NLS Exclusivly!! Best results no over weight fish, never see any illness. Really like this food. Pets and ponds has it.
How many different foods are you feeding?
- Thread starter jagster
- Start date
While I think NLS has the best ingredients out of any fish food that's currently sold in the U.S., it's kind of disappointing that they don't have more variety for people with fish that need more protein in their diet, like my Jag or any other carnivorous fish. For that reason, I supplement my Jag`s staple NLS diet with hikari carnivore pellets... which honestly doesn't have the greatest ingredients list but he seems to respond better having that extra protein in his diet. NLS claims that their food will work as the staple for your fish no matter what you have, but if you're able to feed NLS as a staple to herbivores AND carnivores, there's definitely something wrong there. Being that NLS is the best fish food in the U.S., you'd think they'd give us a wider range of foods to choose from. That's the only complaint I have, otherwise I like their food a lot and will continue to use it... just not exclusively.
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lol here in windsor i was suprised when i found hikary. we dont have different formulas jsut hikary gold, thats why i have to supplement with so many other foods which is pretty annoying having to go to different stores to pick up different foods
From what I have learned.... Its protien QUALITY over quantity! NLS actually has much better source of protein then Hikari and is much better for your Jag! Fish that are strickly carnivores in the wild also get all that good stuff that herbavores eat because it is inside the fish they eat! I would be more concerned about your Jag consuming all that wheat and soy fillers that hikari is mostly made up of instead of a couple points in the "protein" slot
Yes I own a fish that is 63 years old!
Can I ask you guys if you feed veg to cichlids? that is if they even eat it; I've got firemouths, cons, and a JD at the moment. The diet just now consists of flakes, pellets, and frozen.
A while back I inquired about protein levels in NLS, especially their discus formula. The answer was their labels reveal only minimum levels as required by labeling regulations. NLS apparently considers the actual levels proprietary.
Some general information regarding protein levels in fish diet:
1) Just about any fish has an optimal protein range at which any higher is actually counter-productive. From a discus study--
Protein requirements are not wildly different for different types of freshwater fish for which I've found studies, usually within several percent in any particular study-- or this can vary more between different studies I've seen, which may have something to do with variations in protein source or other conditions between studies. IMO if you were keeping a single fish or single species in a tank you could do some research to try and learn their particular protein requirements, but in the range of 40-50% for young fish is typical for most fish I've done any reading on.
2) Source of protein in a product definitely makes a difference. It's not just protein %, amino acid profile is a key. Higher than necessary protein or poorer sources of protein basically increases nitrogen waste. Feed efficiency should be considered:
Aquaculture source
3) Some terrestrial plant ingredients actually inhibit protein processing because of the effect on digestive enzymes. The higher the level of these ingredients the greater the effect. Source
From another source:
...not trying to be an expert, but this is from some of the reading I've done in science and aquaculture sources over the years.
Some general information regarding protein levels in fish diet:
1) Just about any fish has an optimal protein range at which any higher is actually counter-productive. From a discus study--
A kilogram is 1000 grams, so essentially protein level up to 50% equaled good growth, protein level just 5% higher equaled reduced growth. And that's young growing discus, not adults. Adult fish generally need less protein than young growing fish. I've seen these numbers vary slightly between different studies, other sources I've seen say 45% was optimal for growing discus. In pretty much any study I've seen, the higher the protein beyond a moderate level, the less was actually used by the fish and the more was passed on as waste.
Protein requirements are not wildly different for different types of freshwater fish for which I've found studies, usually within several percent in any particular study-- or this can vary more between different studies I've seen, which may have something to do with variations in protein source or other conditions between studies. IMO if you were keeping a single fish or single species in a tank you could do some research to try and learn their particular protein requirements, but in the range of 40-50% for young fish is typical for most fish I've done any reading on.
2) Source of protein in a product definitely makes a difference. It's not just protein %, amino acid profile is a key. Higher than necessary protein or poorer sources of protein basically increases nitrogen waste. Feed efficiency should be considered:
Aquaculture source
Case in point is discus imo. Can you grow them well on a high protein diet, for example beef heart? "Thousands of discus keepers can't be wrong", so, sure, you can. But guess why so many discus keepers find they need to do so many water changes-- level and sources of protein. The water quality issue resulting from too high or unbalanced protein is mentioned in a number of aquaculture studies I've seen. It's not just nitrogen, phosphates can also be a side effect of unbalanced protein.
3) Some terrestrial plant ingredients actually inhibit protein processing because of the effect on digestive enzymes. The higher the level of these ingredients the greater the effect. Source
From another source:
...not trying to be an expert, but this is from some of the reading I've done in science and aquaculture sources over the years.
Nice work neutrino, to which I concur 100%.
The crude protein % found on a label is simply a nitrogen reading taken from someone wearing a white lab coat. It doesn't tell you anything about the quality of the amino acids, or the overall digestibility of that protein to the fish eating it. It's just a "crude" number that can be used as a rough reference when comparing diets.
As far as NLS, the channa shown in the pic below were raised on an exclusive diet of NLS. They actually turned their noses up at frozen shrimp, tilapia, etc, and would only eat NLS pellets/wafers. I don't think one can own a fish more carnivorous than this species.
The crude protein % found on a label is simply a nitrogen reading taken from someone wearing a white lab coat. It doesn't tell you anything about the quality of the amino acids, or the overall digestibility of that protein to the fish eating it. It's just a "crude" number that can be used as a rough reference when comparing diets.
As far as NLS, the channa shown in the pic below were raised on an exclusive diet of NLS. They actually turned their noses up at frozen shrimp, tilapia, etc, and would only eat NLS pellets/wafers. I don't think one can own a fish more carnivorous than this species.
