Northfin?

[Tahn]

So I sold all of my fish except my oscar yesterday, in order to give my oscar a happy tank to himself. The person I sold to has his own fish room and seemed very knowledgeable. He recommended me Northfin fish foods for my oscar, has anyone heard of them or tried them?

 

[Grinch]

There are some strong feelings out there regarding this food. And competing lab tests that show it either has lots of a controversial preservative (ethoxyquin) or none. IMO it's he-said, she-said as to whether Northfin contains loads of ethoxyquin. The science behind the health risks of ethoxyquin for fish is not comprehensive, hence the controversy over this preservative in fish food.

Most of our fish readily ate Northfin when we fed it. We are currently feeding a mix of NLS and Ken's across our fish room.

 

[RD.]

The main issue was whether NF contained any EQ, as the manufacturer has clearly stated that they do not, even going so far as to advertise on their website that there are no preservatives added to their formulas.

From their website:

NorthFin Premium Fish Foods does not use any preservatives or harmful chemicals to preserve its product line.

The combination of certain ingredients/vitamins, along with the drying process itself allows the foods to be naturally preserved.

I personally do not believe the statement above to be factual, and the lab reports posted here and elsewhere pretty much cleared that up for me. Hopefully a good reality check for the manufacturer, people are actually watching, and testing. This is a good thing, and kudos to those who spent the $$ to check.

This is not to say that it is a bad food, or that one shouldn't feed it to their fish, but sometimes when things sound too good to be real ......

The search feature should get you where you need to be. Lots of people on MFK have tried this food.

 

[Tahn]

ive always fed my fish hikari and i recently just bought new life spectrum flakes for my angels and cichlid formula for my oscar and geos and...

NOBODY eats them. Not a single fish I have likes anything from new life spectrum, they literally just sit in the tank and not a single fish is interested, they just spit it back out.

I'm actually returning them (bought em from amazon) and going back to hikari. Anyone know the reason? And any other reputable foods I can feed my oscar? I am dedicating my fish keeping hobby to this sole oscar now and would like to pamper him with a varied diet.

 

[Bevo5]

I just bought some northfin after getting a recommendation from a trusted source. This whole science stuff is a bit of a mess though. I just got a little bit, so I'll see how it goes and then decide further I guess.

The best I could find on Northfin was that it was 'just like NLS." So....I mean....why not just go with NLS?

 

[RD.]

People are certainly free to feed what they want, but just for the record I have been feeding NLS for 15+ yrs now I believe, and other than I think a couple of wild puffers that typically never eat commercial pellets of any brand or type (predators that only eat fresh/frozen), I have never had an issue training a fish to eat NLS. (or any other brand for that matter) This includes numerous wild caught fish, as well as young fish imported from Thailand and raised exclusively on blood worms. (uber finicky)

Feeding fish is part art, and part science, and the key is often not allowing the fish to outsmart you. Oscars can be stubborn at times, especially when switching anything in their environment, including their diet.

As an aside, I would never feed flake food, not even NLS. Pellets are typically more nutrient dense, and more stable in water.

Good luck with your O.

 

[suprd71]

I have been using NF for a few yrs. Fish like it, I am satisfied with the results. Most of my fish didn't care for NLS, but I will admit I didn't wait any extended time to make them come around. I found it expensive, fish didn't like it. 2 strikes and out. Do not take my comment to mean NLS is poor quality, not at all. Being Canadian, Northfin is very easy to get. Online, any lfs has it. My Oscars eat a combo of 6mm Jumbo formula and 3mm Veg formula. Other treats offered, a varied diet is good, but the staple pellet is Northfin