Dried fish foods

[Majsa]

Hi all, how/where and how long do you store your opened jars of fish foods (flakes, granules, freeze dried...)? 2, 4, 6 months or longer? Does freezing foods make a big difference? I prefer to have variety and have only small fish so I never use up even a smallest jar before I think it can't be that good any more.
I do like Sera O'Nip in the blister pack, stays fresh.

 

[Chubbs]

Dry food - (new life spectrum micro, algae wafers, algae shrimp mix, dried worms etc.) I store in the tank cupboard and will keep it there until it’s empty - literally all lasts for years, as only feed once a day, with the odd weekly cucumber or courgette. In the case of the former, it’s in an air tight container which it came in. The wafers are in grip seal foil bags, so again, tend to keep for ages and ages.

I don’t feed flake food, so can’t comment on those.

If it’s repashy food for shrimp, once made up; in a container, in a plastic bag in the fridge. Keep for a few days to a week before throwing it.

 

[sciencefiction]

I always store in the freezer and take out small amounts in another jar to last onlya couple of weeks. I feed only New Life Spectrum and occasionally frozen food. The lot stays in the freezer. Fish food will lose its beneficial components over time, and even if stored in the freezer, should be used for no longer than a year.

I prefer to have variety

You do not need a variety. You need one type of high quality food and some frozen foods from time to time which is mainly as a treat, and at the moment on the market the best food is New Life Spectrum. Its not cheap but the fish will thank you and if you need to feed that little, its worth the money.

"Variety" needs in regards to fish food come from times when only bad fish food was available to purchase. Now this is not the case and by buying a variety of lesser quality foods, you're doing nothing good for the fish. Bad fish food is generally the same, poor, lacking vital minerals and vitamins and full of fillers, whether you have one or ten brands in your cupboard. You need to understand how to read the label and also do your re-search before seriously committing to any food as a staple. Don't get caught by catchy comments on forums about fish going mad about certain foods. It is not a good enough reason to buy such foods. We like fast food, but they aren't good for us.

 

[Fiske]

I don’t feed flake food, so can’t comment on those.

I feed my grindals with flakefood. Cheap (if I buy a lot on sale) and simple, also gets them gutloaded for my paros and Hara jerdoni. Bought some catfish pellets (Vitalis) for the Haras, so far it seems they end up as shrimpfood... The cats are completely disinterested in them. So they mostly get grindals.

My shelldwellers love flakefood, but I think I will get some better quality pellets for them, maybe NLS.

Generally, flakefoods doesn't seem to be such a fantastic product as claimed on the package.

 

[BubblingUnder]

I only use dried food in my tanks (stored near the tank). As long as you avoid damp & high temperatures mine lasts for a year or more.

Can't see a use for frozen food unless you have a species of fish or a wild fish with particular requirements. Its more important to ensure that each species is not out competed when you feed the tank (so food size can be important). There is such a choice of dried food now so frozen food is just more hassle. For example I feed three different types of dried food for my Discus, Cory's, Otto, Shrimp :

Tropical Flakes, Prima Granules, Ground catfish pellets - I feed four times a day & it seems to work ok over the years.

 

[Chubbs]

The new life spectrum micro is great because they’re small and sink. So my Corys, Tetra and even SAE and shrimp can all eat the same food. Gouramis will vacuum the stuff up, but it lasts ages. I’m nearing a year on my current tub and I’m not even near half full.

I only feed my fish once per day and even then not every day. Maybe 5 or 6 times a week.

 

[Majsa]

You do not need a variety. You need one type of high quality food and some frozen foods from time to time which is mainly as a treat, and at the moment on the market the best food is New Life Spectrum. Its not cheap but the fish will thank you and if you need to feed that little, its worth the money.

I didn't know that...It seems New Life Spectrum is not available in the Netherlands (and don't feel like paying more for postage than for the product itself) so I indeed need to do some research here. Anyone experience with Dr. Bassleer foods?

 

[Chubbs]

I didn't know that...It seems New Life Spectrum is not available in the Netherlands (and don't feel like paying more for postage than for the product itself) so I indeed need to do some research here. Anyone experience with Dr. Bassleer foods?

Amazon? Most UK companies will ship to Netherlands from a couple of Euros.

 

[sciencefiction]

I didn't know that...It seems New Life Spectrum is not available in the Netherlands (and don't feel like paying more for postage than for the product itself) so I indeed need to do some research here. Anyone experience with Dr. Bassleer foods?

Rarely available here either. I order online...It depends on one's financial abilities but surely, if one needs one container a year, the extra money for postage is still worth it....

A quick search of Dr.Bassler foods:

Composition: Fish and fish derivatives, cereals, and crustaceans, derivatives of vegetable origin, yeast, minerals

Additives: Dietary physiological additives per kg: Vitamin A 7,500 IU, vitamin C 1,000 mg, vitamin D3 750 IU, vitamin E 400 mg, Zootechnical additives per kg: Pediococcus acidilactici (4.d1712) 3,000 CFU/mg
Ingredients: Crude protein 54 %, crude oils and fats 16 %, crude ash 10 %, crude fiber 4 %, calcium 2 %, phosphorus 1.5 %
Guaranteed free of artificial colors

Typical New Life Spectrum ingredients:

Composition: Whole Antarctic Krill, Whole Herring, Whole Wheat Flour, Algae, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Vegetable and Fruit Extract, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Niacin, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Stable C), Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Choline Chloride.

