What brands of dry/frozen foods do you feed?

[AquaScaper]

Nowadays it seems the choices are limitless and all the foods claim to be the best but, how do you REALLY know if the food you are buying is really as good as the label tells you it is?....I always wonder if what I'm buying is a waste of money and if the other product I put back on the shelf may have been the better one...

I mostly try to stick to more common Brands like Hikari since they put out some many varied diets and I can almost always find something for everyone to enjoy :) . Reading nutrition labels frustrates me all the time so I frequently fear buying something that may not be healthy enough for my fishies or is made by a company I don't recognize.

What do you all most frequently feed your fishies?

[Melody]

My fave shelf brand is Omega One - lots of good stuff added and they use human-grade ingredients. Hikari makes awesome vegie stuff with actual vegies rather than just spirulina. I also like their freeze-dried products. For frozen I'm not too picky on a brand, although I prefer Mr. Mykiss' frozen BBS to the store version.

In the past few months I've been using Flaked Krill made by the BC company 'Fishalicious (http://www.fishalicious.ca)', and they love it. The larger Krill products are tough for them to eat I find. This stuff is tiny. I only feed Krill as a treat - fouls tanks quickly. Nothing better for color and protein content though. I bought the Fishalicious at Puppies Fish & Critters, Scottsdale Mall. On the Fishalicious site they list other stores that carry it.

I have finally been able to try Mike Reed's (http://www.mreed.com) fish food and I'm very impressed with that - so are the fish! You may have seen his ad's in fish mag's. I might offer him web design for food - he needs some...lol...it doesn't do justice to the product. He has a full line of products, including fry food and dry ingredients for making your own food. I hope to try the latter soon.

I find that price is a reasonably good indicator. Yeah you can get huge bags of flakes for a low price but they're largely fillers.

It pays to research the needs of your fish first, then go to a store someday when you have a lot of time, and start reading labels. You won't have to read too many before you start to notice the differences.

I'm a big believer in a varied diet, catering to the needs of specific fish. I don't believe that any one food is good for all fish - I don't see the logic behind that belief when even the basic division of carnivores, herbivores and omnivores have a wide range of needs. Further take that down to the difference between what a Pleco should have and what a Cichlid needs, and all logic to the thought process escapes me. They may live on it, they may seem perfectly healthy, but I can't see how it could possibly be ideal. Many of these creatures have varying digestive capabilities as well, some with long digestive tracts, etc... I just don't get it :confused: .

However, we all have our methods and there are many respected fish-keepers who stick to one brand. That's just my thoughts on it :) .

[AquaScaper]

My fave shelf brand is Omega One - lots of good stuff added and they use human-grade ingredients. Hikari makes awesome vegie stuff with actual vegies rather than just spirulina. I also like their freeze-dried products. For frozen I'm not too picky on a brand, although I prefer Mr. Mykiss' frozen BBS to the store version.

In the past few months I've been using Flaked Krill made by the BC company 'Fishalicious (http://www.fishalicious.ca)', and they love it. The larger Krill products are tough for them to eat I find. This stuff is tiny. I only feed Krill as a treat - fouls tanks quickly. Nothing better for color and protein content though. I bought the Fishalicious at Puppies Fish & Critters, Scottsdale Mall. On the Fishalicious site they list other stores that carry it.

I have finally been able to try Mike Reed's (http://www.mreed.com) fish food and I'm very impressed with that - so are the fish! You may have seen his ad's in fish mag's. I might offer him web design for food - he needs some...lol...it doesn't do justice to the product. He has a full line of products, including fry food and dry ingredients for making your own food. I hope to try the latter soon.

I find that price is a reasonably good indicator. Yeah you can get huge bags of flakes for a low price but they're largely fillers.

It pays to research the needs of your fish first, then go to a store someday when you have a lot of time, and start reading labels. You won't have to read too many before you start to notice the differences.

I'm a big believer in a varied diet, catering to the needs of specific fish. I don't believe that any one food is good for all fish - I don't see the logic behind that belief when even the basic division of carnivores, herbivores and omnivores have a wide range of needs. Further take that down to the difference between what a Pleco should have and what a Cichlid needs, and all logic to the thought process escapes me. They may live on it, they may seem perfectly healthy, but I can't see how it could possibly be ideal. Many of these creatures have varying digestive capabilities as well, some with long digestive tracts, etc... I just don't get it :confused: .

However, we all have our methods and there are many respected fish-keepers who stick to one brand. That's just my thoughts on it :) .

Thanks! I'm going to have to try some of those that you mentioned. :)

A friend of mine recently gave me all her left over food as she liquidated her couple of tanks to make room for a crib so I have some others to try. Has anyone here ever fed Cyclopeeze? She gave me 2 tins of it, one was open so I turfed it because she wasn't sure how old it was and I didn't want to feed the fishies spoiled food. I haven't opened the tin yet as I have lots of other stuff on the go right now but it seems like it might be fairly good stuff?

