It's not that I haven't heard some of the things that you posted, quite frankly I've been hearing & reading some of that info for longer than some of the people posting here have been alive. But that doesn't make it so, no matter who says it. This is in no way a slight towards Jeff, Gage, or Don, but none of those gents are experts on this subject. Keeping & breeding fish doesn't make one an expert in the science of fish health or nutrition. I can also guarantee you that if I picked up the phone right now & called Jeff or Gage, neither would consider themselves an expert on this subject. Don, well, who knows what he might think, but that's a whole nuther discussion.
And to quote another cichlid "expert" from one of his books that was published back in the mid 90's ......
Males of many Utaka will not regain or acquire their breeding colours when fed exclusively on dry food.
While what Ad Konings stated back in the early to mid 1990's may have had some truth to it, that certainly no longer applies if one uses a high quality dry food.
The people that I actually would consider experts in this field, are actual degree holding experts that have been working in the tropical fish industry just as long, or longer, than the gentlemen that you mentioned & they all tend to agree on this subject. Protein is not the problem. Experts such as Dr. Edward J. Noga, MS, DVM, a highly respected professor of aquatic medicine and immunology, who has been published approx. 150 times in related peer reviewed papers/journals. Dr. Ruth Francis-Floyd, BA, MS, DVM, another highly respected professor in this field, a certified fish pathologist, and program director of aquatic animal health at the University of Florida.
The reason that this old school way of thinking still persists, is due to many old school breeders & hobbyists not staying current with the most recent science. Not that anyone says that they have to, or even should, but it is what it is. No need for any further research on my part, at this stage of the game I could write a book on the subject. From what I have read, seen, and heard over the years, there isn't a single food on the market that hasn't been blamed for causing "bloat" in someones fish, yet thousands of other people feed the exact same food, to the exact same species, for years, with not a single incident. Funny how that works.
As posted in the previous link, there is absolutely no credible evidence to suggest that protein causes bloat in any species of fish, unless that protein is from low quality sources that are difficult for certain fish to digest. The notion that protein is to blame goes back 25+ years ago when most commercial foods did in fact contain vast amounts of terrestrial based grains, which did in fact cause gastrointestinal issues (especially when overfed) in some species of fish. Feed that same % of protein from a quality source such as fish, krill, shrimp, etc, and it's a non-issue. Not all protein is equal.
Part of the problem I see with this hobby is the same info from 25+ years ago keeps getting repeated over & over again until it almost becomes a fact. Things such as pellets need to be pre-soaked, or they will swell up inside your fish, causing bloat. Total nonsense if one uses a quality pellet food, yet that same myth is still repeated across numerous forums/books etc world-wide.
I know a commercial fish farmer in Florida that's been raising & breeding cichlids for 40+ years, someone who at the height of his career maintained 120 ponds (approximately 30,000 gal. each), 1500 concrete vats (250gal.-500gal. each) and 1,000 40 gallon fry tanks, raised millions of cichlids, including numerous bloat prone species, yet never once presoaked a pellet, and has always fed all of his fry/juvies high protein pellet food. Imagine that.
See post # 10 in the following link.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?448273-I-JUST-GOT-A-BEANI-What-do-I-feed-it
Stress is what causes the bloat IME, not diet. I think thats an old wives tale...
While not scientific and only done in 2 tanks, I have grown out beani feeding them every high protein food possible and as long as they were the kings of the tank or at least lived in a fight free environment, they never got bloat.
In other tanks of the same fish with cichlid tank mates challenging them and low protein diets (the staple being spirulina) they all died from bloat symptoms.
While that small sampling may not be considered scientific, the end results are a common theme when it comes to bloat prone species of fish.
I'm certainly no expert, and even at 50+ yrs of age for myself one of the greatest parts of this hobby is the never ending learning process. To close our eyes & ears, simply because someone who once wrote a book, or has kept fish for 25 years, says that we should, is a step backwards in the big learning curve of fishkeeping.
