Fish Foods You Use, Tell Us About Them.

[DMD123]

Just got in my Dainichi fish food order. Ordering direct and talking with a person was a great experience because I also requested a sample of the Cichlid Color FX. They ended up sending me a free bag of product that normally retails for $15, so that was awesome. I really like this food because of the coating. It seems to cut down on the fish grinding at the food and making a huge mess.



XL Pro
Ingredients:
White fish meal, wheat flour, Antarctic krill meal, wheat germ, pea protein, spirulina algae, brewer’s yeast, montmorillonite clay, garlic, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal Sterol (D3), DL-alpha-Tocopherol (E), L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (C), B12 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (B6), Thiamine Mononitrate, Inositol, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (K), Biotin.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Min. crude protein: 44%
Min. crude fat: 6%
Max. crude fiber: 3%
Max. moisture: 9%
Max. ash: 10%


Color Supreme
Ingredents:
White fish meal, wheat flour, Antarctic krill meal, spirulina algae, pea protein, wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, montmorillonite clay, gum acacia, garlic, calcium carbonate, protease, beta glucan, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal Sterol (D3), DL-alpha-Tocopherol (E), L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (C), B12 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (B6), Thiamine Mononitrate, Inositol, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (K), Biotin.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Min. crude protein: 44%
Min. crude fat: 6%
Max. crude fiber: 3%
Max. moisture: 9%
Max. ash: 9%


Ultima Krill
Ingredents:
White fish meal, wheat flour, Antarctic krill meal, wheat germ, pea protein, spirulina algae, brewer’s yeast, montmorillonite clay, gum acacia, garlic, calcium carbonate, protease, beta glucan, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal Sterol (D3), DL-alpha-Tocopherol (E), L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (C), B12 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (B6), Thiamine Mononitrate, Inositol, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (K), Biotin.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Min. crude protein: 43%
Min. crude fat: 6%
Max. crude fiber: 3%
Max. moisture: 9%
Max. ash: 9%

 

[fishguy1978]

Posted this elsewhere but I did just receive my order of food from Ken's. I did purchase based on price and the miss placed assumption that the ingredients would be quality. I do have approx. a years supply now. I do like the pellet sizes that I ordered. Time will tell how good or bad these foods are.

 

[DMD123]

@fishguy1978, fish foods are hotly debated on other sites but here on this thread I didn’t want any of that drama. I just wanted people's real world experience with products. Even though some ingredients are not considered the best in those Ken’s products we would still like to know details like how is the acceptance factor? Do floating pellets float and sinking sink? Any weird things about it? Smell? Powders up?

As an example of weird, when I fed my rhino pleco the Northfin kelp wafers, his poop would float. Lots and lots of floating pleco poo!

 

[sir_keith]

Posted this elsewhere but I did just receive my order of food from Ken's. I did purchase based on price and the miss placed assumption that the ingredients would be quality. I do have approx. a years supply now. I do like the pellet sizes that I ordered. Time will tell how good or bad these foods are.
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I think it's often a matter of splitting hairs when comparing the major fish food brands. I mean, is anyone really suggesting that Ken's products are bad for your fishes? I have a very hard time believing that. Furthermore, we don't really know the precise composition of any of these things. One product may list 'fish meal' as the first (i. e. most abundant) ingredient, and 'spirulina' as the second; another brand may have those ingredients reversed. But what's the actual difference? Does anyone really think that the fishes can tell the difference between a food that is 35% 'fish meal' and 30% 'spirulina' versus one that is 30% 'fish meal' and 35% 'spirulina'? I doubt it. And the ingredients themselves are ill-defined, so the 'fish meal' in one brand may be very different from the 'fish meal' in another. So don't beat yourself up about this purchase, or over-think the ingredients list.

