Difference: Tropical Fish Food and Cichlid Food
- Thread starter Flex26
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Originally posted by Managuense
it is just a label.....
the only thing that matters is what you see when you read the ingredients......because the ingredients dont lie like the packaging
it is just a label.....
the only thing that matters is what you see when you read the ingredients......because the ingredients dont lie like the packaging
what fish are you feeding?
when you are looking at ingredients, they "by law" must be listed in order of percent content......in other words, the first ingredient may be 30% of the entire bag, the second ingredient 25%, etc.
the main way this is helpful is to see if the label actually matches the ingredients, and many times it doesnt
some of the foods out there have an extremely elaborate label, but have the same ingredients as any other food.
i dont buy "bio-blend" foods from marienland for this reason.......they claim to be "scientifically blended" whatever the hell that means, and lo-and-behold the first ingredient of this food is the generic "fishmeal" followed up by wheat flour, soybean meal......sounds like every other food to me.
i am not bashing the food or the company, but there is no way i will pay that much money for food where the main ingredient is "fishmeal"
omega one foods seem farily promising, listing things like "whole cod, whiting, etc." other than "fish meal" .....the problem is i cant get any of my fish to actually eat the stuff
i do the same thing with cat food on a tip from allthingsanimal -
have you ever read the ingredients of a bag of cat food?
on the cheaper ones the first ingredient is usually "dried yellow corn"
wait a minute, werent cats carnivores though? *crazysmil
i look for "poultry product" or "chicken ----" as the first ingredient of my cat food.
another thing that is funny to note is that many of those cat foods are cut into little colorful shapes, etc.......but cats are colorblind
the companies make them that way to look good to HUMANS, not cats.....kind of silly really.
when you are looking at ingredients, they "by law" must be listed in order of percent content......in other words, the first ingredient may be 30% of the entire bag, the second ingredient 25%, etc.
the main way this is helpful is to see if the label actually matches the ingredients, and many times it doesnt
some of the foods out there have an extremely elaborate label, but have the same ingredients as any other food.
i dont buy "bio-blend" foods from marienland for this reason.......they claim to be "scientifically blended" whatever the hell that means, and lo-and-behold the first ingredient of this food is the generic "fishmeal" followed up by wheat flour, soybean meal......sounds like every other food to me.
i am not bashing the food or the company, but there is no way i will pay that much money for food where the main ingredient is "fishmeal"
omega one foods seem farily promising, listing things like "whole cod, whiting, etc." other than "fish meal" .....the problem is i cant get any of my fish to actually eat the stuff
i do the same thing with cat food on a tip from allthingsanimal -
have you ever read the ingredients of a bag of cat food?
on the cheaper ones the first ingredient is usually "dried yellow corn"
wait a minute, werent cats carnivores though? *crazysmil
i look for "poultry product" or "chicken ----" as the first ingredient of my cat food.
another thing that is funny to note is that many of those cat foods are cut into little colorful shapes, etc.......but cats are colorblind
the companies make them that way to look good to HUMANS, not cats.....kind of silly really.
some bit of caution. The ingredients list might be the same and in the same order, but they can be completely different. Lets suppose that cichlids need more protein, less fiber, more fat, and less carbs than tropical fish
An example with simplified ingredients
Cichlid ingredients:
protein, fiber, fat, carbs
tropical:
protein, fiber, fat, carbs
real difference
Cichlid:
protein=70%, fiber=15%, fat=12%, carbs=3%
Tropical:
Protein=50%, fiber=37% fat=8%,carbs=5%
I have no idea the real difference
Also, scientificaly blended can have the most simple ingredients and be the most healthy. It could be blended such that it has the optimum nutrient ratios.
..just some ramblings
An example with simplified ingredients
Cichlid ingredients:
protein, fiber, fat, carbs
tropical:
protein, fiber, fat, carbs
real difference
Cichlid:
protein=70%, fiber=15%, fat=12%, carbs=3%
Tropical:
Protein=50%, fiber=37% fat=8%,carbs=5%
I have no idea the real difference
Also, scientificaly blended can have the most simple ingredients and be the most healthy. It could be blended such that it has the optimum nutrient ratios.
