them?

ANSWER: Hi Anthony,
 Spasms by cichlids are often not a bad thing; in fact, that is often a sign of courtship.  In particular, a male will do this in front of a female to catch her eye.  Could that be what is happening?  (Often the male's colors will intensify
during courtship).

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yeah that may be what is happening, thank you I was pretty worried about it.  Do you have any ideas about their odd feeding behavior though?

Answer
Hi Anthony,
  Given that they are still alive, they must be eating something, though it certainly sounds weird.  Many cichlids can eat algae. Do you have a lot of algae?   

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>