# Best Brand Fish Food



## melauriga

What are some of the better brands of fish food, and which ones are not so good? I would like to feed my fish the best, but there are so many choices at the LFS.


----------



## MChambers

*One option*



melauriga said:


> What are some of the better brands of fish food, and which ones are not so good? I would like to feed my fish the best, but there are so many choices at the LFS.


On another forum, many users like this brand, which you won't find at the LFS:

http://www.almostnaturaltropicalfishfood.com/

I've used it, and it seems fine, although I can't swear it is better than other kinds.


----------



## Carlos413

I like omega one. They use whole fish instead of fish meal like moust other brands.


----------



## pandapr

I use new life spectrum and some of the Hikari


----------



## Axelrodi202

The most important thing is variety. I use Hikari, Wardley, Tetra, Aqueon, Nutrafin, New Life Spectrum, and a few others (Just incase you're wondering, the last three were free samples). I wouldn't suggest TopFin if they do make fish food.


----------



## pandjpudge

I'm a fan of Hikari and Omega One


----------



## legomaniac89

New Life Spectrum is one of the best prepared foods on the market. I've used it for a long time, and it's given my fish better color and health than any other food out there. But like Axelrodi202 said, variety is best. Including some frozen of freeze-dried foods in the fishes' diets is best for overall health, and is more natural for the fish. 

Hikari and Omega One aren't bad choices either. Avoid Tetra and Wardley as they are nothing but low-quality fillers. HBH is kind of in the middle of it all.



Carlos413 said:


> I like omega one. They use whole fish instead of fish meal like moust other brands.


I apologize in advance. Here's a short nutrition lesson. You actually want to see "Meals" in the food. Meals, such as fish meal (or something like chicken meal like you'd find in dog food), are just meat, but ground up and so that all the water is removed. Seeing "Whole Fish" or "Fresh Chicken" in your pet's food means that the protein source, by weight, is going to be about 75% water. So even though "Whole Fish" is the first ingredient on the package, only 25% of that weight is actually meat. If "Fish Meal" is the first ingredient, about 95% of the dry weight of that ingredient is going to be meat, not water.

Likewise, in dog food, some lower-quality brands advertise that they use "Fresh chicken, not chicken meal". Even though "Fresh Chicken" sounds tastier than "Chicken Meal", you are paying for a protein source that is 75% water by weight. So even though the chicken is the first ingredient, it may actually be 4th on the list once all the water is removed.

So anyway, meat meals = good. Fresh or whole meat = not so good. Hopefully that makes sense to everyone. Sorry for the ramble


----------



## Burks

Are you looking for dry or frozen?

For dry I use almost exclusively Hikari and Tetra.

For frozen I use H20Life (their bloodworms rock), Hikari, Ocean Nutrition, and Fish King.


----------



## Aquarist_Fist

I have always used Tetra as a dry staple. Other than that, I feed Sera tidbits (freeze-dried tubifex, brine shrimp, and bloodworms), and Hikari algae tabs. The rest is frozen and live food.


----------



## MissMTS

I use New Life Spectrum, Omega One, and Hikari along with frozen and freeze dried bloodworms, brine shrimp, and daphnia.


----------



## snafu

i mainly feed hikari products, but now i'm a ken's fish food (http://www.kensfish.com) convert.


----------



## MARIMOBALL

Hikari micro pellets and Hikari frozen food.


----------



## Bugman

Ken's. He has what you need for whatever kind of fish you want to feed. They do their own packaging so it is always fresh.

http://www.kensfish.com/

Did you know that a opened container of food looses its nutritional value over a period of time? Keep this in mind if you are buying larger containers of food so you have to make less trips to the store or save on shipping. Most fish food (flake, pellet, crumbles ect) does freeze well. So hold out what you need for a month or so and freeze the rest.


----------



## GTR

I've been using flake from Brine Shrimp direct for several years just because I was also buying their decapsulated brine shrimp eggs.


----------



## connordude27

hikari micro pellets
vinager eels
microworms
confused flour beetles
Tera freeze dried bloodworms
tetra dried shrimp


----------



## anafranil

most of us are not biologists so we cannot judge the quality of a given brand of fish food.My opinion is that we must rely on leading brand names in order to get some quality food.Please do not tell tetra is a low quality food unless you can scientifically prove otherwise.I am not fussy to what I feed but my vote goes for tetra.


