AbbeysDad
Fish Gatherer
------Variety is certainly a benefit, not only because fish may have preferences (for whatever reason) but also in terms of the nutritional value. Many prepared foods contain additives that are best not fed to fish, so the ingredients is the key to look for.
Omega One prepared foods have no "meal" but whole fish, a real positive; they also have no fillers compared to Tetra and Wardley and some other brands. New Life Spectrum is another top quality brand.....
Not completely accurate...Ingredients of Omega One Freshwater Flakes:
Ingredients:
Salmon, Whole Herring, Wheat Flour, Whole Shrimp, Pea Protein, Kelp, Wheat Gluten, Spirulina, Garlic, Marigold Extract, Astaxanthin, Canthaxanthin, Ethoxyquin (Preservative), BHT (Preservative), BHA (Preservative), Potassium Sorbate, Natural and Artificial Colors, Ascorbyl Monophosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Inositol, Folic Acid, Biotin, Riboflavin, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement
...And notice they say whole herring and whole shrimp but the main ingredient is salmon, but not WHOLE salmon.
And lets not be confused. Fresh fish is great, although listed in the ingredients by weight, fresh fish may include the ice it's packed in!
Also, not all fish meals are created equally. For example, Tetramin Tropical Flakes ingredients:
Ingredients:
Fish Meal, Dried Yeast, Ground Brown Rice, Shrimp Meal, Wheat Gluten, Feeding Oat Meal, Fish Oil, Potato Protein, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Soybean Oil, Algae Meal, Sorbitol, Lecithin, Monobasic Calcium Phosphate, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vit....
But it is WHOLE fish meal, not the left over cannery waste.
I believe that both Omega One AND Tetramin Tropical Flakes are quality fish foods. As well as New Life Spectrum and Ocean Nutrition. (The latter 3 ALL use whole fish meal and all fish foods use some form of grain starch as a binder. The trick is to minimize the grain as it is not digested well by fish and passes through as excess waste.
I also feed frozen bloodworms and daphnia (Hikari brand here) but only once a week as a "treat." Daphnia is a good food, but bloodworms like any worms should not be fed more than once a week..
I feed white worms (70% protein, 25% fat) about 3 or more times a week for growing out fry/young adults (as recommended by many professional breeders).
For a staple flake food I call 'Special Blend', I currently mix equal amounts of Omega One, Tetramin, and Cobalt tropical flakes. For live foods I feed cultured white worms, micro worms, and daphnia. Occasional frozen foods include spirulina brine shrmp and mysis shrimp.