Nutritional Advice Needed for my Tank

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FreshyFresh

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Okay, first off, yes, I'm a dork and like lists and graphs and whatnot. But looked at all ingredients.
You got'em all in there! lol!

The ones I like are the omega one and the freeze dried goods. The ones with "fish meal" as the #1 isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just that "meal' can be a lot of not so nutritional stuff.

Here I am shaped like a bag of marshmellos, concerned about what my fish eat...:rolleyes::eek:
 

authmal

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View attachment 223987
They are labelled as Nutrafin in Canada.
Canada? Oh. Yer one o' them thar furrenners. No wonder I have such a hard time understanding yer ack scent. :p

I didn't know if you made an error in the name, or if it was something else with an extremely similar name. It never occurred to me that the company name would be different in a different country. Here in the states, it's Fluval. Weird, since I recall seeing Nutrafin branded food, but I wasn't in need of any, and just saw it and moved on.
 
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Kmbishop111

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You got'em all in there! lol!

The ones I like are the omega one and the freeze dried goods. The ones with "fish meal" as the #1 isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just that "meal' can be a lot of not so nutritional stuff.

Here I am shaped like a bag of marshmellos, concerned about what my fish eat...:rolleyes::eek:
OMG, lolololol, same. Sad part is my cats also eat Wellness Core, the best of the best. Me, not so much. For instance, dinner last nite? Bag of Doritos, mashed potatoes, and several soda's, ya know, bc caffeine. Oh, and M&M's. :D
16033199329_89282d53bb.jpg
 

the loach

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Many fish food products will list grains and fillers in the first 3 ingredients. I'd avoid those.
"fish meal" and "shrimp meal" might contain grains and fillers as well, either legally or not.
It would be better to look at the analysis, and check available protein and vitamins.

You can safely feed your fish Tetra and Hikari. Millions of aquarists have done so for decades without problems. Sure they are overpriced, every large corporation has a huge overhead you're paying for.

There is another problem though that Brand Y or Z is not going to fix.
All these foods are processed. It's like living on instant noodles each day.
So what the most dedicated aquarists and private breeders do is either solely feed their fish (talking about general small community fish here) live foods or frozen foods, or they make their own flakes and pellets, from fresh ingredients, up to the standard that they themselves can eat it too for dinner... it has to be palatable for humans as well. No kidding.

Dry fish food is a convenience product just like dry cat food. Use what you got as a staple and vary a couple of times a week with frozen or live foods. It's a middle of the road approach but the fish will be fine.
 
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FreshyFresh

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I agree that you can safely feed your fish any name brand or store brand dry fish food, but it's just like any other store bought food. Some have better ingredients than others.

I am no expert on this, but I'm sure a quality pellet or flake food can have better nutritional content in it than live foods for your fish. Less chance of dragging parasites and disease into your sealed box of a tank as well.
 
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DefJ123

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Canada? Oh. Yer one o' them thar furrenners. No wonder I have such a hard time understanding yer ack scent. :p

I didn't know if you made an error in the name, or if it was something else with an extremely similar name. It never occurred to me that the company name would be different in a different country. Here in the states, it's Fluval. Weird, since I recall seeing Nutrafin branded food, but I wasn't in need of any, and just saw it and moved on.
Haha it happens ;)

Thats strange. Are nutrafin and fluval under the same umbrella then? Would make sense.

Regardless, its a good product and highly recommend!
 

enrique4jc

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I wouldn't freak out about your "filler" foods. Hobbyists the world over have raised countless fish that have survived and thrived on tetra flakes. If you're looking to upgrade, get something your prefer to put in the rotation, but use the other foods as well. No need to toss them.

Speaking of the rotation, you don't have to do it but I find my fish enjoy a variety and also look better with it. I have several different foods that I rotate day to day and plan to add more.

Tonight was Hikari Micro Pellets. Tomorrow will be Omega color flake. Friday will be Sera O-Nip. Saturday will be frozen brine shrimp. I add a few Omega Veggie Rounds daily for the plecos, and every other day gets Hikari Sinking Wafers to cover the cories. I recently picked up some of the Small Fish/Fry Food from Aquarium Coop that I'll be adding occasionally. When I feel like spending more money, I plan to add frozen cyclops and blood worms, Repasy Community Plus, Fluval Bug Bites pleco formula, and Maybe some of the NLS or NorthFin community pellets. For the last month or so I've started doing slices of cucumber and have a can of green beans I'll try out next week.

Part of the fun is researching and trying new things. Not something I would stress about.
 

enrique4jc

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And since I didn't mention it...when you decide to try something new, cater to what you have. Different fish have different nutritional needs. Find your weakest spot and start by filling that need. You can keep building from there.
 

fishorama

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You want a few higher quality foods, anything else is like treats. No need to toss them...but be aware they're not quite as good & balanced as some foods. You don't want French fries to be a major portion of your diet...but you're not going to drop dead if you partake once in a while...
 
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