why are these things in fish food?

glutamic acid is a relatively safe, naturally occuring substance. it is an amino acid present in seaweed, tomatoes, and in the human body.

monosodium glutamate is a man-made, laboratory-synthesized, processed chemical which mimics these natural glutamic acids. it is added to food to make up for sub-par ingredients by improving taste. it can't just naturally occur in the food; it is put there purposely. the synthetic glutamates, in addition to simply not being natural, are known to cause headaches, allergies, and other adverse reactions. not something i'd be willing to risk on my fish.

i'm not trying to say hikari is total crap either... i did only notice this in the sinking wafers. and i've heard plenty of stories of happy fish being fattened on their food. just trying to give a consumer heads-up; i'm sure some of you will contend that this is negligible, but it's something that i would never think of normally and would have appreciated a warning about.
 
also, i am very disturbed about ethoxyquin in fish food....despite any claims for antioxidant activity!
 
i refuse to use any food for any of my animals that contains ethoxyqin. i make my rats food myself, mixing different human cerials and organic seeds and pasta, and i feed them an organic dog food for proteine.

i boycott kaytee because they put ethoxyqin in EVERY SINGLE LAST FOOD PRODUCT THEY MAKE. i buy a birdseed called "Paradise Found" for my cockatiel.

i also can't eat MSG. when i was in school, they had a deli sandwiches and whenever i ate one, i would get such horrible headaches right after.
 
So, does anyone out there make their own fish food? (Of course, there are brine and bloodworms). But a flake or dehydrated type of food to feed any average freswater tropical fish? Just curious for the details...it would sure be more fun than buying additive-chemicalized food in little jars from petsmart.
 
Wow, this is going WAY over my head... If my fish are eating the food, and it's not killing them I'm generally ok with it. ;D I see a lot of healthy fish that live long lives on basic foods with these odd ingredients. Maybe they put that monosodium glutamate in so the fist will eat the food faster (if it is used for added flavor), therefore creating less waste in the tank? Just a guess, I'm probably wrong though, haha! All I know is that a tank for of waste byproducts is probably more deadly then some MSG?
 
http://www.drpez.com/drcol29.htm

In this site, you can find a recipe for your own flake fish food. It's in spanish, so I translated with babel fish and tried to correct any mistake.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg of fish meat (any type).
1/2 kg of cow liver
1/2 kg of ox heart
1 cooked Egg.
1 red pepper
1 medium Carrot.
Spinach and/or Lettuce.
1 peeled garlic (not very big).
1 Beet.
Juice of 1 lemon
4 Spoonfuls of flake oat
2 Spoonfuls of human multivitaminic powder
1 Spoonful of Soy Lecitin
1/4 Teaspoon of sodium Benzoate (like preservative).
1 Spoonful of Propilenglicol or glycerin (moistening).

Preparation

Blend very well all the ingredients until you obtain an homogenoues mix, adding water until obtaining a seme liquid consistency. For finer food, use more water.
Prepare a tray of flat bottom (loka a pizzs tray) and extend a fine layer of your mix. Put in oven at the lowest temp setting until no wet spot can be seen. Avoid hi temps to avoid destroying vitamins. Watch carefully and remove before it toastes.
When it's cool, remove it from the tray, and store in a closed jar.

I've never tried this myslef, but the ingredients sound notritiuos to me. The site also said you can vary the meat/vegetable proportion to fit the feeding habits (carnivourous, herbivorous) of your fish.
 
Correction, Monsodium Glutamate (MSG) is not added to any food as a "flavor enhancer." It is added as a preservative. Yes a preservative and a presevative only. However MSG does enhance flavor (just like salt), but that is not the reason it is added to any food.
 
Sorry to disagree, but MSG is not a preservative. It's used on porpuose to enhance flavor.

MSG works different then salt. MSG does not add flavor to food, it acts by exciting the tongue's flavor receptive zones (don't know the proper English word for those) so food "tastes better" in our brain.

If MSG works as a preservative, it would be a secondary function.

You can buy MSG in super markets as ajinomoto, in the condiments section.
 
As with anything, there is a wide range of what's "healthy" in fishkeeping. Are your fish going to be healthier if you make your own food and don't feed them commercially prepared food? Sure. Does that mean that commercially prepared food is unhealthy? No.

I'm sitting here eating a Godiva Truffle. I would be a lot healthier if I put away the christmas chocolates and ate only whole foods from the natural food store. My cats would be healthier if I fed them a raw food diet instead of the ultra-premium dry food I feed them.

We all make choices about our health and the health of those (human and animal) who depend on us. If you want to take the time and energy to feed your fish a completely natural diet, more power to you. I am content to feed mine a diet of high quality commercially prepared foods supplemented by occasional freeze dried "treats". They are perfectly healthy and presumeably happy even if they aren't leading an "all natural" life.
 
I like the recipe, Patoloco...I may try it while I am off work for the holidays - I will let you know how it works...

Its obvious from a price standpoint commercial food is best.

But, overall I agree with the above post - homemade and natural is always better, but commercial is easier and is not that bad when you factor in convenience and ease. I think the main issue of adding unecessary "fillers" is the main opposition in the forum here. (as I finish eating a handful of the worst filler ever - Cheetos)
 
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