Bad Foods

[IrnGynt]

That's why I make my own gel food. The key is to make sure you heat up the gelatin before you put it in the food (otherwise it won't "cure" when you put it in the fridge) and to make sure you use enough gelatin.

I did this about a year ago. Got lucky with the first batch as it came out perfect. Tried it again. Same combo and no luck. Couldn't get it to gel. 3 batches later (using more gel packs each time) and I gave up.

 

[RD.]

The first thing I look at are the ingredients. The first few should be some type of aquatic protein (fish, shrimp, etc.). If, instead, you see grain fillers as the first few ingredients, don't waste your money.

Wardley's Shrimp Pellets:

Shrimp meal, wheat flour, soy protein concentrate, hydrolyzed fish protein, corn gluten meal, brewers dried yeast, dried beet pulp, wheat germ meal, plankton, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C).

Omega One Shrimp Pellets:

Whole Shrimp, Whole Salmon, Cod, Whole Herring, Seafood Mix (including Krill, Rockfish, Shrimp, Squid, Clams, Salmon Eggs and Octopus), Wheat Flour, Fresh Kelp, Spirulina, Lecithin, Astaxanthin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate (source of vitamin C), Natural and Artifical Colours, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Folic Acid, Biotin, Inositol, Tocopherol (preservative), Ethoxyquin (preservative).

I'd go with the Omega One.

Not that I disagree with the choice made in that comment, but there is a huge misconception in this hobby with regards to how ingredients can be listed on fish food labels. As an example, without knowing the exact inclusion rates of each of the formulas listed above, it is quite possible that there is more shrimp in the first food, than there is "fish" in the second formula.


Using a 1 ton batch of food as an example, it doesn't matter how many types of "fish" are listed on the label, all that really matters is the total weight/percentage in that ton of food. In other words, 1,000 pounds of fish/shrimp, is 1,000 pounds of fish/shrimp, no matter if you use 10 types of fish to reach that number, or only 1 type of fish.

The problem with shrimp meal is it typically only consists of heads & shells, it's a by-product of the shrimp industry, so it's high in ash content, and low in protein, hence the reason why soy concentrate & hydrolyzed fish protein have been added - both of those ingredients are very high in crude protein.