Making the switch to NLS.

[RD.]

The moment that one decides to play God, and place a fish in a glass cage, the "natural" feeding method pretty much becomes a moot point.
Very few fish kept in captivity eat anything remotely close to what they would typically consume in the wild.

To state that one should only feed what is natural to the fish, makes little sense for most people that are keeping fish in aaquariums. In the wild fish don't eat frozen seafood, either. They don't have to be concerned with B1 deficiencies from thiaminase issues, and those that consume prey in the wild are also consuming the stomach contents of those prey, which in many cases consist of numerous phytoplankton, zooplankton, etc-etc.
Feeding live/frozen is fine, if you are supplementing that frozen/live food with the proper balance of vitamins & trace elements, as in the same level of micronutrients as your fish would consume in the wild.

It's all about balance, and in some cases feeding what appears to be a more "natural" diet, may in actuality fall far short of some of the higher quality commercial foods on the market.

My advice when dealing with fresh fish products, buy fresh, freeze for 48 hrs at 0F (-18C) to destroy any potential parasites, and use up within 30 days or so. Freezing will not destroy all micro-organisms, so there is still some risk involved in feeding frozen products, but freezing certainly minimizes those risks.

Freezing tends to also increase the concentration of thiaminase in tissue, so the shorter the duration in the freezer, the better. Little is known as to how thiaminase affects various species, and according to various studies the amounts found (even within the same species of fish) tend to vary as well.


Most public aquariums tend to supplement to avoid deficiencies. (especially B1, vitamin E, and vitamin C) IMO fish kept in captivity require full vitamin & trace mineral supplementation to some degree or another, which is where a high quality pellet can become worth its weight in gold. (even if it means stuffing some pellets into your frozen fish)

Also note that even frozen fish that have been unthawed under refrigeration , should be fed within 24 hrs. (or discarded)


A good read on this subject can be found in the following link.

FEEDING CAPTIVE PISCIVOROUS ANIMALS:
NUTRITIONAL ASPECTS OF FISH AS FOOD

http://www.nagonline.net/Technical Papers/NAGFS00597Fish-JONIFEB24,2002MODIFIED.pdf


To the OP, sorry for derailing your original topic.
I'll go back to my cave now. :lipsseale​

 

[Somethingfishyinc.net]

Not sure if I chimed in earlier on this. I will not go into depth on this because I have more other pressing things to get done.
I have been using & selling NLS since its existence. It is as of now the next food on the market. I have just about every food there is in a basket at my shop that I read up on & try some?
Some of the foods out there that start with White fish meal is one of if not he worse ingredient in a fish food. Most people do not know what is actually in these foods. White fish meal is the bare bones & nothing else which is also high in ash content etc. The first ingredient is the most ingredient in the food like it is of the foods we eat.
I compare NLS as the Science Diet of the fish foods but there is up & coming foods/companies that want to compete like Iams pet foods did to compete against Science diet back in the day. So in time there will be better foods from a couple more eventually which should be good for the consumer & their fishes.

my 2 cents

 

[RD.]

Science Diet and Iams both went down the toilet yrs ago.
I would rather let my dogs forage for food in the neighborhood garbage cans than eat either of those foods.

 

[ballinouttacntrol]

I find it odd that by someone attempting to educate people on NLS and fish good in general, someone can be turned off by it? It just sounds like you're intentionally turning a blind eye because of a few people's post on the internet (or maybe it's just RD's that are getting under your skin)?

I'll admit that RD comes off as a spokesperson for NLS in almost every pro NLS post though.

 

[RD.]

White fish meal is the bare bones & nothing else which is also high in ash content etc.

That's not entirely correct. Like most generic fish meals, white fish meal typically consists of processing plant leftovers, which generally consists of the whole fish sans the fillet. There is still some meat left on the carcass, although it's not a whole lot. Hence the reason that it is high in ash content, from the excess of bones & scales.

The fish meal used in New Life is comprised from whole, Canadian caught, Herring fish.




BTW - I'm not a spokesperson for anyone. I don't get paid a single penny for the time that I spend on fish forums helping to educate fellow fishkeepers on the finer points of fish nutrition.

Like many other members of MFK I have a great passion for this hobby, I just happen to specialize in one certain area which is why most of my comments are regarding that portion of the hobby.

If that's somehow a crime, then yes, I'm guilty.

 

[ballinouttacntrol]

Just to clarifye, i know you're not a spokesperson, i simply meant it when i said "comes off as". Not an attempted play on words

 

[Omega007]

Anyone tries 10mm Mega fish formula? I love to see a feeding video.

 

[Darth Scohin]

I compare NLS as the Science Diet of the fish foods but there is up & coming foods/companies that want to compete like Iams pet foods did to compete against Science diet back in the day. So in time there will be better foods from a couple more eventually which should be good for the consumer & their fishes.

my 2 cents

In NO way Shape or form is NLS comparable to Shi...Science Diet, More Like
NLS=Holistic Foods (Wellness Blue etc)
Hikari=Advanced Food(Nutro, Natures Recipe Etc)
Omega One=Holistic Food
Tetra Topfin=Dog Chow Iams Science Diet etc.....I may take this challenge on my African Pike im getting next week ( if they wont eat pellet it might be a good Omega One comparison-I say that because feeder guppies are fed Omega One).....RD seems to be a spokesman, I love Blue Buffalo BUT because of budget issues I cannot afford it. However, it is my Number one Recommendation for people with dogs this I think is how RD is Loves the food and swears by it but does not work for them?

 

[reptileguy2727]

I don't have a video but my 10" pacus eat it, they will swallow 4 before any hit the bottom. Then you can hear them crunching them as they are a little more full and play with it rather than just swallowing it whole.

I hated NLS the first time I tried it. I saw that all the ingredients were the same and yet claimed to feed everything. Then I tried it again later and the results speak for themselves. I have had a lot of fish breed on nothing but NLS (goldfish, discus, gold barbs, crayfish, shrimp, tons of cichlids, etc.). I personally find it hard to take it seriously when people argue so intensely against something they have never really tried for an extended period of time in a variety of situations.

 

[vfc]

The moment that one decides to play God, and place a fish in a glass cage, the "natural" feeding method pretty much becomes a moot point.
Very few fish kept in captivity eat anything remotely close to what they would typically consume in the wild.

To state that one should only feed what is natural to the fish, makes little sense for most people that are keeping fish in aaquariums. In the wild fish don't eat frozen seafood, either. They don't have to be concerned with B1 deficiencies from thiaminase issues, and those that consume prey in the wild are also consuming the stomach contents of those prey, which in many cases consist of numerous phytoplankton, zooplankton, etc-etc.
Feeding live/frozen is fine, if you are supplementing that frozen/live food with the proper balance of vitamins & trace elements, as in the same level of micronutrients as your fish would consume in the wild.

It's all about balance, and in some cases feeding what appears to be a more "natural" diet, may in actuality fall far short of some of the higher quality commercial foods on the market. ....

Interesting thought; all my fish come from Central/South America and Africa. There is nothing in the NLS ingredient list that is natural; except maybe the algae. Everything else (Antarctic Krill, Squid, Herring, Wheat Flour, Soybean, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Spinach, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Pea, Red and Green Cabbage, Apple, Apricot, Mango, Kiwi, Papaya, Peach, Pear, etc.) is unnatural.