[mykiss]

Yup, I also have used and still have a bit left of Mike Reed's flake food. I also use Nutrifin Max, and a few types of hikari frozen foods. I also use other brands of frozen blood worms, sometimes natural foods such as lettuce, zuchinni, etc... and some times I make my own beef heart mix. I also like to feed newly hatched baby brine shrimp. HHhhmmmmm.... oh and I also feed some Wardley's sinking pellets, and Hikari sinking wafers and pellets and last but not least....and MY MOST FAVE food to feed....is Melody's snail SNAX!!!!! lol no I don't feed them that all the time but I do feed them the snail bits as a treat. All my fishes eat them and the snails and shrimps!

[Melody]

Good answer! LOL And an honest one to boot - I don't feed it all the time either. I find that all of that fresh stuff in the Bottom Bites can foul the water if too much is fed on a regular basis. Mine get them every 2-3 days because I have so many snails.

You'll also notice that I didn't mention them in my post - one of my pet peeves is having 'commercial' food pushed hard in this type of thread by those who sell them. Makes it impossible to have a decent conversation about it and people get irritated. I'm all for opportunity advertising, but that's not what people are looking for when they ask about the fave food of their peers. I've been seeing it in many forums lately to a point where many don't reply because they don't want to argue with the resident salesman.

That was a thinly veiled warning to anyone who wants to enter this thread with their sales kit....lol...how did I do? ;)

Anyways, its a great thread. There's always foods out there that I haven't tried and I love hearing about what others swear by and why.

[blainep]

I've heard alot of people RAVE about New Life Spectrum foods, so I've been trying them out.
The fish really seem to like it.
Of course, some of my fish will eat anything I put in the tank. :confused:

But I will say even my picky fish like the NLS, but it ain't cheap !

Normally I use Nutrifin max and Hikari products.

Don't care for the Wardley fish foods, they seem to foul the water very easily.

Thats my 2 cents worth.

[Soggybottom]

Ive tried nutrifin, tetramin, and NLS. I haven't been able to tell if the fish like one more than the other, they pretty much gobble anything immediately and have always looked happy and healthy. The NLS seemed to take a bit more getting used to than the others but the end result was the same. I always buy something different just for fun. If one food is lacking then hopefully the next one will fill the gaps. On weekends they get a mix of bloodworms and adult brine shrimp, frozen, chopped and rinsed. If I'm feeling nice I'll hatch some BBS for a sunday treat.

Off topic - the puffers are another story. They don't eat anything that doesn't bleed. I rotate red wigglers, ramshorns and thawed shrimp. They generally snap at the shrimp once or twice and then leave it alone, probably knowing that tomorrow the food will be wiggling :) When the good stuff hits the tank they are like hyenas tearing at it and fighting over it. Cute little fat hyenas that is.

[Melody]

Most fish are opportunistic feeders, hence the enthusiasm no matter what it is. I do find it interesting that some only take live foods, or frozen if they're desperate. You would think that they'd pick up on it being food and still eat it if they were hungry. The thrill of the hunt wouldn't make them starve. I often wonder if they recognize commercial forms as food, and if 'training fish' would help. Just the competition frenzy seems to inspire picky eaters. But I'm sure someone has tried that on the die-hard live food eaters before. Intriguing.:Think:

[Soggybottom]

Hmm, interesting idea indeed. I'll try dropping in just one piece of shrimp next time and get back to you with the verdict...

[CACAdmin]

Ok. Here goes. I've avoided posting here up until now, but I figure I'd better own up to the fact that $$$ is the driving force behind what my fish get fed. :Embarassing: As for commercial flake or freeze dried foods, it's not the brand but whatever is a good price or on sale.

Brands? What brands? :Dunno: Who knows? My fish and snails do get a variety of staple flake food, spirulina, freeze dried bloodworms & brine shrimp. I also feed Hikari (OMG a brand) Algae wafers. You have to realize I raise platys... they'll eat anything remotely resembling food that you drop in the tank.:laugh:

Now before you go thinking I'm depriving my critters of valuable nutrients, I must tell you they also get a regular diet of other foods. I supplement their diet with cooked fresh vegetables (broccoli, zucchini, bok choy, peas, etc.) as well as Melody's "Bottom Bites" which they all seem to think are candy.:D

OK, now I'll sit back and await the lecture.:eek:

Jay

[Melody]

Lecture? I've received both your fish and snails, both of which are perfection, and I'm very picky...lol...whatever you're doing, you're doing right, if I'm anyone to judge. Methods vary and I can respect yours without insisting that you do what I do.:) Besides, what I do changes from week to week so you'd never keep up anyway :witch: .

