I feed my flowerhorns NLS exclusively, as I have every other fish that I have raised over the past decade. I know, big surprise ....
If there's a nutrient missing in NLS that can be found in something else please let me know, I don't wanna be tripping.
Also, a high protein diet will not only NOT create larger heads (think genetics), high protein diets for anything other than fry/juveniles can be detrimental to the overall health of your FH. For the most part the genetic make up of flowerhorns is derived from omnivores, not carnivores, and they can only assimilate so much protein, and utilize only so much fat. Over time the excess protein can potentially place an extra strain on the liver, as those excess amino acids have to be deaminated by the liver before they can be excreted. This process also requires energy, which in turn can actually have a negative effect on growth. If nothing else, those excreted amino acids add major pollution to your tank. Excess fat also gets stored in & around the liver, which over time can result in premature death of a FH.
Sudden death syndrome anyone?
As an example, the largest freshwater
carnivores in North America, Acipenser transmontanus (White Sturgeon), are raised commercially (such as the fish shown below) exclusively on pellet food that typically consists of 40-45% crude protein, and exceed both size & weight of the vast majority of tropical fish kept in captivity. The one shown being released in the pic below is a mere baby.
Adult females can require 10 yrs just to reach sexual maturity, and only then can one begin to harvest caviar. With caviar at approx $1,000 a pound, these commercial farms aren't fooling around when it comes to
pumping them up, and every
sturgeon farm in the US feeds pellets with protein levels as listed above. (40-45%)
45-55% protein for adult, or even semi adult FH is ludicrous, yet at I see at least one of the *specialty* FH food manufacturers that market a 55% protein formula, as though this will somehow boost the growth of a fishes nuchal hump. Unreal .......
Most adult FH will do very well on a diet in the range of 30-35% protein, and 4-6% crude fat.
As far as HIGH protein, as I have stated time & time again over the years, the only percent of protein that is important, is the amount of protein that the fish can assimilate. Protein percentages found on a label are nothing more than a reading for total nitrogen content taken by someone wearing a white coat in a laboratory, and do not reflect the overall digestibility of that protein.
In the end the only protein that truly matters is the amount of total digestible protein, as in the amount of protein that can be utilized by your fish.
HTH
