This is an extension to the thread on fish food brands...
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/food-brand-question-86137/
But I did not want to hijack that thread.
Before we get going here, I'm feeling long winded, so get a favorite beverage or run away now ;-)
I did some research and some thinking and even got into a somewhat unsavory discussion on another forum with a fellow who felt the fish food he uses is the only food anyone with any sense should use. When I suggested that there was more than one quality fish food in the world, he went off and it wasn't pretty.
First, lets rethink fish meal which is often the first item in the fish food ingredient list. The fish meal is most often made from pieces parts and/or low quality fish that can't be used in food grade consumption. There may be many reasons for this (euu). This alone makes it a somewhat lower quality. The fish are ground, dried to powder, preservatives added and it goes on a warehouse shelf until it's ordered by a fish food manufacturer...where it's combined with other ingredients *, more preservatives, flaked or pelletized and dried, then sets in another warehouse until it gets to a store to sit on their shelves until you buy it and start feeding your fish. Sounds pretty bad huh?
* Often, we'll see some kind of starch in the form of flour or gluten not too far down in the ingredient list. The starch is a necessary binder and it elevates the crude protein in the analysis. It's not really all that good for our fish.
Slightly higher quality fish foods will use whole fish meals. These at least are meals made from potentially inferior fish, but the whole fish rather than parts.
Even higher quality foods will use whole fish and/or whole fish that are food grade - the same fish we would buy in the store to cook for dinner (okay, I haven't had herring or krill lately, but you know what I mean.)
Salmon, cod, herring, krill, shrimp...
Okay, so once we get past the fishy business, we come to the other additives like greens (kelp, algae and processed garden vegetables) vitamins, minerals, natural and artificial colors and preservatives....and things none of us need/want to know about.
So the lower quality (and frankly cheaper) foods will have fish meal as the first ingredient. Not too far down in the list will be some type of flour or gluten. Here is a side by side ingredient list of three major high quality fish foods New Life Spectrum, Omega One and Hikari (First Bites):
New Life Spectrum:
Whole Antarctic Krill Meal, Whole Herring Meal, Wheat Flour, Whole Squid Meal, Algae Meal, Soybean Isolate, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Vegetable and Fruit Extract (Spinach, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Pea, Red and Green Cabbage, Apple, Apricot, Mango, Kiwi, Papaya, Peach, Pear), Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal-Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine, DL Alphatocophero ( E ), Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Niacin, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, L-Ascorby-2-Polyphosphate (Stable C), Ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Choline Chloride.
Omega One:
Whole Salmon, Halibut, Black Cod, Whole Herring , Whole Shrimp, Whole Krill, Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Fresh Kelp, Lecithin, Astaxanthin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Natural and Artificial Colors, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Folic Acid, Biotin, Inositol, Tocopherol (Preservative),
Ethoxyquin (Preservative)
Hikari First Bites:
Fish Meal, wheat flour, krill meal, soybean meal, brewers dried yeast, dried seaweed meal, spinulina, rice, bran, garlic, DL-methionne, choline cloride, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbic-2-polyphosphate (stablized vitamin C), inositol, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A oil, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, menadone sodium bisulfate complex (source of vitamin K), folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biolin, disodium phosphate, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, cobalt sulfate, calcium iodate.
Strictly based on the ingredients, New Life Spectrum gets high marks for using whole fish meals, but they are [still] meals and flour is high in the list. Hikari (First Bites) is using just plain (whoknowswhatsinit) fish meal followed by flour. Omega One would seem to get the highest marks using whole Alaskan fish, although they also use flour/gluten as a binder.
My research also uncovered a fellow hobbyist that many years ago began making his own fish foods and a few years ago began selling same. He uses fresh food grade fish and no flour or gluten.
I have ordered some and am axious to give it a try. Have a look at:
Almost Natural Tropical Fish Food
There are many other quality fish foods, the above are merely examples. I suppose we shouldn't be too hard on foods based on fish meal. Then again, when I get eggs, I want fresh....farm fresh, not powdered eggs loaded with preservatives that have been on a shelf for months.
I also don't want to get all high and mighty and spend a fortune on fish food. But if we can, why not feed them the very best we can?
It seems to me that in addition to water quality, the highest quality fish food will promote the best health, vitality, color and breeding.
