Alternative pellets

Peckoltia

Dovii
MFK Member
Dec 22, 2005
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Hi

When talking rays and pellet foods most people feed hikari, and I have done so myself for many years. Mostly massivore and carnivore. The problem with this stuff (I have found) is firstly the price, I am generally paying $100AUD per Kg (2.2lb) in Australia online - it is more in most stores $110-130 a Kg.

The second point for me is its addictive nature, there is something in carnivore is particular that is like crack. I have found Rays that are fed carnivore for the bulk of their diet are very reluctant to eat other pellets and to some extent other foods. The smell can also be quite horrendous at times (even with excellent filtration). I made the mistake once of seeding a cycling tank with a couple spoonfuls of carnivore - made my house smell like a stagnant river. Never again.

I went on the hunt for something cheaper and less addictive. I have been feeding my rays at the moment a mixture of Fishwerx 'gold' and Otohime ep2, with great results. Both have proteins that are not derived from plant proteins (something i think is important. Both are about 1/4 the price of the more popular Hikari. My rays are growing at an equal rate to when I was feeding Hikari, and the waste that is produced comes out in spirals (similar to hiker) but it breaks down and is consumed by the filters much easier.

All in all I think it is a win for my rays and system, much better on the hip pocket.

This is not a Hikari bashing thread, just want to discuss alternatives. I think Hikari make great food, but IMO/IME it comes with some pitfalls.

I also feed my rays a mix of frozen food. I am a fisherman so I always have plenty of locally caught fresh fillets and frames that I feed my rays - I try minimise feeding frozen foods that are known to be high in thiaminase. Fresh locally caught squid is a great alternative.

What alternatives do people feed?

Cheers,

Alex
 

mscamp02

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Sep 13, 2011
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Mt. Sterling KY
I've tried switching to a couple different types of kens pellets but had no luck. Massivore is crack, easy to break new rays to pellets with but hard to get them off it.
 

murray8698

Piranha
MFK Member
Feb 2, 2013
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cincinnati, oh
I started my rays on massivore. Now im using cichlid gold medium you can buy 4lbs and its still cheaper than 1 2lb bag of massivore. I also use nls 10mm predator comes in a big bucket price is around the same as massivore, it last alot longer for me than massivore does. The color of my rays has improved tremendously since they've been on the Nls pellets.
 
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SHARK13

Aimara
MFK Member
Oct 29, 2012
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+1 on NLS. I love the colors my rays and other fish have now. It can be found for a very reasonable price if you look hard enough or have a hookup where you can get it at or near wholesale. I can get NLS at half the price of massivore in bulk, so I have started going that route. Massivore is like crack though! It took me quite some time to get my rays to eat NLS and not massivore but now they will destroy either. I'm now mixing NLS and massivore. I may ween off massivore completely as it has been stated before it makes the water smell awful! I will still use massivore for pups, as it's easier to break in halfs or quarters. NLS pellets are quite firm and compressed. The quality of NLS though is exceptional!
 

Tig Phish

Aimara
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Sep 4, 2015
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I started my rays on massivore. Now im using cichlid gold medium you can buy 4lbs and its still cheaper than 1 2lb bag of massivore. I also use nls 10mm predator comes in a big bucket price is around the same as massivore, it last alot longer for me than massivore does. The color of my rays has improved tremendously since they've been on the Nls pellets.
Sinking Hikari Cichlid Gold medium FTW. $20 for 2.2 lbs (thats 1 kg for my metric friends). Used this stuff for my aro, dats, rays, plecos, loaches, etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Hikari-2-2-Po...062399&sr=8-1&keywords=hikari+cichlid+sinking
 
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ECW

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2011
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Oahu, Hi.
NLS is too hard of pellets IMO. Besides discus and plecos, all my other monsters hate it
Most of my fish love it. I've only recently had experiences where they prefer something else. It's like health food. I prefer it over Hikari any day... That's McDonald's... A lot of problems went away after switching from Hikari to NLS a long time ago. I do like the massivore and carnivore pellets. Recently bought a bag of bio gold plus... Which I wish I didn't after learning about probiotics through the sticky... My fishes health, looks, and longevity has spoken volumes with NLS. Many fish have outlived (by a lot) their expected life expectancy with NLS.
 
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ECW

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2011
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Oahu, Hi.
It helps to get the right sized pellets. It may seem kinda small. But they need to be able to swallow it easily.
 

Peckoltia

Dovii
MFK Member
Dec 22, 2005
687
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I have also tried NLS. I found the waste my rays were producing was not the tight spirals I was used to, instead was more like giant skid marks all over my nice bare bottom tank ;)

Has anyone found this to be the case?
 
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