Y.F.S. Grain Free crumbles... thoughts?

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JackEmerson

JackEmerson

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Nov 6, 2022
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I am intrigued with YFS's grain-free crumble line. In particular, the ingredients of the tropical crumble look great for cichlids. I have not seen this food talked about here, so I thought I would give it a go. This never ends well :)

  • 36% Protein 9% Fat 8% Fiber 9% Moisture
  • Antartic Krill, Fish Meal, Kelp, Flaxseed, Spirulina, Fish Oil, Garlic

Ok, that looks like something I don't see very often: Only 7 ingredients! And only two are terrestrial: [a] flaxseed and garlic! I don't know the merits of flaxseed, but we can all agree that garlic is good. Everything else looks very good.

So, I picked up a small bag of their 1-2mm tropical crumbles. It is about 30% dust and most other pieces are smaller than 1mm. Most of the dust can be filtered out with a strainer. The cichlids did eat it, but even the remaining pieces are too small for my growing pups. So, only really good for my guppy tank. Down the road, I may order their larger sized crumbles (advertised at 2-4mm), but that sounds too big for my guys. Regarding YFS, it was super easy to order with them, and I was already a happy customer of their 1mm cichlid pellets.

What are your thoughts on this food?
 
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There are a handful of folks that are a hell of a lot more nutritionally oriented than I so my thoughts may be worth about what you paid for them however... that looks a lot like trout feed to my eye. A little high on the protein and really high on the lard. It probably wouldn't make it to my feed cabinet and according to some I represent the lower end of the spectrum where feed is concerned as I am a proud fan of Hikari, their Carnisticks product in particular.
 
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I am not going to argue that this is quality food, but it is "different". In my short time in the hobby, I have never seen a food with only 7 ingredients. That seems interesting to me. And, to me, this does not seem like trout feed, because it has ingredients like krill, kelp, and garlic... a combo rarely seen in trout feed. This food seems to be very low on fillers and grain-like food, which looks appealing to me.
 
I'm not a nutritionist either, so maybe this is nothing unusual...but only 7 ingredients? I'm wondering if the list continues on another panel somewhere? :) Where are all the preservatives, toxic chemicals and radioactive waste products seen in other foods?

It also seems to be an unusually low protein content, especially for a food which has krill and fish meal as its first two ingredients. I'm not saying that's necessarily bad; in fact, I have fish for whom I struggle to find lower-protein foods to prevent some problems that appear to be caused by too much of the stuff.

I agree that it isn't much like Trout Chow, which if I recall correctly was largely soy, corn and wheat with some fish meal tossed in. I shudder to think how much I used that stuff back in the early days of my involvement with fishkeeping.

I still use a fair bit of it; I don't feed my fish with it, but a couple handfuls of Trout Chow into a hole in the ice while ice fishing, or "broadcast" over my fishing area when chasing carp or catfish during the warmer months, acts as a terrific chum! :)
 
I believe that it's safe to assume that flaxseed is used for oil content, because fish oil, is of course more costly. It also acts as a binding agent, even though they state they don't use any binders. Follow the $$$, and it becomes easy to sort out.
Also, the ingredient list is incomplete.

Tropical Grain Free Crumbles – Your Fish Stuff
 
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...... or this food is completely void of preservatives, and a vitamin & mineral pre-mix.

FYI - while technically flaxseed isn't considered a grain, neither is soy. Big deal.
 
RD. said:
Also, the ingredient list is incomplete.
Click to expand...

Did I leave out ingredients when I posted (I can't see my error, but I am dense)? Or are you saying that YFS is not posting the complete ingredient list?
 
IMHO seed oil, and seed content, in aquaculture feed is old school, really old school. Not all bad, but certainly not all good.

Many aquaculture nutritionists today are trying to utilize more sustainable (less costly) sources of fatty acids to use in aquaculture feed. Though vegetable oils can fulfil some of the lipid requirements for fish, they typically fall short in meeting the more complex fatty acid needs for various finfish species. Without enough of these key omega 3 fat sources in their diets, many species of fish will often experience inflammation and other health and reproductive issues. Personally I prefer to avoid them. (grain/seed derived fatty acids)

30% dust doesn't sound too good, for any brand or type of dry food.
 
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