Fish Food

[Joeyt66]

Does it really matter which kind of fish food to use? I have been recentlybuying bulk fish food from the lfs and am wondering if i should buy a more expensive food? Does it make a difference? Could be me but since i have bought(or around the time) a staple food from Big Als (not trying to bash big al's) seems like my tank hasn't really been as clear as it use to be (this could be just me as well) Could it be because of lesser quality food? Heres what i have been using


food


mmmmmmmmm my favorite kind of food Good and cheap!!!!!!

 

[vantgE]

Yes it makes a difference, I've talked to a guy on a local forum who's big into fish nutrition just started importing nls into canada because he figures it's the best, africans are especially important being unique to malawi bloat, i always read ingredients and nutrition info, although it tends to be misleading it's important,

 

[freddyk]

We live in a get what you pay for world. There are always exceptions to the rule, but the more expensive foods are generally going to be better.

When you purchase bulk, keep in mind that fish food does go bad, and it loses nutrients over time. After a while the fish aren't getting the complete diet they had when the bag of food was opened the first time.

 

[Joeyt66]

what kind of nutrients do I look for on the label? What should be in it ?( i have no idea)

 

[The Mohave Kid]

This is an interesting subject ...

I think one could lose perspective real easy .. I'm not going to feed my fish better the myself !! However .. my fish seem to have much more spunk with frozen worms and brine shrimp then simply flake food.

Good Day ... B)

 

[Synirr]

I'd say it makes a definite difference. As an example: one of my LFS feeds nothing but flake a pellet foods, while the other feeds frozen and live as well as flake. The shop that feeds frozen and live has better fish BY FAR. Whenever that shop gets a new shipment the fish come in looking sickly, but after a week they always end up being larger, more colourful, and generally healthier looking than the fish at the other LFS

 

[yvez9]

fish food you're looking for will vary depending on your fish

I also look at the protein/fat content on the labels.

Guppies for example will need meat and veggies in their diet, a bit more veggies than meat. When looking at ingredients, if you see fish meal as the first ingredient and algea as the last, you know you'll need to counterbalance it with algea waggers or something.

I aslo tend to stay away from food brands that just use "filling" material like flour in their food.

IMO, Nutrafin, Hikari and Omega are very good food and this is the only brands I buy

 

[Dorkhedeos]

i only buy fish food from hagen, hikari, and ocean nutrition. hagen and ocean nutriition are cheap, but not too cheap

 

[vantgE]

I know for mbuna idealy, 4-8% fibre, fat low about 4% and protienn is important but generaly lower is better and ash should be minimal becasue it's nothing, i think pretty much if you have carnivores more protien and herbivores more fibre and minimal fat for both 10% is high fat content and will contribute to fatty liver in fish

 

[freddyk]

First, protien has nothing to do with it. Spirulina is very high in protien (above 50%), and vegetarian foods are, in turn, also high in protien. Never mind percentages, look at what ingredients are providing the protien - this is what counts.

Second - fillers. Flour, yeast, etc. You can't get away from it. You can't avoid foods that have it. Without it, they would not be able to provide them in the handy dry form of flakes and pellets - it's what provides the consistancy. This stuff goes in and out, and causes no problems.

The key - variety. Get a couple of types, and then supplement live, frozen, and/or freeze dried foods. The more variety you feed, the better chance that the fish are getting everything they need, and not too much of anything they don't.

 

[vantgE]

First, protien has nothing to do with it. Spirulina is very high in protien (above 50%), and vegetarian foods are, in turn, also high in protien. Never mind percentages, look at what ingredients are providing the protien - this is what counts.

Second - fillers. Flour, yeast, etc. You can't get away from it. You can't avoid foods that have it. Without it, they would not be able to provide them in the handy dry form of flakes and pellets - it's what provides the consistancy. This stuff goes in and out, and causes no problems.

I'm intrested freddyk wanna help me check my understanding if you can
by nothing to do with it you mean a protien value shows little becasue the necesary amino acids have to be provided which come from certain ingredients? any unused protiens dirty up the tank

and fillers are there and have a purpose of course but if there are four five or six grain products early in the ingredients lists thats too much carbs leading to bloat, higher quality foods have fish and krill meal while cheaper ones have more grains

this isn't my info really i'm no expert but intrested now

 

[Javentule]

I *LOVE* Omega one. I recommend it to all of the customers that shop at our store. Take a peek at the label and you'll see why:

Whole Salmon, Halibut, Black Cod, Whole Herring, Shrimp, Krill, Fresh Kelp, and tons of vitamins. Check them out.

I'm not always crazy about the texture of their pelleted stuff, but they ingredients are awesome. Variety is always good, so flake and pellet combinations are great, and frozen food a couple times a week is definately a plus. Also, feeding fish fresh food like zucchinis and romaine lettuce (especially for a lot of your african cichlids) does wonders.

 

[vantgE]

Omega one from what i hear has way too much fat for the mbuna cichlid extended feeding would undoubtedly contribute to fatty liver desease a direct result of whole fresh fish, but it seems to be a very highquaility food they didn't skimp on the ingredients problem is the veggie flake has a minimum 10% fat which seems excesive for any fish let alone a herbivore

 

[freddyk]

by nothing to do with it you mean a protien value shows little becasue the necesary amino acids have to be provided which come from certain ingredients? any unused protiens dirty up the tank

Essentially I'm saying that protien in itself can be provided by a million different sources, and not all are appropriate. The use of mammal meat in fish food was once popular because of how cheap it is to manufacture, but only the truly worst foods still do this. I think unusable protien is an issue, but also what other elements the ingredient is providing. We know that worms should not be fed to mbuna, but in reality the worms have plenty of usable protien, it's the fat that kills.
Understanding the ingredients is the key to understanding the food.

I actually have a better understanding of dog food, so perhaps I can use that as a better example. Cheap brands of food (dog chow) and even some of the more expensive, overpriced ones (science diet) use soy meal as a protien source. It's cheap to use and provides the correct numbers for the package - people will see the proper percentages. What they don't know is that dogs are not capable of digesting very much soy protien, and most of it goes straight through them. In turn, I don't care what the nutritional listing is, I learned to look at what the food is made of.

 

[Tolak]

I feed a variety of flake, along with frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms & once in a while beefheart. Omega One, some really cheap flake that is probably like potatoe chips for fish, spirulina flake, earthworm & krill mix, along with any samples or freebies i come across is what mine get for dry food. Variety & balance is what is best. It would be kind of cool to figure out a "food pyramyd" of sorts for different fish.

Tolak