Ionic good or bad ? For fh

PoseidonTheSRD17

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Oct 22, 2017
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Anyone ever used ionic for their flowerhorn? If so how was it! Was it good? Bad? Okay? Better thank xo? Or what haha

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RD.

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Appears to be another Asian made FH food full of what is most likely synthetic color enhancing agents, such as Carophyll Pink (aka Power Pink). Could also be hormones, or both, who knows? http://flowerhornforsale.com/index.php/pages/IONIC-Flowerhorn-Food-ingredients.html

Ionic Flowerhorn Food Ingredients
Protien 45%
Crude Fiber 3%
Crude Ash 12%
Vitamin C 5%
Power Pink 20%
Fat 7%
Moisture 7%

See following thread for more details on FH foods, and some of their ingredients. https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/flowerhorn-pellet-food.693976/
 

islandguy11

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I used it for a few days recently; turned my fishes' pooh quite pink/red color, so stopped using it. Switched to Hikari Bio Gold+ and NLS Cichlasoma = normal brown color. Also not comfortable that Ionic doesn't even list the ingredients on the product packaging, have to search the internet to find what RD posted above.
 
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the animal guy

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I think it okto feed it. It’s made for FHs .. it has power pink in it then great..
 

islandguy11

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From this site and others I've learned that 'super', 'quick' etc. enhancements often come with a price for a fishes' long-term health/longevity. So I tossed a bag of Okiko Platinum, as well as the XO Red, and then the Ionic too.

After checking out Power Pink just now though, it looks pretty all-natural and they claim no hormones.

So granted what RD says in last post is most likely true, (and probably applies to most fish food I'd reckon, with a few exceptions) -- are there any known possible health risks associated with long-term Pink Power usage? Is pink poo ok? (it was almost neon lol).

Perhaps Ionic would be better as a supplementary food rather than a staple.
 

RD.

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You won't find long term studies regarding Carophyll Pink & tropical fish, because quite frankly the people that use these types of products don't give a damn about potential health issues from long term use, or excessive use.

These types of cheap short cuts are used by breeders in SE Asia on Discus, Flowerhorns, etc for the sole purpose of artificially enhancing the appearance of their fish, in order to enhance the thickness of their wallet. SE Asia breeders are also well known for their use of hormones to artificially enhance fish, especially juvenile African cichlids. Another method of artificial color enhancement that I detest.

That was a quote from a thread that I posted in 7 years ago.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/my-red-discus-before-after-carophyll-pink.373701/

Power Pink is with almost 100% certainty, Carophyll Pink based which is a coal/tar derivative. Nothing natural about it.
 

islandguy11

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Thx for the further info & links RD -- enough to convince me to keep away from anything with Power Pink in it, I much prefer a more natural, long-term approach.

On a related note (and not to hijack OP's post) -- was just noticing my Hikari Foodsticks have "Red 3 artificial coloring" in them. I'm pretty sure Red 3 is linked to cancer, so was wondering why they even need to put it in (none in Bio-Gold+, Massivore Delight, etc.)...
 

RD.

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Red dye # 3 is typically used in food to enhance the appearance of the product.
 
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