Comparing Hikari Food Ingredients

[TheReefer]

I noticed looking at the ingredients to the hikari foods that a lot of them (for the larger cichlids and stuff) have the same ingredients, so I will copy and paste in their ingredients to show you how similar they are and to show you that it doesn't matter which one you get, they are all very similar, with the Carnisticks and Tropical Food Sticks being nearly identical

Hikari Cichlid Gold (mini, medium, and large) Fish meal, wheat flour, flaked corn, brewers dried yeast, corn gluten meal, wheat starch, rice bran, spirulina, garlic, DL-methionine, astaxanthin, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), inositol, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, disodium phosphate, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, red 3, yellow 5 (artificial colors)

Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets Fish meal, krill meal, brewers dried yeast, cassava starch, soybean meal, wheat starch, fish oil, wheat flour, dried seaweed meal, spirulina, DL-methionine, potato starch, astaxanthin, L-lysine, canthaxanthin, garlic, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), inositol, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, red 3 (artificial color)

Hikari Massivore Delite Fish meal, krill meal, brewers dried yeast, cassava starch, soybean meal, wheat starch, fish oil, wheat flour, dried seaweed meal, spirulina, DL-methionine, potato starch, astaxanthin, L-lysine, canthaxanthin, garlic, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), inositol, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, red 3 (artificial color)

Hikari Tropical Food Sticks Fish meal, krill meal, wheat flour, flaked corn, brewers dried yeast, wheat starch, potato starch, rice bran, DL-methionine, astaxanthin, L-lysine, canthaxanthin, garlic, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), inositol, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, red 3 (artificial color)

Hikari Jumbo Carnisticks Fish meal, krill meal, wheat flour, flaked corn, brewers dried yeast, wheat starch, potato starch, rice bran, DL-methionine, astaxanthin, L-lysine, canthaxanthin, garlic, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), inositol, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, red 3 (artificial color)

Hikari Cichlid Staple Wheat flour, flaked corn, fish meal, soybean meal, krill meal, corn gluten meal, alfalfa nutrient concentrate dehydrated, brewers dried yeast, kale meal, garlic, dried seaweed meal, mulukhiya meal, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), inositol, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, disodium phosphate, salt, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate

 

[islandguy11]

I'm certainly not going to defend Hikari's ingredient list, but their explanation in another thread about the difference between say Sinking Carnivore/Massivore, (as well as Tropical Foodsticks/Jumbo Carnisticks I think) is that the differences are indeed small (but important, as they relate to age/expected growth rate):

Sinking Carnivore Pellets or Massivore Delite?

Hi! I'm just wondering what would be best for my Datnoids, the Carnivore or the Massivore Delite? :) Also, what's the difference between them? (except the size) :confused:

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

"Sinking Carnivore Pellets would be best for this size. The formulations are very similar with the Sinking Carnivore Pellet offering faster growth than the Massivore Delite."

So I guess the ingredient lists themselves might not clearly illustrate these subtle differences in formulations (and I'm not saying their explanation is good/accurate, I'm just passing on the info).