What is the consensus with Southern Delight Fish food?

[RD.]

Most countries have governing bodies that oversee the pet food manufactured in their countries, and their labels. It isn't just a total free for all out there, except maybe in parts of China. But most certainly the quality control is typically a lot greater for both pet food AND human grade food here in North America, than in many parts of Asia. I can wear work boots made in China too, they won't kill me, or cause me to go lame, but I prefer to spend the extra money and wear a pair of Redwing boots made in the USA, that will in the end cost me far less than the low cost crap made in China as they will last me 4 times as long.


Feather meal isn't going to kill anyones fish, neither is corn, or soybeans, especially when use in a limited manner. IMO this is not a bad food, it's just that IMO there are far better foods, and I choose to pick quality for my fish. I don't need to test herring meal against menhaden meal, or shrimp meal against antarctic krill meal, I already know the difference in quality (and price), just as I know the difference between ground beef, and prime rib. I don't feed corn, soybeans, or feather meal products to my dogs, and I'm not going to feed them to my fish. It's really that simple for me, and was a decision that I made many years ago. This isn't about brand A vs brand B. I don't care what brand it is, or what company makes it.

For those that are happy feeding those types of raw ingredients to their fish, then do yourself a favor and buy in bulk directly from the feed mill that makes it. You will save a TON of money over the lifetime of your fish. If all one cares about is growth, and reasonable color in your fish, pretty much any generic trout chow made in the USA will fit the bill. In fact, most of them will certainly outperform most tropical fish foods when it comes to growth. Your fish proabbly won't live as long as if raised on a premium food designed for warm water species, but who cares about those kinds of long term feed trial results, right?

 

[AQUAMONSTER]

NLS has become a craze over the past few years. I'm sure no one here has been using it for 10+ years so how do you know how much food will affect the life span of a fish. People fall way to hard for the bs that companies put out there about their product. I know SD is a great food and no fish I've kept has refused it unlike NLS. NLS is a great food don't get me wrong but who gives a crap. No matter what food you feed your fish they will be fine. Are some foods better yes but ask yourself what keeps these crap fish foods on the shelf? No one really cares and will feed whatever they want. Some proof can be my 8 year old female convict that eats tetra flakes everyday twice a day. She has great color and looks as healthy as my year old yoga who eats SD.

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[Jc1119]

I haven't fed any food for 10 years exclusively, but I have almost 3 in on one and 1 on another.

I'll give SD a spin for a few years side by side with feeds I trust to see what if any differences I can see.



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[AQUAMONSTER]

Fish to me does very little for color as its the genes that play more of a factor in this. I can tell you I've never had such growth from any other food as SD has given me.

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[trace]

I'm about value. I feel like s.d is a fairly decent food, much higher quality than most. However, it's ingredients don't stack up to NLS or Northfin, and even in bulk it cost almost the exact same as NLS. As for fast growth, if I want to push my fish a little I would supplement with red wrigglers, krill, and tilapia with NLS as my staple. Trust me, S.D. Won't keep pace with that combination. Fast growth isn't something I really strive for however, I'm it for the long haul with almost all of my fish. Fast growth doesn't equal higher quality. Now if the ditched some of the lower quality ingredients and dropped the price per pound some, I would be more interested. It's certainly better than some foods out there. I received samples of it and some fish smashed it as many have said. Most however turned their nose to it and refused to eat it and seemed to dislike it so much that getting them to eat any pellets after trying out on them became difficult. It took several of my fish 10 days to warm back up to pellets( and that was all I would offer) after that.


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[Endo]

Fish to me does very little for color as its the genes that play more of a factor in this. I can tell you I've never had such growth from any other food as SD has given me.

