Switching from Hikari to NLS... what would you recommend?

[00rollins]

In Asia, most breeders/hobbyists, and many fish food producers use synthetic astaxanthin (CAROPHYLL® Pink) for red color enhancement, not micro-algae. Very common in the FH & discus biz in Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, etc, where maximizing color seems to be the ultimate goal, whether it is natural or not. FYI - the synthetic forms of astaxanthin are also FAR less costly then the natural forms.

More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astaxanthin

Alyhough in your own oppinion, according to the great link you supplied for me, the synthetic cp shoulnt need to be used over natural sources, anyone interesred in this topic should check the link in RD s previous post. I have much respect for you, and i am overly impressed with how your posting comments are so complete, factual, inclusive, and provide evidence to back up your sharings. You must have an emmense amount of expirence, esp. like the way you can go back years to find your own stored data to back up ur posts, you my friend must be extremely orgonized.

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[RD.]

you my friend must be extremely orgonized.

That, or I have far too much time on my hands.

..... but thanks for the kind words.

I only mentioned synthetic substances such as Carophyll Pink in this discussion due to the fact that there are fish food companies that utilize these (and other) lower cost alternatives in their formulas, and simply list "astaxanthin" on the ingredient list. It's all perfectly legal and all that, but IMO there is a big difference between companies that utilize natural color enhancers in their food, such as Antarctic Krill, Haematococcus pluvialis, Spirulina, and various other micro-algae, and those that simply use mega doses of synthetic color enhancers.

 

[BillyBlanco]

Hikari IMO would be the equivalent to feeding a dog Pedigree. Full of fillers like corn and wheat and all sorts of things that your dog has no use for but will prevent it from starving. But, the dog would be eating more food, crapping more often, have lower energy levels, and probably over the years develop a sort of problem that would be the death of it. I'd have to say by looking at someones dog i probably couldn't tell if it was fed poor quality food without closely watching. But, that doesnt make it the smart or responsible thing to do. At the end of the day we all choose what we feed our fish. For some its a bit hard to read something like a label and if they do they have a lot of trouble comprehending what it means or lack basic common sense. And trust me a lot of people do this with their fish, dogs, cats, and even themselves.

NLS is much more balanced and suited for a fish to consume. The fish should live up to its full potential nutrition wise. I've yet to see someone argue that the ingredients on Hikari are superior to NLS with any proof. Just blind ignorant biases.

 

[Jay88]

I use NLS for my baby oscars and Silver Dollars...they go CRAZY for that stuff lol...expensive though..especially if I plan to keep feeding my oscars that when they get older.

 

[clekchau]

Hikari IMO would be the equivalent to feeding a dog Pedigree. Full of fillers like corn and wheat and all sorts of things that your dog has no use for but will prevent it from starving. But, the dog would be eating more food, crapping more often, have lower energy levels, and probably over the years develop a sort of problem that would be the death of it. I'd have to say by looking at someones dog i probably couldn't tell if it was fed poor quality food without closely watching. But, that doesnt make it the smart or responsible thing to do. At the end of the day we all choose what we feed our fish. For some its a bit hard to read something like a label and if they do they have a lot of trouble comprehending what it means or lack basic common sense. And trust me a lot of people do this with their fish, dogs, cats, and even themselves.

NLS is much more balanced and suited for a fish to consume. The fish should live up to its full potential nutrition wise. I've yet to see someone argue that the ingredients on Hikari are superior to NLS with any proof. Just blind ignorant biases.

i've seen alot of well respected people with fabolous looking, big, long lived fish on this forum who feed hikari. saying feeding hikari is irresponsible is a bit much....

 

[clekchau]

I use NLS for my baby oscars and Silver Dollars...they go CRAZY for that stuff lol...expensive though..especially if I plan to keep feeding my oscars that when they get older.

5 lbs for $50 is expensive?

 

[RD.]

Jay lives in AU, and in AU a 5lb bucket of NLS costs approx. $130 US.

 

[buddha1200]

I feed hikari and a variety of fresh and frozen items and i believe variety is the key(just my opinion) and all my fish are colorful and active and spawn regularly and to top it of i have never lost a fish to disease(could be just luck,but i think it has alot to do with feeding and care).
and as far as color in some fish ,water quality,food,maintanance and GENETICS play a huge roll,i believe if you dont start with a good quality fish from a good source you will never have a top specimen no matter what food you feed(genetics,genetics)

 

[fishman09]

I feed hikari and a variety of fresh and frozen items and i believe variety is the key(just my opinion) and all my fish are colorful and active and spawn regularly and to top it of i have never lost a fish to disease(could be just luck,but i think it has alot to do with feeding and care).
and as far as color in some fish ,water quality,food,maintanance and GENETICS play a huge roll,i believe if you dont start with a good quality fish from a good source you will never have a top specimen no matter what food you feed(genetics,genetics)

Couldnt agree more.:thumbup:

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[RD.]

I completely agree with buddha, fish require a wide variety of high quality raw ingredients in order to truly thrive in captivity. Which is exactly why I feed NLS, exclusively. If I fed Hikari, I'd definitely supplement with fresh/frozen as well.

And of course, genetics is everything, that goes without saying.


But that's not what this thread is about - the OP was asking what size of NLS pellet he should feed to his fish. So what size do you think that he should feed, buddha?