• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Quality of fish food ingredients

PremierFantasy88

PremierFantasy88

Member
Joined
17 Nov 2021
Messages
69
Location
London
I had some free time this afternoon and started looking into the ingredients of some of the fish food I have

Numerous seem to have ingredients such as:

fish & fish derivatives
fish meal
wheat meal
cereals
salmon meal
(to name a few)

I am trying to understand if a lot of these types of ingredients are just 'fillers' and have no nutritional benefit to the fish?

I'm currently keeping:

Corydoras Boesemani
Dicrossus Maculatus
Nannostomus Trifasciatus
Nannostomus Eques
Amapa Tetra

They are all wilds so I stick to a lot of live foods mixed in with the occasional naturekind advanced frozen fish food (as it was recommended to me years ago). My question is more to do with the dry foods I feed every now and again such as Tetra Pro Algae, Fluval Bug Bites etc
 
I agree with you... it just got me thinking do I really know what I'm feeding my fish?

I am not too concerned as it's only a small part of their diet
 
More and more companys are now selling their own flake foods, l only use two Aquarian and Tetramin,two l trust. I always get the smallest tubs, keeping fresh as long as possible and with other foods
 
Ive been using a mix of Bug bites and Maidenhead's Krill flake, ground together in a pestle & mortar to reduce size. I have used this and had no problems with my wild parosphromenus and betta albimarginata, and have even raised fry of various species with it. Ive also recently been using some frozen cyclops for some variety. I tend to keep the dry food tubs in the freezer and only measure out about a teaspoon of each at a time to keep it fresh.
 
I believe there is a "How it's made" documentary on fish food, I remember seeing it long ago. But it wasn't that interesting, the main ingredient is leftovers from the fish markets that are not good for the human consumption market. Name it and it's in there, parts of the clamp, shrimp, fish parts and bones etc. all ground and mixed with tapioca and the end product is fishmeal, turned into a dough that can be made again into pellets and or flakes.

Then there are enormous nurseries in SE Asia producing only Shimps or Clamps etc. they also sell their leftovers to the fish food industry and are processed the same way. That's a meal from exclusively clamps or shrimps... Such as the Sera Vipa Chips and Spirulina tabs have clamp meal as a basic ingredient on the label. I doubt if that is any different or better than fishmeal. The spirulina tab has 20% spirulina added and some colour agents to make it green to give it the spirulina vibe.

I guess in the end we all are feeding our fish with proteins from the seafood industry.

Frutti Di Mare... :p
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,

Have a look at <"Ideal food to feed Rainbow Fish for Optimal health."> and <"Experienced fish keepers: What are you feeding your fish?">.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...
Appreciate this

I keep thinking that just because my fish are very keen on something doesn't mean that it is nutritionally beneficial to them. I am keen on a takeaway every now and again but that doesn't mean it's good for me...

I've read papers in the past (specifically on wild Dicrossus species) which included analysis of the gut amongst other things to give an insight into their diets. I'll have to give these another look
 
Last edited:
Hi all,
PremierFantasy88 said:
I've read papers in the past (specifically on wild Dicrossus species) which included analysis of the gut amongst other things to give an insight into their diets. I'll have to give these another look
Click to expand...
I kept Dicrossus maculatus for a while and <"they were gorgeous"> (male below) and easy to keep (and feed) when they were growing.

dicrossus_clup_aug2012_flash_web-jpg.jpg

Conort2 said:
Be careful with your dicrossus, they’re prone to bloat.
Click to expand...
But then ,<"Too many blackworms"> and it all <"ended in tears">...........

cheers Darrel
 
Last edited:
Conort2 said:
Be careful with your dicrossus, they’re prone to bloat. I’d include some food with a high vegetable content in the diet too.
Click to expand...
I learnt this the hard way a few years ago with a breeding group of Dicrossus Warzeli... I've since kept D.Foirni and D.Maculatus making sure not to feed any bloodworms and I've not had any further issues

As you've said a bit of veg content (peas go down well) works a treat with them

dw1305 said:
Hi all,

I kept Dicrossus maculatus for a while and <"they were gorgeous"> (male below) and easy to keep (and feed) when they were growing.

View attachment 217233

<"Too many blackworms"> and it all <"ended in tears">...........

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...

They really are a gorgeous fish and as you can probably tell one of my favourite SA Dwarfs
 
Lots of annoying ad's and affiliate links in this article @PremierFantasy88 however it does go some way into explaining what ingredients to look out for when selecting fish food.

"Note of caution, this chaps site is similar to Daves at science of aquariums, ie you'll either love it or hate it"

www.americanaquariumproducts.com

Aquarium Fish Nutrition | Fish Food Information & Aquatic Health

Facts about fish nutrition; What Ingredients are needed for Optimum Fish Disease Resistance, Growth & Health. Including amino acids, Omega 3 fatty acids.
www.americanaquariumproducts.com
 
Last edited:
John q said:
Lots of annoying ad's and affiliate links in this article @PremierFantasy88 however it does go some way into explaining what ingredients to look out for when selecting fish food.

"Note of caution, this chaps site is similar to Daves at science of aquariums, ie you'll either love it or hate it"

www.americanaquariumproducts.com

Aquarium Fish Nutrition | Fish Food Information & Aquatic Health

Facts about fish nutrition; What Ingredients are needed for Optimum Fish Disease Resistance, Growth & Health. Including amino acids, Omega 3 fatty acids.
www.americanaquariumproducts.com
Click to expand...
Much appreciated for sending that link... just had a quick look and looks interesting... will give it a proper read through in the next few days
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top