What do you look for in a fish food?

[FLESHY]

Hey guys -

Im looking to gain some information about what the hobby wants out of its fish food?

I need as much information as you can possibly give, but a few good starter questions might be:

What do you look for in ingredients?

What traits do you look for in your food: color, smell, hardness, etc?

What do you avoid as far as ingredients go?

What do you wish fish food would add but doesn't?

How far should color enhancement go: everything and anything, certain chemicals, only natural products, only aquatic origin products?

How important is it to you to avoid terrestrial origin foods? Specifically meat, grains, fruits/veggies, or other (please name)?

Do you expect to supplement your feedings? Or search for a single product?

Do you use vitamin/mineral supplements, or should that be included in a premade food? What specifically do you look for as far as "trace" things in a fish food?

Feel free to add any comments as well.

Thanks for any and all information that you can provide.

 

[F1 VET]

Obviously the best combo of ingredients possible with the least amount of fillers. Just like dog or cat food you want to feed hollistic or organic foods with the main ingredient being protein! Ole Roy may grow a dog but its health, happiness and life span will obviously be cut down!

Go to your lfs and pick up a bottle of tetra, read the label and compare NLS, O1 or Hikari and you will see what I'm talking about. A company can manufacture a flake or pellet that can sustain a fish but there's obvious differences in color, health, activity and lifespan. This topic has been debated into the grave plus without knowing what your feeding its hard to pinpoint, but I can almost guarantee that no matter what kind of fish you have NLS will be the best option!

I have seen and watched the differences myself! That's not to say there aren't other quality foods out there that are decent, I'm just telling you what's the best.

×Go S. Vettel #1 Infiniti Redbull! 4x WDC!!! Congrats on another flawless title× <GET BETTER SCHUMI>
__________________________________________________________________
Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763

 

[FLESHY]

Couldnt agree more with you. Love NLS - and have been using it for quite some time with the same opinions and results as you.

This is more of a probe - asking people what they would still change if they could.

What would you take out of NLS? Or add to it?

Its a pretty advanced question - wondering if anyone is going to dive into this.

 

[RD.]

What's up Fleshy, you planning on getting into the fish food biz?

 

[justarn]

even nls and hikari have bad ingredients such as wheat flour... new era is one of the best available in my area.

from here if you want to read up
http://forums.*****************.org/showthread.php?t=5361

 

[F1 VET]

What would you take out of NLS? Or add to it?

Its a pretty advanced question - wondering if anyone is going to dive into this.

Make them in the shape of fish? Lol



×Go S. Vettel #1 Infiniti Redbull! 4x WDC!!! Congrats on another flawless title× <GET BETTER SCHUMI>
__________________________________________________________________
Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763

 

[justarn]

take the wheat flour out of nls, there are better foods out there... i know alot of you are loyal as i am to hikari gold which is even worse btw!

like i say read the link in my last post above!

 

[RD.]

Justin - the person that put that little chart together didn't understand the basics when he put that together. See the following link on a discussion about that very chart.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?414620-Fish-Food-Summary

Also, not only did he not know what he was talking about back then, BIG surprise he also makes his own food and sells it. He had an agenda from day 1, even back when I first crossed paths with him in the following link.

http://forums.*****************.org/showthread.php?t=5361


If you actually took the time to read all of that, Justin, then it should be rather clear that Clay didn't have the slightest clue what he was talking about back then. lol



Wheat flour only becomes a "bad" ingredient if/when it is used in excess in any given formula.




In the absence of facts, experts abound .......

 

[duanes]

Most of the fish I keep are ominvores, so unless I'm feeding a piscivore such as Parachromis, I'm not so concerned about protein.
While watching cichlids in nature, I find the largest part of their diet is sunlight enriched algae, which means to me, high in vitamins, and algal fibers.
I have watched amazingly colored wild Jack Dempsey's graze algae and rotting leaves (and whatever is contained inside) for lengthy periods, but miss 9 out of 10 attempts (if not more missed) to eat the livebearers that surround them. This suggests to me their digestive systems have evolved to rely less on fish protein than other more common and easily accessible ingredients.
So for me, a high spirulina, high vitamin, crude fiber, and low animal protein food is more suitable for the fish I keep.

 

[justarn]

Justin - the person that put that little chart together didn't understand the basics when he put that together. See the following link on a discussion about that very chart.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?414620-Fish-Food-Summary

Also, not only did he not know what he was talking about back then, BIG surprise he also makes his own food and sells it. He had an agenda from day 1, even back when I first crossed paths with him in the following link.

http://forums.*****************.org/showthread.php?t=5361


If you actually took the time to read all of that, Justin, then it should be rather clear that Clay didn't have the slightest clue what he was talking about back then. lol



Wheat flour only becomes a "bad" ingredient if/when it is used in excess in any given formula.




In the absence of facts, experts abound .......

ahhhh i will be honest i was so amazed to find such an informative list (link given by thebiggerthebetter) that i didnt get past the bottom of the graph!
i didnt read the whole lot just now but skim read it and see you and him had a slightly heated discussion, i guess by reading the first post and loooking at the graph he got the desired affect, possibly leading people to believe his food is the best.

soooo whats teh best/top 3 cichlid pellets available for piscivore, omnivore ect ? you seem to be the most qualified to answer the op's question once and for all?

also their natural diet surely rules? should fish eaters be fed a variety whole fish from the same area in a controlled disease free way?