----------



## anafranil

Bugman said:


> Did you know that a opened container of food looses its nutritional value over a period of time? Keep this in mind if you are buying larger containers of food so you have to make less trips to the store or save on shipping. Most fish food (flake, pellet, crumbles ect) does freeze well. So hold out what you need for a month or so and freeze the rest.


An employer of tetra told me once that they found a tetramin package sealed properly after a lot of years and had a significant amount of vitamins in it but I think that once you break the seal it has a few months life.I use it for only 2..perhaps someone can give us some more info.Also are the vitamins the only thing that we must be aware of?


----------



## brohawk

legomaniac89 said:


> I apologize in advance. Here's a short nutrition lesson. You actually want to see "Meals" in the food. Meals, such as fish meal (or something like chicken meal like you'd find in dog food), are just meat, but ground up and so that all the water is removed. Seeing "Whole Fish" or "Fresh Chicken" in your pet's food means that the protein source, by weight, is going to be about 75% water. So even though "Whole Fish" is the first ingredient on the package, only 25% of that weight is actually meat. If "Fish Meal" is the first ingredient, about 95% of the dry weight of that ingredient is going to be meat, not water.
> 
> Likewise, in dog food, some lower-quality brands advertise that they use "Fresh chicken, not chicken meal". Even though "Fresh Chicken" sounds tastier than "Chicken Meal", you are paying for a protein source that is 75% water by weight. So even though the chicken is the first ingredient, it may actually be 4th on the list once all the water is removed.
> 
> So anyway, meat meals = good. Fresh or whole meat = not so good. Hopefully that makes sense to everyone. Sorry for the ramble


FYI, fish meal though, is produced primarily from the skin, and then any leftover trimmings. In this case, I'd take the whole fish over fish meal.


----------



## LS6 Tommy

legomaniac89 said:


> I apologize in advance. Here's a short nutrition lesson. You actually want to see "Meals" in the food. Meals, such as fish meal (or something like chicken meal like you'd find in dog food), are just meat, but ground up and so that all the water is removed. Seeing "Whole Fish" or "Fresh Chicken" in your pet's food means that the protein source, by weight, is going to be about 75% water. So even though "Whole Fish" is the first ingredient on the package, only 25% of that weight is actually meat. If "Fish Meal" is the first ingredient, about 95% of the dry weight of that ingredient is going to be meat, not water.


I'm sure it makes sense with cat & dog foods, but how does that apply to _dry_ fish food??



brohawk said:


> FYI, fish meal though, is produced primarily from the skin, and then any leftover trimmings. In this case, I'd take the whole fish over fish meal.


Good point, indeed!

I'm very happy with the Omega One products. Their micro pellets was the only food my new CPD's & EDR's would eat before they settled in & it's still by far their favorite.

Tommy


----------



## aschaal03

Fish meal, Chicken Meal, Beef meal, turkey meal...they all come from the "leftovers" of those animals. Bones, organs, skin, etc. I'd rather have my animals eating the good part of the meat than the scraps. Meat meal is even worse, as then it's a bunch of random animal leftovers thrown together. I like to compare feeding any kind of meal to my animals as living on hot dogs and bologna. In dry dog OR fish food, the food is dried meaning there will be very little moisture content if any. So really, the moisture issue only applies to wet dog/cat foods...as they don't really make wet fish food. :confused1:

I use Hikari and Omega One foods. The best thing you can do is read the ingredients on the back of the bottle of food. The higher up on the list the ingredient is, the higher the percentage of that ingredient in the food. For example, if the ingredients start out "Brine Shrimp, Kelp, Spirulina..." Brine shrimp is the main ingredient, followed by kelp and spirulina. If the first ingredient is "fish meal"..that is the majority of what you'll be getting.


----------



## mickmac247

Ken's only sells all his food in 1/2 lb packages to help with freshness. So if you but 2 lbs of something you will get 4 1/2lb packs. You can read about the contents of each food he has.


----------



## dj2005

I also prefer Ken's food.