..just some ramblings
yeah, i see your point.
the problem is that there really isnt any compelling evidence out there about EXACTLY what a particular fish is eating (*for the most part)......making it almost a crapshoot to try to guess what the "optimum" nutrient ratios would be.
also, i am not so much talking about the "order" of the ingredients in terms of protein, wheat, etc.....although you obviously wouldnt want the first ingredient to be wood chips or something
but WHAT they are such as "whole fish" vs. "fishmeal" etc etc........the quality of the ingredients.
if i pay a LOT of money for some "new and improved" line of food i certainly dont expect to see the same ambiguous ingredients like "fishmeal", which tells me nothing.
the problem is that there really isnt any compelling evidence out there about EXACTLY what a particular fish is eating (*for the most part)......making it almost a crapshoot to try to guess what the "optimum" nutrient ratios would be.
also, i am not so much talking about the "order" of the ingredients in terms of protein, wheat, etc.....although you obviously wouldnt want the first ingredient to be wood chips or something
but WHAT they are such as "whole fish" vs. "fishmeal" etc etc........the quality of the ingredients.
if i pay a LOT of money for some "new and improved" line of food i certainly dont expect to see the same ambiguous ingredients like "fishmeal", which tells me nothing.
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all in all, the frustration of buying expensive foods that none of my fish will touch (even after weeks) makes me more of a "buy what they will eat" type of shopper (hikari pellets)
i do agree that some foods, especially live foods are definately better than others.
as far as pelleted diets go i dont think i am really convinced yet.....
i do agree that some foods, especially live foods are definately better than others.
as far as pelleted diets go i dont think i am really convinced yet.....
just a quick comment about the marine land bio-blend jab. I think you will find that the ingredients near the end of the label are the important ones (vitamins, medicines etc).
I have only tried the mini algae pellets so I can't comment on their effectiveness. If they werent so expensive I'd get their pellets more often.
On the other hand I refuse to feed omega pellets. Too fatty! Fish love them so much and gorge themselves
Omega flakes are great again expensive. I found a great midrange pellet from Hikari
I have only tried the mini algae pellets so I can't comment on their effectiveness. If they werent so expensive I'd get their pellets more often.
On the other hand I refuse to feed omega pellets. Too fatty! Fish love them so much and gorge themselves
Omega flakes are great again expensive. I found a great midrange pellet from Hikari
The reason I ask is because I feed my convict tropical flakes. She is around 2-3 inches. She seems to big for flakes (watching her eat flake food is comical). I also feed some shrimp pellets, pieces of algae wafers, and freeze dried blood worm in between. So I am going to buy some pellets for her. I'm not sure if I should get the cichlid pellets or not. Do they make tropical pellets? Hmmm....I'll have to check.
My guess is the mix of food is good enough.
My guess is the mix of food is good enough.
really? i have not found that any of my fish would eat this stuff, no matter how much i wanted them to.
any secrets?
i dont want to take a "big" shot at these pellets, but i bought a large container of them when they first came out and i really felt ripped-off.
i periodically supplement my cichlid pellets with my own vitamin supplements, so i guess that i was looking for more impressive "core" ingredients than vitamins.
i think i had ONE fish that would eat them, but thats it.
to each person their own though, i read that some people love them.
any secrets?
i dont want to take a "big" shot at these pellets, but i bought a large container of them when they first came out and i really felt ripped-off.
i periodically supplement my cichlid pellets with my own vitamin supplements, so i guess that i was looking for more impressive "core" ingredients than vitamins.
i think i had ONE fish that would eat them, but thats it.
to each person their own though, i read that some people love them.
i am 100% telling the truth when i say that i have tried that with these oscars, and it didnt work.....man i wish it would, i really like that omega one food.
i understand that your idea is realistic though.....if they are on the verge of starvation, i am sure they would eat it......i guess I myself am part of the problem.
i understand that your idea is realistic though.....if they are on the verge of starvation, i am sure they would eat it......i guess I myself am part of the problem.