My favorite food to feed is NLS Algaemax. It comes in wafers or small pellets. It has more non-terrestrial based plant/algae/seaweed varieties than any food I've seen by far and yet it's primary ingredient is still whole anarctic krill. I feed it to both my oscar and my jack dempseys. My smaller cichlids get the NLS all purpose formula.
Algaemax comes in a small pellet size and a larger algae wafer size. The wafer size is great for large cichlids, but for medium size SA and CA the small 3mm pellet is best.
+1
I don't post a lot about nutrition these days as quite frankly I got tired dealing with the mental midgets of the internet, those that would argue corn, soybeans, dried bakery products, and even peas, are somehow nutritionally superior to aquatic based plant matter. It defies logic, but so does a lot of what one reads on online forums.
NLS has once again taken the lead in fish nutrition with their AlageMax formula. This has become the main staple to my more herbivorous species, as well as a reasonable portion of the diet of all of my fish. All of my fish eat it with great gusto, I have never had a fish
not hammer it hard. Various cichlids, loaches, catfish, etc.
The other formula that I have been feeding a lot of is the NLS UltraRed. Not for the red color enhancing properties so much, I even feed this to solid blue fish, catfish, etc. I feed it for its high carotenoid content, which acts as an immune booster. All of my fish go crazy over it. With krill/squid/fish as the main ingredients, why wouldn't they?
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1095643314000658
Apart from their role as antioxidants, carotenoids may also enhance the immune system through increased T-cell activation, macrophage capacity and lymphocyte proliferation (
Bendich and Olson, 1989; Pérez-Rodríguez, 2009).
However, there is considerable support for two predictions of the carotenoid trade-off hypothesis (reviewed in
Blount and McGraw, 2008; Svensson and Wong, 2011). The first is that carotenoid supplementation increases coloration, immunity and/or antioxidant capacity (
Hill et al., 2002; Blount et al., 2003; Clotfelter et al., 2007). The second is that immune challenges, which also cause oxidative stress, cause re-allocation of carotenoids and reduce coloration of carotenoid-pigmented structures (
Perez-Rodriguez et al., 2010; Toomey et al., 2010).
As Duane pointed out, higher protein foods are generally reserved for fry and young juveniles, certainly not adults. A lot of hobbyists seem confused about the protein (and fat) requirements of captive raised ornamental fish. The reality is most hobbyists most likely are already feeding beyond the nutrient requirements of their fish, so high protein and/or fat diets are not doing your fish any favours. And simply eye balling a fish won't tell you what is going on inside, such as fatty infiltration of the liver, or over time heavy vacuolation, severe necrosis of the liver, pancreas, and spleen. The fish dies years later (prematurely), and short of a proper necropsy no one is the wiser. The fish simply gets replaced, with a new pet.
This is not to say that one can't have nice looking, healthy fish on other foods and brands, of course they can. But at the same time it makes no sense to me to stick ones head in the sand and support the science and logic of 40 years ago. Brand name recognition only goes so far, at least with me, and I have fed and trialed almost all of the different brands over the years.
Last but not least, buy in bulk whenever possible, not in smaller LFS jar sizes. Buying in bulk is by far the most cost effective manner in which to purchase commercial fish food. Let's face it, no matter what brand you buy it all adds up over the long haul. And just like the more premium dog/cat foods currently on the market, one can feed a lot less of the premium fish foods, compared to those that are heavy on the grain/carb side.
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