NLS algae max formula is even more impressive:

Composition: Chlorella algae, Ulva & Red Seaweed, Kelp, Spirulina, Wakame Seaweed, whole fish, Eucheuma cottonii, Spinosum Seaweed, Chondrus crispus, Cereals, Garlic, Omega 3 oil. ß-Carotene 16500 IU/kg, Vitamin A 8,000 IU/kg, Vitamin D 2,500 IU/kg, Vitamin E 200 IU/kg, D-pantothenic acid 9.7 IU/kg, Niacin 19.8 mg/kg, Folic acid .7 mg/kg, Biotin .1 mg/kg, Vitamin Bi Thiamine 4.2 mg/kg, Riboflavin 2.7 mg/kg, Vitamin B6 Pyridoxine 4mg/kg, L-Ascorbyl 2-Polyphosphate (Stable C) 30mg/kg, Choline 50mg/kg, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide 50mg/kg, Colourants 420mg/kg, Compounds of trace elements 75mg/kg.

You do the math

 

[Chubbs]

It’s the addition of garlic that made me buy new life in the first place as I was scared my new fish at the time would get ICK. Been using it ever since and my fish look lovely.

I’ve not tried other foods, so I can’t say if they’re more vibrant now than before.
As mentioned, my tub is 120g and this is how much I have left after a year:

Barely made a dent. That’s a pinch in the evening 5 - 6 times a week.

 

[Majsa]

Typical New Life Spectrum ingredients:

Composition: Whole Antarctic Krill, Whole Herring, Whole Wheat Flour, Algae, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Vegetable and Fruit Extract, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Niacin, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Stable C), Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Choline Chloride.

That is impressive...they actually say what's in the product instead of things like "derivatives" of this and that.

Amazon? Most UK companies will ship to Netherlands from a couple of Euros.

I just ordered the small fish formula from Amazon (and can't complain about the price either)!

 

[tam]

Does anyone know if the NLS small fish formula fits in ember tetra sized mouths? I've looked at it before but I don't want to buy it and then find it's too big.

 

[sciencefiction]

They have 0.5mm version of all formulas. Make sure thats the size you get.

 

[sciencefiction]

Does anyone know if the NLS small fish formula fits in ember tetra sized mouths? I've looked at it before but I don't want to buy it and then find it's too big.

Just as a follow up to my prior comment, they sell all sizes of their formulas. One may need to search a bit online. I think the "small" fish formula is 0.5mm version but I hate it when they don't state the size exactly because it has happened to me buying the wrong size....

I recently bought a bunch of baby harlequin rasboras. The smallest size NLS pellets I own at the moment are 1mm. I think 0.5mm will be perfect for ember tetras. NLS have smaller than that size for fry but these are more "powder" like, way too small. In any case, my harlequin rasboras are playing "soccer" with even 2mm pellet but knowing fish and knowing NLS, the size of my rasboras is baby ember tetra like and 0.5mm will be ideal. . I have never had fish not go mad about NLS, especially if fed from day one. You may have some fish turn it down if they're used to "soft" pellets. I've read about it....but it has never been my experience fish turn down NLS, they love it.

For reference, the pellets are hard and very tough to crumble, which is even better as any "soft" food loses its nutritional benefits faster once it hits the water, especially flakes, which should never be a staple.....

I am very confident, after 6 years using NLS daily, that you would avoid the majority if not all, of fish diseases, regardless of the specific dietary needs of your fish, caused my malnutrition, and your fish will display their best colours you can hope for . That's why I am insistent about it Good luck, whatever you decide...Water quality is the major factor, regardless....

 

[Chubbs]

If you make the mistake of buying one that’s too large, do as I do when there are babies in the tank, i pre soak the food in a small cup of tank water. After a couple minutes it’s soft enough for them to tear chunks off of it. It also has the added benefit of sinking faster if you have Corys.

 

[sciencefiction]

It is not recommended to soak fish food in water because it loses a lot of its benefits. You want the fish to eat it as fast as possible. One can use pestle and mortar if it is for fry. For the rasboras, I use my fingers to crumble the food. Otherwise, I sink the food with my hand each time so the pellets fall to the bottom straight away. My loaches actually don't even wait for them to fall and fight around my hand.

 

[BubblingUnder]

use pestle and mortar if it is for fry

Try using a cheap salt/pepper mill to grind pellets for fry instead, it saves a lot of time & elbow grease.

 

[MirandaB]

I've gone over to Northfin foods now,top notch stuff in my opinion and they do a big range from fry starter to big stuff

 

[tam]

I've gone over to Northfin foods now,top notch stuff in my opinion and they do a big range from fry starter to big stuff

I was just going to order a tub of the NLS but this looks fairly similar ingredients wise. I'm guessing either is going to be a lot better than my current tub of aquairan flake (they do get daphnia/blood worm too). Might go for the Northfin just on the grounds they sell a 20g pack and that's cheaper for a will they eat it trial.

 

[Chubbs]

I soak the food and have had no ill affects, so if it is true, it must be either incredibly slow or minimal. I don’t own a lab so can’t say either way, all I know is it works for me