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

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Who cares? feed your fish what you want to feed them most of the food companies use the same standard ingridients anyway, or just boast about their product with bull**** terminology.
I use Hikari and always have, never had a problem with it. I've never even heard of NLS. I have seen really beautiful fish both in person or online that have been fed crappy cheap foods or improper diets. the sad truth is if youre expecting changing food to make a massive difference then youre wrong.

"Oh look guys, since I started using NLS instead of Hikari my SYN now is coloured up and beautiful..." or maybe you just switched the foods at the time when the fish was already colouring up. seriously sometimes I question this sites usefulness.

I highly... highly disagree with this. I had a Tiger Oscar once. He was about 5" or so and was being fed the green bag Hikari pellets (Standard, or growth formula or whatever it's called) The Oscar when purchased was very vibrant and bright at about 1.5", and by 5" he was completely black, with lighter black areas where his orange would normally be. Within a month of feeding Hikari Gold he was one of the most attractive Tiger Oscars I've ever seen.
 
I highly... highly disagree with this. I had a Tiger Oscar once. He was about 5" or so and was being fed the green bag Hikari pellets (Standard, or growth formula or whatever it's called) The Oscar when purchased was very vibrant and bright at about 1.5", and by 5" he was completely black, with lighter black areas where his orange would normally be. Within a month of feeding Hikari Gold he was one of the most attractive Tiger Oscars I've ever seen.

I'm talking about brand to brand, not within a brand. Everyone knows that Hikari gold is better for fish with Red/orange/yellow colouration such as oscars. as are shrimp pellets or shrimp.
 
I'm talking about brand to brand, not within a brand. Everyone knows that Hikari gold is better for fish with Red/orange/yellow colouration such as oscars. as are shrimp pellets or shrimp.

Glad you agree. The Oscar mentioned was receiving krill pellets, shrimp and other various things both before and after the food switch too. :)
 
What size Hikari pellets were/are you feeding?

With NLS, I think it's best to buy the smallest size that the fish will consume. You don't want them grinding up the pellets cuz that will just cloud up your water...you want them to just swallow them whole. I would just buy a few small containers of several sizes and see how it works out. I think that for 3" 1MM would be best and for your 6" you might need to step up to 2MM, but try out both sizes and see how it goes.
 
Who cares? feed your fish what you want to feed them most of the food companies use the same standard ingridients anyway, or just boast about their product with bull**** terminology.
I use Hikari and always have, never had a problem with it. I've never even heard of NLS. I have seen really beautiful fish both in person or online that have been fed crappy cheap foods or improper diets. the sad truth is if youre expecting changing food to make a massive difference then youre wrong.

"Oh look guys, since I started using NLS instead of Hikari my SYN now is coloured up and beautiful..." or maybe you just switched the foods at the time when the fish was already colouring up. seriously sometimes I question this sites usefulness.

Wow bold statement. Some of us do care very much what we feed our fish which is why we take the time to research so we know what is going into our fish. Every pellet food does not use the same exact ingredients and ones that do might use it in different consistency. If two foods contain corn meal wouldn't you rather use the food that uses less of it than more? And by the way color isn't the only way to determine how healthy a fish is. I use NLS and I love the stuff and so do my fish. I feel good knowing that it is a high quality pellet food that provides everything they need. I also feed omega one in moderation. I would not just feed my fish anything and I would hope that a responsible fish keeper would read up on what they feed their fish.

To the OP 2mm seems fine. You don't want to feed pellets too big. The less chewing your fish has to do the less mess in the water.
 
It can not be too small, unless the fish do not see it.

I agree. I've owned several 8"+ CA/SA (Syn, Uaru, Pearsi, Brasiliensis) fish that eat 1.5mm/1mm pellets. Not saying they prefer it, but it's definitely not too small for them to scarf down.
 
I might get my butt kicked for saying this but I am just giving my opinion...I do not like hikari. It has a bunch of fish meal in it. NLS has fish meal to. I use aqugon and omega One. You should buy Omega one or aqugon. NLS is more expensive and is not even as good.
 
Untouched food is not a problem in my tank. At all. I have 3 large Clown Loaches that are seemingly bottomless pits. They even eat floating food lol.
 
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