----------



## melauriga

Thanks, these replies were very helpful. I am mostly looking for a couple of good staple flake foods to alternate. I checked out Ken's foods, they look like an excellent choice and he also sells decapsulated brine shrimp eggs and golden pearls that I've been looking for.


----------



## Bugman

Ken's has a wide selection of food and while he does carry some name brands, most of what he sells is what he packages himself. He caters to people with fish rooms and therefore sells larger quantities but you get a reduced price. But as mickmac247 pointed out he sells it packaged in 1/2 lb sealed bags so you can put what you are not going to use immediately in the freezer. I buy most of my supplies for my fish room from him also. Great prices and the service is excellent. I will buy more food than I need and split it with others in the club I belong to saving even more on the shipping cost.


----------



## VisionQuest28

I use mostly Ken's and hikari micro pellets in rotation with some frozen foods. I think variety is key no matter which brand you're using. The "almost Natural Fish Food" in the second post seems interesting, i might give that a try next time i order food. Ive also heard a lot of good things about UltraColor foods. Its a no carb food, along the same lines as what Ken's has to offer. Im almost definitely going to be trying that, either the UltraColor or the no carb from Ken's


----------



## melauriga

VisionQuest28 said:


> I think variety is key no matter which brand you're using.


 
I also feed Hikari frozen brine shrimp, daphnia, and bloodworms and have just received some live food cultures that I am going to try.


----------



## legomaniac89

LS6 Tommy said:


> I'm sure it makes sense with cat & dog foods, but how does that apply to _dry_ fish food??
> 
> That same way it applies to dry dog food.
> 
> Tommy





aschaal03 said:


> Fish meal, Chicken Meal, Beef meal, turkey meal...they all come from the "leftovers" of those animals. Bones, organs, skin, etc. I'd rather have my animals eating the good part of the meat than the scraps. Meat meal is even worse, as then it's a bunch of random animal leftovers thrown together. I like to compare feeding any kind of meal to my animals as living on hot dogs and bologna. In dry dog OR fish food, the food is dried meaning there will be very little moisture content if any. So really, the moisture issue only applies to wet dog/cat foods...as they don't really make wet fish food. :confused1:


I think you're thinking of by-products. Not something you really see in fish food, but in dog food brands like Iams and Eukanuba use Chicken by-products as their protein source. By-products are mainly the skin and organs that can't be used anywhere else. A "Meal" is not just the nasty parts of the animal, it is the entire animal, skin, muscle, bones and all, the same as Whole Fish, it's just that the Meal had all the water removed beforehand.

The difference between something like Whole Fish and Fish Meal is that the Fish Meal is processed so that all liquid is removed at the beginning. Whole of Fresh Fish is not, even though most of the liquid may eventually be removed, some will still remain. The ingredient list is created by listing the ingredients by weight before the processing even begins. With Fresh of Whole Fish, you're still paying for 75% water, even though it gets removed. Whole Fish may end up being 3rd of 4th on the list after the entire process is finished. With Fish Meal, all the water is removed before processing, so you are getting a lot more of the good meat by weight.


----------



## aschaal03

legomaniac89 said:


> I think you're thinking of by-products. Not something you really see in fish food, but in dog food brands like Iams and Eukanuba use Chicken by-products as their protein source. *By-products are mainly the skin and organs that can't be used anywhere else*. A "Meal" is not just the nasty parts of the animal, it is the entire animal, skin, muscle, bones and all, the same as Whole Fish, it's just that the Meal had all the water removed beforehand.
> 
> The difference between something like Whole Fish and Fish Meal is that the Fish Meal is processed so that all liquid is removed at the beginning. Whole of Fresh Fish is not, even though most of the liquid may eventually be removed, some will still remain. The ingredient list is created by listing the ingredients by weight before the processing even begins. With Fresh of Whole Fish, you're still paying for 75% water, even though it gets removed. Whole Fish may end up being 3rd of 4th on the list after the entire process is finished. With Fish Meal, all the water is removed before processing, so you are getting a lot more of the good meat by weight.


Ah, yes, my apologies. I got meat meal and meat by-product meal mixed up. :redface: I did a lot of research on this topic while deciding what dog food to feed my dogs. But, that was a few months ago and I haven't touched the topic since...I suppose I'm a little rusty. But yes, you're correct..meat meal is essentially the same thing as whole meat, just with water removed and a higher protein value.


