Food Quality

[kdklovesfish]

I'm sure this has been asked a million times, but I am the type of pet parent to want to feed my animals good stuff... No Kibbles N' Bits for my dogs, high quality seeds and fruit for my bird, etc.... but I'm not sure what to look for with my fish. I've been keeping fish for a little over a year now and why I haven't really thought too much of this before is beyond me. So here goes:

I have two community freshwater tanks stocked with plecos, cories, platies, guppies, loaches and a gourami, ghost shrimp and an ever growing and selling bunch of MTS. I have been feeding them mostly Tetra foods, just because it's not the cheapest at Petco and not the most expensive. Sometimes I get something else cause it's on sale for the same price range. They eat anything I put in the tank, and they are all chunky, so I guess I have no picky eaters. I do flakes just because it seems like they eat it faster. I put in algae wafers every other day for the bottom feeders.

I would like to know what ingredients to look for both good and bad. That way I can make more educated decisions based on quality and price. Thanks guys!!

 

[Old Scales]

Hi Kd,
Tetra is a good food. Indeed it was the ultimate food for fish when it came out in the sixties. I remember it being the first company to offer food in the flake form. The old hartz mountain food back then was like corn meal and clouded the water no matter how little you fed. It was gross. There are some now rated a little better than tetra. Omega One, and Hikari and MTS are arguably the best ones right now. I rotate my fish feedings with Omega One flakes, MTS small pellet food and different frozen cube foods. My fishys seemed spoiled and happy. OS.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

The best way it was put to me was like this: we could live eating Big Macs everyday. We wouldn't be the healthiest, but we would survive. So why give your fish one food every day?

I do a rotation to at least pretend their diet is varied. I start off with New Life Spectrum flakes. I started with that because it has garlic which I heard is good for the immune system. I tried switching once but my fish didn't seem interested in the omega 1?? stuff I had bought. Then on day 2 I give them frozen bloodworms, not the freeze-dried stuff, the little ice cube form. On day 3 I give them NLS .5 and 1mm pellets. The smaller fish eat these slowly, but my gourami's, convicts, mollies, and columbian tetras scarf them up. Then on day 4 I give them frozen brine shrimp, the ice cube stuff. Then I start over.

 

[Old Scales]

I bet you have some really healthy spoiled fish too Super. lol. I do the same for my two cats and one dog. They don't know how good they have it! OS.

 

[kdklovesfish]

Thanks guys for the input!!! I get that they need different stuff like all animals do. I forgot to mention that I give them fresh zucchini about once a month. I don't think many of my top feeder eat on it, but the bottom feeders love them...

Unfortunately, even though I am nearly thirty, I am disabled and therefore live with my mother. She flat vetoes any fish food in the fridge or freezer... Umm can't argue that my fish are more important than her wishes since she supports me and my fish. My house lives by the Southern rule: "If Mamma an't happy; an't nobody happy."

I have tried them on Omega One and New Life Spectrum flakes and crisps and they eat them as well as Tetra flakes. I have also tried them on the multi pack foods that have pellets and dried brine also, but I always found the dried brine stuck to my filters uneaten. They did eat the pellets, so I guess I could rotate different flakes and pellets? Would that even do anything if I'm feeding decent quality flakes?

Also, does anyone know the key ingredients to look for? Both good and bad. I like to buy stuff online and am always seeing non-name brand stuff on eBay. I was wondering if fish food is like dog food in that you don't have to buy based on price, but on ingredients. I mean, no way am I buying something that is bagged in a zip lock cuase really, who knows what they maybe giving you. But I would consider non-name brand or brands from other places if the ingredients matched and they came in a sealed container. Thoughts on that??

 

[fishyd]

Good information super, thanks for sharing.

I do have a question if someone doesn't mind answering: I remember reading in another thread about a certain wafer that is good for cories. For the life of me I can't find that thread. Does anyone have suggestions or know what it is? (It had a type of protein that normal veggie/algae wafers don't have)

 

[fishyd]

Kdk, what I go by when looking at food is looking at how far down the list wheat flour is. Read that the farther it is, the better. As long as everything in front is actual seafood ingredients and a good variety. Wheat flour acts as a binder so the less that's in it the better.

I would like to hear what others have to say though.

 

[foster53]

I feed Omega one food(several varieties) Ocean Nutrition, freeze dried blood worms, black worms, and plankton. I also feed a variety of frozen foods. Mosquito larvae, spirulina enrich brine shrimp, and krill. In the summer I feed a lot of live foods.