New Life Spectrum: Thera A or Regular???

[ae123]

Hello all.

Can anyone tell me what the ingrediential difference is between the New Life Spectrum brand of fish food "Thera A" variety and just the "standard" pellet food is?

I'm going to buy one or the other. The product descriptions look almost identical except the Thera A indicates being oriented as an anti parasitic food.

I'm going to try and feed this to my fish regularly, so it would seem the Thera A would be a better choice(it doesn't cost much more, maybe a dollar or two), unless the added ingredients would be best reserved for mostly situational use--visible symptoms of parasitic infestation, stressful things like handling, or other.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
ae123

 

[mr.waffles1842]

ive used both thera A and the "standard" stuff. both on different tanks. i then decided to experiment, and used the opposite on the tanks. isaw no difference whatsoever.

 

[ae123]

Your setup was probably healthy from the beginning. I'm not sure mine was and now a couple of my fish are displaying initial symptoms of HITH. I'm hoping it does not progress further as at present it appears to be mild coloration variation and not major surface erosions or penitrable areas.

My parameters are excellent--I learned a lot on the fly--and are now stable. I am concentrating on this and now diet. Just not certain what makes the Thera A more anti parasitic than an immune boosting vitamin pellet as the regular variety is supposed to be.

 

[eco23]

I believe the Thera +A contains a healthy portion of garlic. Garlic has (debatably) been shown to be anti-parasitic.

We've got a member called Fishguy who knows everything there is to know about fish nutrition. Usually when he sees a thread about NLS he pops in...otherwise you can PM him.

 

[Vircomore]

I use the NLS Thera-A as the daily food for my larger tank along with the NLS 0.5mm food. The Thera-A is enjoyed by my Angelfish and bottom feeders (the angelfish will actually line himself up around dinnertime against the surface flow so the pellets just float into his mouth like a whale - pigs out on it)

The 0.5mm granules are nice for small-mouth fish (black neons in my main tank, and Endler's Guppies in my smaller tank)

 

[mr.waffles1842]

Aww, thanks! I doont know if i have that good of a tank. oh yeah, NLS is still a great product. It is way better than tetra and aqueon. JMO. Omega one is another good food.

 

[librarygirl]

I don't mean to hijack the thread but I have a related question. I've heard of some people soaking their fish's food in garlic extract. Does anyone do this? Pros/cons? I have the NLS .5mm pellets but not the Thera-A variety.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Garlic has yet to be scientifically proven to fight off paraistes (at least, I've yet to see any actual data)... just like nobody can show scientific proof that NLS is any better than any of the 'good' fish foods out there.

Garlic has been scientifically proven to boost immune systems, and is also good for getting fish to eat.

 

[ae123]

The difference I saw when looking at the ingredient list tonite at the fish store, between the regular small fish variety of NLS and the Thera A variety, was that garlic and spirulina, the 5th and 6th items were inversed--Thera A having garlic preceeding the spirulina. I suppose I anticipated this might have been the case when I read the product descriptions online last night and garlic, I deduced somehow, was a possible variable.

So I bought the small fish variety. They all ate it up like I'd been feeding it to them all along. Even the baby platys liked it very much, which supprised me because they were not as fond of the fry food I was feeding them, made especially for them--the NLS is very easy to grind to powder form. I am very happy about these things.

I've also got some Vita Chem on the way, mail order. It came recommended by several people from an excellent website I've been reading from. Selcon is another vitamin liquid of some sort that they like to use. I know the Vita Chem you can add to food and/or dose your tank. Not sure if Selcon is the same, dually, as the Vita Chem.

Now I guess what I should be worrying about is over feeding. I think this possibility will exist with the liquid vitamin supplements if I'm adding them to food. Perhaps I'll just have to read the instructions and trust the manufacturer. I've had difficulties, though, with trust so far insofar as the things I put in my tank. This is fine and I guess I'll just have to get used to it. I imagine it would take at least several years hard studying, college level curriculum, before I'd even be in the ballpark of what is actually going on in my tank.