The proof is in the eating. As you know, I keep primarily Tropheus, Xenotilapia, and Ophthalmotilapia; fishes that are notoriously delicate, and sensitive to an inappropriate diet. I also keep significant numbers of wild-caught fishes. Tropheus is a strict herbivore that is very sensitive to 'bloat,' and feeding these fishes a plant based diet is crucially important to their continued well-being. Xenotilapia and Ophthalmotilapia are foraging omnivores, but they too require abundant roughage and vegetable matter in their diets. The main component I have settled on for all these fishes' diets is Ken's Ultra Intense Spirulina Flakes, and the omnivores get occasional feedings of Ken's Ultra Plankton/Krill/Spirulina Flakes. My Tropheus also get regular feedings of raw lettuce, and my Xenotilapia and Ophthalmotilapia get frozen brine shrimp once a week or so. That's it. As I said, the proof is in the eating, and these diets work very well for me.

 

[sir_keith]

@fishguy1978, fish foods are hotly debated on other sites but here on this thread I didn’t want any of that drama. I just wanted people's real world experience with products. Even though some ingredients are not considered the best in those Ken’s products we would still like to know details like how is the acceptance factor? Do floating pellets float and sinking sink? Any weird things about it? Smell? Powders up?

As an example of weird, when I fed my rhino pleco the Northfin kelp wafers, his poop would float. Lots and lots of floating pleco poo!

Here's another example of weird. A few years ago O. S. I.'s Spirulina Flakes contained something that turned the aquarium water green. It wasn't just me, because many online reviewers noted the same problem. You could start out with a 100+ gallon tank containing crystal-clear water, and within a few days of feeding the O. S. I. flakes the water was obviously tinted green. Weird. That's when I started trying other brands.

 

[Modest_Man]

The things I look out for in the fish food ingredients are wheat, brewers dried yeast, corn, and soybean. They are fillers and are high up on the ingredient list on cheaper, low quality foods. They are necessary in most pellets as a binding agent (holds everything together) but I try to keep them out of the top 3 ingredients.

Fish meal isn't intrinsically bad as a feed (ground up bones and offal, yum!), but coming from a fisheries background and knowing how much wasted commercial by catch is turned into fish meal I have some moral and ethical issues with it.

 

[Jexnell]

Main staple I feed is NLS pellets. Casper gets extra large floating, PTC gets medium floating.
I size the pellets to the fish so it can eat it whole with no "chewing".
New guys coming mid month will start on flakes or 1mm floating depending on size.

 

[DMD123]

I recently purchased some Hikari Vibra Bites for my community tank. Its small sticks that look like bloodworms. High acceptance factor so far.

Pictures of product from Aquarium Co-Op


Ingredients:
Fish meal, krill meal, wheat flour, flaked corn, brewers dried yeast, cuttlefish meal, wheat germ meal, wheat gluten meal, fish oil, whole crushed silkworm pupae, hydrolyzed vegetable sucrose polyesters, ｍealworm, astaxanthin, DL-methionine, garlic, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), inositol, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, disodium phosphate, salt, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, red 3, yellow 5 (artificial colors).* 00-52D*
Because of our commitment to providing the highest quality nutrition available, some differences in ingredients may occur due to regular formula updates.

Crude Protein	Crude Fat	Crude Fiber	Moisture	Ash
min. 46.0%	min. 7.0%	max. 5.0%	max. 10.0%	max. 13.0%

Phosphorus	Vitamin A	Vitamin D3	Vitamin E	Ascorbic Acid
min. 1.0%	min. 15,000 IU/kg	min. 2,300 IU/kg	min. 970 IU/kg	min. 350 mg/kg

Edit to add pics from Hikari website, there are three different sizes

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

I have been looking into Dr. Bassleer's Biofish food. It's some what over whelming with so many options. I came across these in another group and they were super helpful for me!

 

[lloyd378]

Awesome, thanks for sharing, I will add that my fish have taken to the garlic quickly and easily and the pellets have some moisture to them making them slightly softer than most other pellets I’ve used in the past.

