Best pellet mix up.

[FishingOut]

To those who keep making this statement, could you please explain what Hikari Gold adds in nutrient value, that your other food/foods don't contain? Corn Flakes? MSG? Gluten Meal? An incredibly low inclusion rate of Vitamin C? (78 mg/kg)

Just curious with regards to the logic and/or science behind the "variety" statements.

Need proof? For the next month I want you to eat a Salmon filet, Brussel sprouts, peice of bread, and orange juice for every meal 3 times a day, 21 times a week. No seasonings or condoments. Will you live, Sure. But be sure come back and tell me how much you enjoy eating this same dish nonstop.
Lets face it, Fish dont have much to get excited about in an enclosed tank, So the least you can do is keep them stimulated with the different foods they eat.
And if you want to compare to what they eat in the wild, They dont get the same nutritional value at every siting. Sometimes they get proteins, Sometimes they get veg. This is how its worked for millions of years. Thats why I switch it up daily, To cover a more vast supply of nutrients if 1 food is lacking in a department.
*Hamfist made some good points as well.

 

[MrGillz]

<P>I personally feed all mine Hikari. I mix biogold+ with cichlid excell aand it seems to work well!</P>

 

[RD.]

Marshall - the question was specific to that one formula. I don't need any proof to see with my own 2 eyes that the formula in question is creating the very "holes" that Hamfist is attempting to keep closed. IMO one should at least go with the Bio-Gold, which has a far better inclusion rate of micronutrients, than the Gold.


Attempting to anthropomorphize your fish, doesn't prove anything other than the fact that you obviously have never seen how a fish reacts to eating the same food long term. Every fish that I have owned over the past decade, has reacted the same way when the food comes out - typically very aggressive. So much so that I don't lift my glass lids, I toss the food in front of the filter output to avoid getting soaked!

Does that sound like bored fish to you?

I don't give fish the option to get picky, they learn very quick to eat what's being offered.

One simply needs to look at this with more logic, and reason, and not with human emotions. Fish aren't capable of being bored with the same diet. As long as the food is highly nutritional, and tastes good, they will eat.

In the wild Harlequin shrimp eat only the feet of the Starfish, do they get bored of this diet?

Do the caterpillar of Monarch butterflies get bored of only eating milkweed?

Do Koala bears get bored of eating eucalyptus leaves?

Of course not!

Fish also aren't capable of knowing which food is more nutritionally sound, so the fact that they prefer one food, over another, should never influence a fish keepers choice of foods.

You want proof?

Drop by at feeding time ........

 

[FishingOut]

Neil,
I hate the word Anthropomorphize, It somehow suggests you consider yourself a higher being than an animal, When you yourself are an animal. Its a contradicting word.

Isolated adaptations have greatly benefited those organisms. Regarding Harequins, Starfish are an easy prey, Plus they can harvest them hundreds of times. Monarchs, Milkweek is the perfect plant from birth to molt, And koalas learned the forrest floor is a dangouras place. These animals have adapted to eat these foods, So they dont have choice in the matter. Fish have not evolved to eat pellets. So comparing what humans eat to fish is a closer comparison than that of species with isolated adaptations.

Point being, fish havent adapt to eat a single source of nutrition. They have a wide vareity needs, Which personally I dont think 1 food can offer, No matter what sythesized vitamins said are available. Yes, Some foods will be better than others, And some fish wont eat certain foods. Ex: My Fenestratus wont touch shrimp, IDK why. Ive been influenced not to feed him shrimp because it will rot in the tank. A fish will eat what it has to to survive, Whether its Hikari, dog food, hot dogs, nectarines. A hungry fish will eat all of the above without a second thought. Its a matter of instinctual survival, Not that they are so excited for the foods they almost leap out of the tank.

Also, I dont believe an exsesive amount of water soluble nutrients are better anyways. Its going to foul your water, in turn making your fish less healthy from poor water conditions.

 

[Chrisplosion]

Lol

 

[Water]

Fish also aren't capable of knowing which food is more nutritionally sound, so the fact that they prefer one food, over another, should never influence a fish keepers choice of foods.

+2

 

[RD.]

Well if one is going to attribute human characteristics to non-human creatures, I'm not sure what better word to describe it? Are we also to believe that fish can be sad, happy, remorseful, sympathetic, embarrassed, or paranoid? Of course humans are higher beings than fish, at least I know that I am.

You seem to be confusing a single source of nutrition - with a "wide variety" of nutrients. I'm simply saying they can be one in the same, is that so difficult to understand? Do you really think that your fish cares how those nutrients are supplied to them, or in what order?

In captivity, the vast majority of fish only care how the food smells, and how it tastes .... period. The rest is up to us. If you want to feed 20 different foods to get the job done that's fine by me, but please don't attempt to tell me that I can't do the same thing, possibly even better, with just one formula of food. Because I have, for many years. And in that regards I certainly don't stand alone.

Also, I dont believe an exsesive amount of water soluble nutrients are better anyways. Its going to foul your water, in turn making your fish less healthy from poor water conditions.

Who said anything about excessive?

BIG difference between 78 mg/kg of Vitamin C, and what would be considered excessive. FYI - most cheap generic farm feeds have twice the Vitamin C content, typically 150-200 mg/kg, which IMO is just barely borderline for being adequate. In many aquarium situations, with higher stress levels, it wouldn't be even close to adequate.

I honestly wasn't looking for a debate, it's not like anyone on MFK is going to out debate me on the science of fish nutrition.


I was simply asking a question about what Hikari Gold adds in nutrient value, that the other food/foods don't contain - by those that feed it as part of their "wide variety".

If you can answer that question, Marshall, I'm all ears.

 

[Fishnthehood]

Didn't know when I started this thread it would get this deep. Okay let me ask this question? I'm going to purchase some food for my Flowerhorns and Hybrids and would like to know what you guys think is the best mix. What I currently do if dump all the pellets i'm using and feed them together as a mixture of different types of pellets.

 

[Water]

Didn't know when I started this thread it would get this deep. Okay let me ask this question? I'm going to purchase some food for my Flowerhorns and Hybrids and would like to know what you guys think is the best mix. What I currently do if dump all the pellets i'm using and feed them together as a mixture of different types of pellets.

IMO, if you feed NLS pellets exclusively, it is much better than mixing a bunch of different pellets

 

[FishingOut]

Its the starches in Hikari.
Personally I believe certain fish can feel all said emotions mention above. I have a Dempsey who is certainly paranoid.
But, If your trying to say synthetic vitamins are better than the real thing, You out your mind. Vitamins are living enzyme complexes that naturally produce biochemical reactions within animals. Synthetic Vitamins are chemicals that produce drug reactions. Synthetic asorbic acid has the same chemical make-up as vitamin C, But its doesnt react the same way, or provide the oxident properties. Most human vitamin supplements contain synthetics, and many scientists have deemed alot of them useless, and some can promote cancer, rather than defend against it. They dont contain co-enzyms that are needed to be absorbed properly, Im not a bio-chemist so its hard to explain. Also considering them being water soluble being soaked in water certainly doesnt help matters. So yes, I am saying your synthetic fish foods cant compete with the real thing.

Im not saying they are better from experience, But from a scientific stand point you can see why variety does play its roles. A piece of red bell pepper is a much more reliable source of vitamin C than any mass produced fish supplement. From every standpoint, include how its swallowed, to how its broken down within the body.