What do you think?
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/food-brand-question-86137/
But I did not want to hijack that thread.
Before we get going here, I'm feeling long winded, so get a favorite beverage or run away now ;-)
I did some research and some thinking and even got into a somewhat unsavory discussion on another forum with a fellow who felt the fish food he uses is the only food anyone with any sense should use. When I suggested that there was more than one quality fish food in the world, he went off and it wasn't pretty.
First, lets rethink fish meal which is often the first item in the fish food ingredient list. The fish meal is most often made from pieces parts and/or low quality fish that can't be used in food grade consumption. There may be many reasons for this (euu). This alone makes it a somewhat lower quality. The fish are ground, dried to powder, preservatives added and it goes on a warehouse shelf until it's ordered by a fish food manufacturer...where it's combined with other ingredients *, more preservatives, flaked or pelletized and dried, then sets in another warehouse until it gets to a store to sit on their shelves until you buy it and start feeding your fish. Sounds pretty bad huh?
* Often, we'll see some kind of starch in the form of flour or gluten not too far down in the ingredient list. The starch is a necessary binder and it elevates the crude protein in the analysis. It's not really all that good for our fish.
Slightly higher quality fish foods will use whole fish meals. These at least are meals made from potentially inferior fish, but the whole fish rather than parts.
Even higher quality foods will use whole fish and/or whole fish that are food grade - the same fish we would buy in the store to cook for dinner (okay, I haven't had herring or krill lately, but you know what I mean.)
Salmon, cod, herring, krill, shrimp...
Okay, so once we get past the fishy business, we come to the other additives like greens (kelp, algae and processed garden vegetables) vitamins, minerals, natural and artificial colors and preservatives....and things none of us need/want to know about.
So the lower quality (and frankly cheaper) foods will have fish meal as the first ingredient. Not too far down in the list will be some type of flour or gluten. Here is a side by side ingredient list of three major high quality fish foods New Life Spectrum, Omega One and Hikari (First Bites):
New Life Spectrum:
Whole Antarctic Krill Meal, Whole Herring Meal, Wheat Flour, Whole Squid Meal, Algae Meal, Soybean Isolate, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Vegetable and Fruit Extract (Spinach, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Pea, Red and Green Cabbage, Apple, Apricot, Mango, Kiwi, Papaya, Peach, Pear), Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal-Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine, DL Alphatocophero ( E ), Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Niacin, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, L-Ascorby-2-Polyphosphate (Stable C), Ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Choline Chloride.
Omega One:
Whole Salmon, Halibut, Black Cod, Whole Herring , Whole Shrimp, Whole Krill, Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Fresh Kelp, Lecithin, Astaxanthin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Natural and Artificial Colors, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Folic Acid, Biotin, Inositol, Tocopherol (Preservative),
Ethoxyquin (Preservative)
Hikari First Bites:
Fish Meal, wheat flour, krill meal, soybean meal, brewers dried yeast, dried seaweed meal, spinulina, rice, bran, garlic, DL-methionne, choline cloride, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbic-2-polyphosphate (stablized vitamin C), inositol, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A oil, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, menadone sodium bisulfate complex (source of vitamin K), folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biolin, disodium phosphate, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, cobalt sulfate, calcium iodate.
Strictly based on the ingredients, New Life Spectrum gets high marks for using whole fish meals, but they are [still] meals and flour is high in the list. Hikari (First Bites) is using just plain (whoknowswhatsinit) fish meal followed by flour. Omega One would seem to get the highest marks using whole Alaskan fish, although they also use flour/gluten as a binder.
My research also uncovered a fellow hobbyist that many years ago began making his own fish foods and a few years ago began selling same. He uses fresh food grade fish and no flour or gluten.
I have ordered some and am axious to give it a try. Have a look at:
Almost Natural Tropical Fish Food
There are many other quality fish foods, the above are merely examples. I suppose we shouldn't be too hard on foods based on fish meal. Then again, when I get eggs, I want fresh....farm fresh, not powdered eggs loaded with preservatives that have been on a shelf for months.
I also don't want to get all high and mighty and spend a fortune on fish food. But if we can, why not feed them the very best we can?
It seems to me that in addition to water quality, the highest quality fish food will promote the best health, vitality, color and breeding.
What do you think?