I just need to find a place that sells 3XL pellet for my larger cichlids

 

[clownie]

I have never had issue's with Ken's pellets. However, the flakes are a different matter. The "meat flake" will turn your water a brownish tint and the multi-flake will tint the water pink! Once I finish the packages of flake i will move on to another type.

 

[DMD123]

I bought a canister of Dr. Bassler's from Amazon. I decided to try the Aloe XL type. Its expected to arrive April 22-28. Was going to try this on my community tank and or trimacs. The gut health seemed like a way to start especially with the trimac that seemed pretty thin when they came in and could use a little immune boost.

If I like the results I would like to get the Forte and Acai formulas next.

 

[lloyd378]

I bought a canister of Dr. Bassler's from Amazon. I decided to try the Aloe XL type. Its expected to arrive April 22-28. Was going to try this on my community tank and or trimacs. The gut health seemed like a way to start especially with the trimac that seemed pretty thin when they came in and could use a little immune boost.

If I like the results I would like to get the Forte and Acai formulas next.

I recently ordered the forte and açaí..... looking forward to getting them

 

[fishguy1978]

Live black worms. Aquarium Paradise has them so I picked up 2 tablespoons worth. Google had the instructions for how to make a colony so I have them set up in a quart container for now with a layer of gravel and some susswassertang
I also feed frozen blood worms, spirulina gut loaded BS, and krill once or twice a week.

 

[lloyd378]

Just got my second order of dr. Basslers ... this time I ordered the L and xl ( L for my community tank and xl for my multies and fry.
Anyways, I wasn’t happy with the packaging . I’m not sure if it’s from the factory or the company I ordered from but the put packaging tape around the top of each canister causing the labels to rip off ( not the entire label, but close to 50%). See pics as to why this packaging tape is overkill

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Just got my second order of dr. Basslers ... this time I ordered the L and xl ( L for my community tank and xl for my multies and fry.
Anyways, I wasn’t happy with the packaging . I’m not sure if it’s from the factory or the company I ordered from but the put packaging tape around the top of each canister causing the labels to rip off ( not the entire label, but close to 50%). See pics as to why this packaging tape is overkill

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View attachment 8691

I have had a lot of products come this way. I wonder if there is some new shipping rule? Dry goods and wet, like shampoo/conditioners have been this way.

 

[fishguy1978]

Just got my second order of dr. Basslers ... this time I ordered the L and xl ( L for my community tank and xl for my multies and fry.
Anyways, I wasn’t happy with the packaging . I’m not sure if it’s from the factory or the company I ordered from but the put packaging tape around the top of each canister causing the labels to rip off ( not the entire label, but close to 50%). See pics as to why this packaging tape is overkill

View attachment 8685View attachment 8686View attachment 8687View attachment 8688View attachment 8689View attachment 8690View attachment 8691

Interesting, my shipment of Ken's included a container that was only wrapped in bubble wrap. When I have received orders of liquids the caps are taped and in a sealed plastic bag. Makes no sense to tape dry products shut.

 

[sir_keith]

I have had a lot of products come this way. I wonder if there is some new shipping rule? Dry goods and wet, like shampoo/conditioners have been this way.

Same here. I received a shipment of Indian spices recently, and everything was wrapped in this way. I was thinking that maybe they didn't want the aromas to escape, but with fish food? Probably some kind of shipping rule thing, as you say.

 

[Jexnell]

Same here. I received a shipment of Indian spices recently, and everything was wrapped in this way. I was thinking that maybe they didn't want the aromas to escape, but with fish food? Probably some kind of shipping rule thing, as you say.

It may be a new regulation due to covid. Keep a barrier between people handling it and the product.

 

[sir_keith]

It may be a new regulation due to covid. Keep a barrier between people handling it and the product.

That's a great point. My Wet Spot shipment that arrived on Tuesday was also double bagged!