----------



## brohawk

You're still not getting the point about fish meal though. It's over 90% skin and bone, and is not made from the WHOLE fish. I do business for the commercial fishing industry--the meal is made just from the scraps, after the fish's meat (which yes, is mostly H2O) has been filleted, processed, or otherwise removed and then packaged. What's left is already dry material; i.e. the water is removed in the form of meat. Not dried, like whole fish is. And the majority of fish meal is sold as fertilizer. It can even spontaneously combust if packed into a freight container on a hot day; i.e. not the type of nutritional stuff I'd prefer to feed my pets. So IMO, +1 for Omega One.


----------



## legomaniac89

brohawk said:


> You're still not getting the point about fish meal though. It's over 90% skin and bone, and is not made from the WHOLE fish. I do business for the commercial fishing industry--the meal is made just from the scraps, after the fish's meat (which yes, is mostly H2O) has been filleted, processed, or otherwise removed and then packaged. What's left is already dry material; i.e. the water is removed in the form of meat. Not dried, like whole fish is. And the majority of fish meal is sold as fertilizer. It can even spontaneously combust if packed into a freight container on a hot day; i.e. not the type of nutritional stuff I'd prefer to feed my pets. So IMO, +1 for Omega One.


Interesting. I just assumed that the fish meal was processed in the same way as other meat meals. So fish meal is more or less by-products that they can't use anywhere else.

From working at a gardening store, I knew that a lot of fish meal was used in fertilizers, but I'd never heard about the spontaneous combustion part. Sounds appetizing


----------



## RianS

Dainichi for pellets.
i also use hikari for dry and frozen foods.
and tetra for other stuff.
Dainichi is the best imo since all my fish go crazy for it ;P


----------



## amp

For LFS food Im partial to Hikari. Lately Iv been using Kens Guppy Flakes, but you won't find that at the LFS.


----------



## ridethespiral

I was going to order some of Ken's fish food because of a few comments on this thread but the cheapest shipping to Canada is $30.. No thanks..

I currently use New Life Spectrum H2O stable sinking wafers, as well as Thera+A with garlic 1mm sinking pellets. The H2O stable ones seem a little TOO stable from this batch.. Fish seem to have a hard time with it, and I bought a big container =/


----------



## Cricket

I have been using New Era fish food, specifically the tropical pellets and grazers. We got in recently where I work. As far as I know there aren't too many stores here in the US that stock it, much more common in the UK, but you can find it online. I suggest looking into it! 



> I wouldn't suggest TopFin if they do make fish food.


Tetra manufactures Topfin for Petsmart. If they do make food (I don't remember from working at Petsmart but I think they do) I am almost 100% certain it'd be the same Tetra food in a different bottle. 

Edit: Ah, just realized this thread is from 2009. :/


----------



## ridethespiral

> Edit: Ah, just realized this thread is from 2009. :/


LOL I don't know how I failed that badly. I don't even remember how I found this thread :hihi:


----------



## dmuratova

guys, I usually buy food here www.artemiadirect.eu
great variety, price is good, though Sera is a little bit cheaper but I don't really like some of the Sera flakes


----------



## amcoffeegirl

I have 3 kinds of flakes from kens. And one of his sinking pellets.
Also nls pellets. 
I fed my goldfish exclusively nls when I had them. With fresh veggies and plants.
I use top fin algae wafers- just the brand I happened to grab.


----------



## BigJay

i use New Life Spectrum for pellets and flakes, and Hikari for frozen blood worms and spirulina brine shrimp.

New Life Spectrum is supposedly some of the best stuff from what I hear. I only buy the smallest containers, so the food doesn't go bad before I use it up.


----------



## Edub

I use kens fish food and I love it. I order a mix of his flakes and just shake them together. The fish love it and my wallet does too.


----------



## caique

Ocean nutrition formula one and formula two flakes

New life spectrum Thera plus A sinking pellets.

http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/fish-food-feeders/food-feeders.html


http://www.almostnaturaltropicalfishfood.com/

And of course some frozen bloodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp, Mysis shrimp on occasion also I use blanched baby bok choy ( remove skin), zucchini ,Carrot, cucumber ( remove seeds) for my plecos and shrimp.


----------