[thegrandpoohbah]

Like most people, I like feeding a variety of food to my fish, snails and shrimp.

The fish get a mix of New Life Spectrum pellets, Tetra Min flakes and HBH veggie flakes. I process it all in a food processor to break it down a bit (my fish are small).

The snails and cherry shrimp get Hikari tropical wafers and algae wafers. They also get an occaisonal treat of Melody's Bottom Bites.

My betta doesn't like flakes so he only eats the NLS pellets.

So far everybody seems to be happy and healthy so I must be doing something right.

[Melody]

Uhuh, I can testify to that with your fish too:) .

Those HBH Vegie flakes are da bomb - all of my fish love them. I am ordering a big bulk amount of it at some point for reasonably close to wholesale, plus shipping of course, but its going by ground. I haven't seen it in my local stores here - where do you get yours, if I may ask?

[thegrandpoohbah]

I get the HBH veggie flakes from Big Al's.

[Melody]

Thank you Sir!:)

[Candice]

My blood parrot/Mustard spot pleco/Leopard ctenopoma tank gets: OSI blood red parrot pellots, Blood worms, Bio blend Herbivore, OSI veggie wafers, Hikari algae wafers, Tetra Max Flakes and Piscine Mysis. I like the Piscine mysis better for this tank as they are a lot bigger than the hikari ones.

My Endlers/snail/pleco tanks get Hikari frozen daphnia, Tetra max Flakes, powdered baby livebearer food, Hikari algae wafers and OSI veggie wafers.

All of my tanks *occassionaly* get Melody's bottom bites.

[mixixe]

I feed my community tank tetramin procrisps, HBH proflakes and Hikari mini wafers. After a week of feeding the mini wafers exclusively my fish turned bright red! Especially the harlequin rasboras. They love it! My bettas also like the mini wafters. I also feed them hikari frozen brine shrimp with spirulina, and brine shrimp. For the cichlids i feed hikari bio-gold, frozen shrimp, krill and red wigglers. My bottom feeders get zucchini, shrimp and hikari sinkng carnivore pellets. I think I spend more money on fish food than human food! My fishes also get snails snax as a treat!

[Melody]

LOL Mine definitly eat better than I do. If I obsessed half as much about my nutrition as I do about theirs, I'd be one healthy individual!

[hp10BII]

I really like (and my fish too) Ocean Nutrition Flakes, I buy the Formula 2 which has extra seaweed and greens. All my fish takes them.

PE Mysis shrimp for the cichlids and goldfish

I use JBL pellets for Discus, Tetra colorbits and NLS.

Hikari Freeze dried and frozen bloodworms, their bottom feeder wafers and crab bits.

Omega One Shrimp pellets and Algae Wafers.

Nutrifinmax flakes for my goldies and anything else no other fish would eat!

[Melody]

You're as bad as I am :laugh: .

I don't think I've ever tried Ocean Nutrition Flakes. I'm so limited. I have the selection that's within walking distance and that's about it most of the time, unless I do the online thing. I think y'all should put together a nice sampler basket for me. It will bring the group together to work on such a project. I'm only thinking of the good of the forum. :Frog:

How about Tetramin Flakes? I bought those on a whim because Walmart had them on sale, but my fish aren't crazy about them at all. Some won't even eat them. I checked the due date, its fine. They're usually not fussy, very strange - anyone else find that? Thankfully, the snails will eat anything. Cana's will eat styro and small children. :rolleyes:

[blainep]

You're as bad as I am :laugh: .

I don't think I've ever tried Ocean Nutrition Flakes. I'm so limited. I have the selection that's within walking distance and that's about it most of the time, unless I do the online thing. I think y'all should put together a nice sampler basket for me. It will bring the group together to work on such a project. I'm only thinking of the good of the forum. :Frog:

How about Tetramin Flakes? I bought those on a whim because Walmart had them on sale, but my fish aren't crazy about them at all. Some won't even eat them. I checked the due date, its fine. They're usually not fussy, very strange - anyone else find that? Thankfully, the snails will eat anything. Cana's will eat styro and small children. :rolleyes:

I've purchased outside of my usual fish food regiment with similar results. Sometimes the fish love the new food, sometimes they won't even look at it.

Occasionaly, I'll have the situation also where all the fish, except one, won't take the new food and the one fish that will, eats like its an all you can eat buffet.

I guess fish tastes are as different as humans, or my fish are spoiled rotten. ;)

[bingerz]

i know i'm bringing up an old post,...but i just switched over to NLS for my african cichlids...and it doesn't seem like they're liking it. my acei's have no problems...but it seems like my fuellebornis and red zebras are iffy and finicky about it. maybe it's cuz it's a sinking pellet vs the floating pellet i used before. i swear...i dish out more for their food...and they're liking the cheap stuff. what the heck?