Rol&Jas Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 I'm sure that most of you have tried different quality cichlid foods, brand ones and no name ones. Well, I have tried lots of different food to try to cut down my expenses. Unfortunately, the cheap no name fish foods were not very successful with my fishes they did not really like them. I did a simple test comparing OSI or HBH sinking pellets against no name sinking pellets. I put the pellets in an icecream container filled with water. After a few minutes the OSI and HBH pellets started to disintegrate while the no name pellets were intact even after hours. This means that the brand pellets are more digestable, not to mention that they normally contain lot more nutrients and vitamins. These cheap pellets contain many particles that the fishes cannot digest at all and when your cichlids are picking on the pellets spit out these undesirable bits and then they just float around the tank making the water cloudy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aymenz Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 well done roland.... i'm with u all the way with this mate lol.... thx for the experiment..... cheers aymen c ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E4G13M4N Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 No comparison with no name brands and quality foods.. All in the ingredients if they are on the packet will tell you that.. just like tetra bits compared to that new cheapy one has fish meal etc etc the other just fillers wheat germ etc.. May fill them up but not much norishment..IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishly Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 On Saturday night I bought the Spirulina from NSWCS. What do you think of it compared to OSI Spirulina? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Hi Guys - A few points to consider (in my opinion anyway). 1.Yes - some cheap foods are rubbish. BUT 2. Not all good food needs to be expensive. There are a variety of good livefoods (white worms, microworms, grindal worms etc) & frozen DIY foods. In addition there are some excellent quality cheap foods - you just need to know which is which. The thread at the top of this page will help. 3. Roland - you can't make assumptions about "digestion" based on the ability of a given food to "hold its form" in water. Fish chew - and have complex digestive systems with a variety of chemical, physical and biological mechanisms for breaking down foods. 4. Be careful also making assumptions based on vitamins and minerals. Many products (such as fish meal etc) contain vitamins and minerals - just because it isnt explicitly spelt out - doesnt mean necessarily they are not there. 5. Also remember that some vitamins are only stable for a relatively short period of time - and even if you buy the "best" quality foods - these vitamins still only last a certain time. See the second law of thermodynamics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHL Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 It is also possible to buy brand name fish food cheaply depending on where you buy it from. And of course buying in quantity is always cheaper; sometimes it is possible to decant some, and freeze the rest, or split it with a few people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rol&Jas Posted February 9, 2004 Author Share Posted February 9, 2004 Well, I wasn't making scientific assumptions only simple observations It is true that I do not exactly know all the ingredients of all the foods. Not long ago I have bought cheap sinking spirulina pellets it was made by an Australian company I thought that spriluna is spirulina and the brand should not matter. Unfortunately, the food came in a clear plastic bag without the indication of any ingredients. This still wouldn't be a problem, but I was giving them to my fry and also to bristlenose. They were eating them sparingly, many times I have seen whole pellets untouched a few hours or even a day later. Once, I have bought a small container of OSI shrimp pellets to see if my fry like it. They loved it from the beginning chasing the pellets around eating it until they disappeared. I also tried to give them these shrimp pellets when the fry had enough of the cheap spirulina pellets, the fry attacked them straight away. I'm not saying that all cheap foods are bad, there must be a lot of less known brands that make excellent food for cheaper prices, but it is difficult to find them. I could also say that many of us would swear to one kind of food and would not try any different food. Good example is the OSI Spirulina flake feeding to the Tropheus. Many people when they start with them hear that OSI Spirulina flake is the only food that won't bloat them and because of that they will not try any other spirulina flakes that could work just as well. You need to experiment with different kinds of food to see what your fishes like and also what suits your budget. Of course you also need to research and make sure that you do not feed the wrong food to your fishes, like giving live food to your herbivourus fishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishly Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Hi Poe, sometimes it is possible to decant some, and freeze the rest Do you think that it works for flake food as well? could it make the flakes absorbs moisture when we no longer put them in the freezer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Not if they are well sealed. TECHNICALLY, the manufacturers like you to use the opened jar within 6 months, but $ wise, often you buy a jar larger than what you would require, so freezing holds the food somewhat in stasis til you need it, preserving some of the more unstable vitamins AND the flavour. y'all know how it stinks for the first few weeks then starts to decrease its odour output... well, i'd bet thats flavour-related to some fish... like eating stale bread. in an airtight tupperware, in a plastic baggie, in a plastic baggie so far i have had no moisture. the secret? let the thing come to room temp before you open it. The moisture is condensation where the warm meets cold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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