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If your about growth, massivore would stomp on SD. Not the healthiest, but it'll do what you want.
Even FD krill will pack on size in an all natural sense.
Therefore, you shouldn't be feeding SD just for growth especially when its protein levels aren't the highest

I still haven't heard anybody defend the idea behind the probiotics, therefore making me determine they are indeed not stable


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[AQUAMONSTER]

If your about growth, massivore would stomp on SD. Not the healthiest, but it'll do what you want.
Even FD krill will pack on size in an all natural sense.
Therefore, you shouldn't be feeding SD just for growth especially when its protein levels aren't the highest

I still haven't heard anybody defend the idea behind the probiotics, therefore making me determine they are indeed not stable


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I didnt buy SD for growth. In was looking for a food all my fish would take. I was feeding 4 different foods in my tish room. Now SD is all I use. I've used wigglers and krill before but stopped as around me they are harder to get in the winter and I won't pay high fish store prices for them

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[RD.]

I'm not sure how long some people here have been keeping fish, but NLS was developed approx. 20 yrs ago. The owner of New Life started in MI as a wholesale distributor in 1970 selling both marine and fresh water tropical fish, and later moved to Homestead Florida, in 1975 and established New Life Exotic Fish raising cichlids. Pablo's food isn't exactly a recent craze. lol I have personally been using NLS for over a decade, and know many others in the fish game who have been using it just as long, and longer. Add to that some of the most prestigious public aquariums in the country that also feed it, some for the past 10 years or more.

I've also used pretty much every other brand of fish food on the market over the years, except those that I felt were simply too low of quality to even waste testing. Raw ingredients such as corn and soybeans simply don't pass my sniff test. I have no issue with those who choose to feed those types of raw ingredients to their fish, but I do have a problem with those who through utter ignorance attempt to promote these types of foods as though they are somehow superior to some of the premium brands currently on the market. Brands that keep grains & grain by-products to a minimum, because they understand the cons of using too much terrestrial based plant matter.


As previously stated growth alone is a poor measure of overall feed quality, most trout chow will give better gains in growth than any tropical food on the market, due to not just the amino acid (protein) profile, but also due to the high fat levels found in those foods. Fish use fat as a source of energy, so high fat levels ensure that the fish doesn't utilize any amount of protein for energy, some commercial feeds are as high as 30% crude fat. The problem is that over time "warm water" tropical species of fish will suffer due to the fatty acids in these types of food, and end up with heavy fatty deposits internally.





Endo - the probiotics used in most commercial foods, including this one, are based on Bacillus sp. The reason being Bacillus strains are thermo-stable which makes them much easier to use in heat processed pellets. I discussed this and much more in the following past discussion on probiotics, which was later made a sticky.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?536531-The-Use-of-Probiotics-in-Aquaculture

These type of bacteria are not just derived from dirt, they are dirt cheap, and can be added via the water column by anyone that wants to incorporate them into their fishes diet and/or environment. I personally dose my tanks weekly, for a few pennies a month. Adding probiotics to a lower quality feed to improve digestibilty (or waste in the tank) is IMO a very ass backwards way of thinking.

 

[Endo]

Thanks for clarifying Neil.
So even though they are thermo-stable, what ensures they are being nourished without the use of pre-biotics?
Also, in terms of human consumption, most probiotics cannot survive our GI's acidic system when taken in liquid form, therefore the use of hyper-mellulose or enteric coated capsules are being used to ensure they are alive when delivered to our lower GI tract, along with the pre-biotics.
Im not sure how it works in fish though when used in pellets and/or when added to the tank in liquid form?
I add liquid probiotics to the tank myself but always wondered if it actually is absorbed by the fish and if the bacteria survives.


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[Oscar Mike]

I'm about value. I feel like s.d is a fairly decent food, much higher quality than most. However, it's ingredients don't stack up to NLS or Northfin, and even in bulk it cost almost the exact same as NLS

That's exactly what I've been thinking... why even bother testing SD when a proven brand like NLS is basically the same price in bulk? SD is being hyped like crazy on YouTube right now by a few well-known members of this site (who are also suppliers of SD and have their channels sponsored) so I'm pretty sure that's why it's been mentioned so much around here lately - not because of superior ingredients, results, or price