A different fish food question

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Jason_S

Jason_S

Polypterus
MFK Member
Oct 5, 2005
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Most people want to know what is the best brand of fish food, what is the best kind of dog food to feed their fish :screwy:, etc etc. I don't think I've ever seen anyone ask this question and I've been thinking about it lately and figured I'd pose the question to get some different opinions. So the question is....

Some brands, such as NLS, offer different varieties of fish food. So how important is it to go with the variety that is specially formulated for cichlids? For example, NLS offers a Koi formula, cichlid formula, cichlasoma formula, large fish food, medium fish food etc etc but the ingredients lists and "Guaranteed analysis" vary only slightly. For example, here are the ingredients lists and analysis for 3 of the NLS varieties:

SPECTRUM CICHLID FORMULA:
This is a sinking pellet that is 1.0mm in size. Excellent balanced diet for fresh or salt water fish. Contains 4 all natural color enhancing ingredients!

MAIN INGREDIENTS: Krill Meal, Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Amino Acids, Algae Meal, Soybean Meal, Fish Oil, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal- Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine, Biotin.

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS: Protein 34% Min., Fat 5% Min., Fiber 5% Max., Ash 9% Max., Moisture 10% Max.

SPECTRUM CICHLISOMA FORMULA:
This is a sinking pellet that is 1.0mm in size. It is excellent for fresh water fish. Contains 4 all natural color enhancing ingredients!

MAIN INGREDIENTS: Krill Meal, Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Amino Acids, Algae Meal, Soybean Meal, Fish Oil, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal- Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine, Biotin.

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS: Protein 34% Min., Fat 5% Min., Fiber 5% Max., Ash 9% Max., Moisture 10% Max.

SPECTRUM MEDIUM KOI FORMULA:
This is a floating pellet that is 4.5mm in size. It is excellent for all Koi. Contains 4 all natural color enhancing ingredients!

MAIN INGREDIENTS: Krill, Herring, Wheat Flour, Amino Acids, Algae Meal, Soybean Isolate, Fish Oil, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal- Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine, Biotin.

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS: Protein 34% Min., Fat 5% Min., Fiber 5% Max., Ash 9% Max., Moisture 8% Max.

There are very few differences but the first 2 ingredients in the koi formula are actual Krill and Herring and not krill meal or fish meal. When searching for fish foods and dog foods (for my dogs, not the fish ;) ), I've always tried to avoid brands that have XX meal type ingredients at the front of the list. So I'm just curious to see what others think. :)
 
good question - id like to know the answer too. is it just a marketing ploy or are there genuine differences?
 
Excelent question, I'll be interested to see how one this plays out. The ingrediant list on Omega One is impressive but I'm not an expert on labeling of ingrediants and the tricks of the trade.
 
There aren't a lot of differences between the formulas--high quality easily digestible protein source, a binder (or else it would fall apart--this is the wheat flour), algae/veggie/fruit from a couple different sources (I believe you are actually listing slightly older formulas, as they don't have the fruit and veggie mix), garlic, vitamins, and that's about it.

The more important thing is pellet size--pick a pellet your fish can easily swallow whole. If they have to do a lot of chewing, some of the pellet will inevitably be wasted and will pollute your water. Most people feed pellets that are too big.

Thera is slightly higher in protein in fat, Cichlid formula is slightly lower, and formulas like "medium fish" are in between.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by the "fruit and veggie" mix, but these were copied and pasted from www.kensfish.com. These are varieties that are currently offered for sale from Kens Fish.
 
As far as the whole fish meal thing, that is mostly deceptive labeling on the parts of companies like omega one. Don't let them fool you, omega one uses fish meals. And fish meal is not a bad source of protein, it really depends on the exact manufacturing process, which are pretty much trade secrets.
 
Here is the more recent ingredient list (to my knowledge):

Typical Ingredients: Whole Antarctic Krill Meal, Whole Herring Meal, Wheat Flour, Whole Squid Meal, Algae Meal, Soybean Isolate, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Vegetable and Fruit Extract (Spinach, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Pea, Red and Green Cabbage, Apple, Apricot, Mango, Kiwi, Papaya, Peach, Pear), Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal-Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine, DL Alphatocophero ( E ), Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Niacin, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, L-Ascorby-2-Polyphosphate (Stable C), Ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Choline Chloride.
 
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