New life spectrum -- blue buckets please read

[LithoMan]

Hi all

Just to start this topic off

This is not a slag session on nls.i have been using it for years and my fish love this food.

I have bought many many tubs of spectrum

I bought a Thera A blue bucket a month ago

80% of the pellets won't sink

I spoke to the supplier

They explained to me they have changed a few ingredient to make it better

But the problem I'm having is my fish are use to eating off the bottom

Now these just float around the edges of the tank

And 30-40 min later I come back they still floating so even when they are soaked.

This is cause the food to stay in my tank and obviously cause the water contions to change

The supplier told me they know about the issue

Is there others experiencing this ?

It says sinking pellets and they don't

Now I have a tub nearly full that will be no good for me unless I powder it all up.

Are they going to continue to be like this ?

I use new era as well to mix up my feed again very happy with the food

I would like to see what others feel and experiencing

Is it only the Thera A 1mm with this issue

Or it's the whole range

Thanks

[zigzagfish]

I have heard the same problem from other people , I don't think they have done enough testing with the new formula before releasing for sale but if the label states sinking and it doesn't they should recall the product till they get it right

[tangka]

Hey Edwin

I have bought a blue NLS 1mm cichlid pellet bucket recently and haven't encountered this. 80% floating is pretty high, i usually have a few that remain floating but the current in the water soon make the pellets sink.

You could try adding some tank water to a little cup, adding pellets into that, then giving it a swirl. This should make 100% of the pellets sink within a few seconds.

[LithoMan]

I tried a few different techniques

But I have 25 tanks and to keep soaking pellets

Or using my fingers in the water then back in tub and so on no good

And 80% is just a rough my point is more float than sink

Even smashing the food on the surface does not make them sink

The ones that keep floating I put hand in tank and push them down after they have been soaked still don't go down

There is something wrong with the mix of the pellet this is why it won't sink

[frankenstrat]

i recently bought a blue bucket 2mm thera A and mine float alot also.

my fish eat from surface and fom the bottom so it doesnt matter a lot to me...but the label does say sinking

[LithoMan]

If a 2mm pellet does not sink

It's a formula issue

What I'm trying to work out is for how many more months these bad batches will be around

To make decision on to buy it again or not

This stuff come in to the country in tonnes

[Buccal]

For those that run a central sump,,, this problem would be a pain in the bum.

To every tank of mine,, I put a small pinch of sera flora,,, then the New Era feed.

This combo has been the go for me for quite some time now.

[LithoMan]

I don't run sumps but yeah I can imagine

The issue it would make

[Jim]

Same problem here with the new blue buckets 1mm and 3mm, have to soak them otherwise they end up down the weir

[myster619]

My pellets, whether they sink or not, the fish jump at them every time. I found with the smaller fishes in a community, they manage to get some if I sink the pellets in a net first for 5 mins and then drop them together at various points.

[LithoMan]

Yes all fish love the food but I can't afford to soak them 5 min per tank

This will effect the fronny breeders a lot

With fronnys smashing lids off lol

And possible float -- eating from surface

[GundamCichlid]

Hi Edwin

I got couple 1 mm thera A bucket and have open the 1st bucket and I dont have any issues.

Maybe it depend on the batch???

[DFishkeeper]

Thanks for the heads up guys, I haven't tried the new formula in the blue buckets as yet. And to be honest, I'm very wary after the above feedback. I keep malawis which all prefer to bottom feed, and I'm on a system, so don't want to be losing expensive food down the weirs. And I'm time poor, and don't have time to be soaking food first for all my tanks. I think I'll be trying a small batch first before deciding whether to stay with NLS or not. Hopefully they can resolve it quickly.

Cheers, Doug

[LithoMan]

Like I said very happy with the food

The fish love it

Just a issue they need to fix

[YAL05T]

Glad I'm loaded up with white buckets. Hope it's sorted, floating is no good for me, weir wastage would make it financially unviable.

[Ged]

I have always found that some NLS pellets would float but I have never had a problem like the one your experiencing.

The only suggestion I can make is to cut the top of PET bottles i.e 2 litre Coke bottle, drill some small holes in the lid to allow air to escape, place some gauze across the lid on the inside, attach a suction cap, place in your tank with the lid up. Place your non-sinking pellets into the lid. They will remain submerged and should eventually sink. In the meantime the fish can still feed.

[FullyYellow]

Thanks for the heads up Edwin. I ended up swapping my bucket of NLS for a bucket of rift lake green New Era. My fish really like the New Era so I think it may be a change for good.

[LithoMan]

Lol it's not a heads up

I just want to know others experiencing same issue

And if anyone know if the supplier is doing anything about it

Cause it's not just a small issue an maybe next 6months it's same batch we buying

[FullyYellow]

Yeah It seems like 90% of people are experiencing it unfortunately Edwin. I can tell you are a true supporter of NLS. I think only the new life spectrum or the supplier can answer those questions regard batches, quantites and formulas.

For all we know they think the formula is fine, if not better

[Phenomena]

Has anyone heard anything from the supplier/importer/distributor on this issue?

[LithoMan]

I spoke to him he knows about it

But suggested I soak the food and feed lol

I think he doesn't realize it's not that easy fixing a issue

Telling people to soak sinking pellets

I think he is missing the big picture

[waruna]

Double up, sorry.

[waruna]

Hi Guys,

Sorry about the late reply, I didn't see this..

The ingredients are still the same, they (New life Int') have reduced the wheat flour and increased the amount of Krill and Algae meal (Seaweed etc etc) used in the formula, these changes have been going on for quite sometime now. Algae when wet works as a better binder (think about sushi) and therefore able to increase the quality of the food. Of course algae is a lot lighter compared to wheat so the pellets tend to be a bit lighter, this issue has been rectified. The formula today is a lot better.

The "floating issue" is with the size of the pellets, they are a little bigger from the previous batches. One of the machines broke down at the manufacturing plant and the new machine was cutting the pellets a split second slower, that's why they are a little bit bigger.

I sincerely apologies for this inconvenience. The only suggestion I can give is to put the pellets in to the water and not sprinkle them over the top. What i mean is put the hand in the water and release the pellets slowly. This is what I do with my fish, saying this I can understand how this can be an inconvenience to some.

Lithoman, I never said to soak the food.. Only to drop the food in to the water and not to sprinkle them on the surface, there's a big difference between the two!
What do you mean by I am missing the big picture?

It's not easy to fix this issue, we can't dump the lot!! The manufacturer is aware of the issue, they are testing every batch before shipping. We've only received a handful of complains, we've offered every single one of them a refund but they all refused. I remember offering the same to you too, if you are in fact the person i spoke with over the phone?

We have sold over 650 (Cichlid and Thera A 1mm) buckets since March this year (past four months) and not a single bucket has been returned. If anyone here is not 100% satisfied with their purchase please email me on waruna@tqtf.com.au and i'll organize a full refund.

[Ducksta]

Lithoman, I never said to soak the food.. Only to drop the food in to the water and not to sprinkle them on the surface, there's a big difference between the two!

Care to elaborate exactly what the big difference is between dropping the food in the tank and sprinkling the food in to the tank ?

I picked up around half a bucket off a mate who didn't like the floating. I don't mind floaters as I don't have overflows to worry about and only have one tank to feed.

But I would like to get the sink rate to be 50/50 instead of 80/20 as I have a lot of mid water feeders.

[waruna]

Hi Ducksta,

What i mean is to grab a handful of pellets and put the fist/hand under the water, hold it for three seconds and release. I guarantee all of them will sink.. I do this everyday with my fish, also have told a few to try this and they all agreed the pellets sank.