My syno cats love NLS, my oscar likes bug bites and will only eat NLS if I dont feed the day before. I also feed hikari every now and then but it seems to be my fish's least favorite.
Omega One vs NLS vs Hikari?
- Thread starter CrunchyLobster123
- Start date
My geophagus tapajos love NLS Threa A. My red spotted severum loves NLS Thera A and Algaemax. My EBA loves everything, and my green severum prefers Omega One cichlid pellets and veggie rounds.
If you do a search there are several threads about fish foods: some are 30+ pages long.
I feed mostly NLS. I have the Northfin bugpro that I'm going to open when I use up my current open food (it's like bug bites but with better ingredients to go along with the soldier fly larvae). My fish also like the carnivore and kelp pellets which I feed with NLS algaemax.
I'm working through a huge bottle of repashy that I got on clearance from Aquarium Coop when he stopped carrying the giant bottles.
I also have some frozen food that I got on a liveaquaria frozen food stock clearance.
After I work through this stuff, I'll probably only feed NLS and Northfin.
I even have an unopened hikari sinking wafer that expires this month that I'm just not going to feed. I have too much food I need to use and I decided last near not to polute my water with the inferior foods.
I did make an exception with some Pleco banquet blocks I have that expire next month. Those were expensive and I bought them for vacation pleco feed. Im using them up.
I feed mostly NLS. I have the Northfin bugpro that I'm going to open when I use up my current open food (it's like bug bites but with better ingredients to go along with the soldier fly larvae). My fish also like the carnivore and kelp pellets which I feed with NLS algaemax.
I'm working through a huge bottle of repashy that I got on clearance from Aquarium Coop when he stopped carrying the giant bottles.
I also have some frozen food that I got on a liveaquaria frozen food stock clearance.
After I work through this stuff, I'll probably only feed NLS and Northfin.
I even have an unopened hikari sinking wafer that expires this month that I'm just not going to feed. I have too much food I need to use and I decided last near not to polute my water with the inferior foods.
I did make an exception with some Pleco banquet blocks I have that expire next month. Those were expensive and I bought them for vacation pleco feed. Im using them up.
Hikari gets a lot of hate, but I've been using their foods for decades at this point. I feed a mix of everything that is appropriately sized that way my fish get a varied diet, but even within a certain brand, each food can have vastly different ingredients. Vibra bites for example are a great food that all my fish will absolutely attack (including my 7 inch female dovii when I feed it to her babies), that also has good ingredients for the price. But because of the hikari name a lot of people might not give it a second glance. You really have to look at each food individually and not the brand so much. I like bug bites cichlid formula as well for the black soldier fly larva protein. I have fish of all shapes and sizes, so I like to buy in bulk from Amazon. I use a lot of hikari. First bites, micro pellets, vibra bites, mini cichlid gold, medium cichlid gold, and algae wafers. Also bug bites, different flake foods, a lot of tetra color tropical granules, different sizes of omega one freeze dried shrimp, freeze dried blood worms, and the occasional NLS cichlid pellets. All of these foods have done great for me for years and don't break the bank. Healthy, happy fish, and always tons of breeding activity usually starting from a young age. Check out some of Aquarium co-op's videos about fish foods, a lot of good advice there from Cory. I believe many people put too much thought into it. As long as you aren't buying bottom shelf foods they are all pretty close. The best fish food is always the one your fish will eat. That's why I like to try all different kinds.
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The previous point made me just post the counterpoint that I've posted in the past. As many know, I have two twenty something year old clown Loaches (there were three but one accidentally jumped out two years ago so that one was also healthy) and a hypostomus that's about the same age.
Before I knew anything about food, so for like twenty years, I just fed whatever wafers and flake food I'd see at the store. I've feed mostly tetra flakes, some random freeze dried foods, and I even fed the junk wardley wafers.
The point being is that as a counter point, I fed junk food and my fish made it that long.
Now that I know better, I try to give my fish the best ingredients and care (I also didn't understand nitrates so I did water changes once a month). I just feel better doing that and can afford to feed them the best foods but again it's not necessarily required.
My fish could have been bigger though with better food and maintenance. I'm hoping my newer loaches will last this long.
As RD has mentioned, high quality food might be too cost prohibitive if one has a huge fish room and he said even the super bulk fish farm food could work for someone in that situation.
Before I knew anything about food, so for like twenty years, I just fed whatever wafers and flake food I'd see at the store. I've feed mostly tetra flakes, some random freeze dried foods, and I even fed the junk wardley wafers.
The point being is that as a counter point, I fed junk food and my fish made it that long.
Now that I know better, I try to give my fish the best ingredients and care (I also didn't understand nitrates so I did water changes once a month). I just feel better doing that and can afford to feed them the best foods but again it's not necessarily required.
My fish could have been bigger though with better food and maintenance. I'm hoping my newer loaches will last this long.
As RD has mentioned, high quality food might be too cost prohibitive if one has a huge fish room and he said even the super bulk fish farm food could work for someone in that situation.
I am a hardcore supporter of a varied diet. I've tried and use them all but what it comes down to is what your fish will accept as well as what fish u keep. With my bigger fish Hikari is definitely my go to. You go broke trying to feed a monster aro or rtc NLS.....but its perfect for a geo for example. IF you can train your fish to eat everything I feel thats the way to go ....not just pellets but with other non feeder options like shrimp, tilapia, etc.
