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FD foods are great (although i'm horribly allergic to the FDBW, so I miss out on that) but you have to recognise the limitations of any food you are feeding.

The reason I personally discourage the feeding of FDBW as a staple for bettas is that they are such fussy eaters that you'll have a very hard time getting them to eat anything else at all. Any whole natural food you choose should be supplemented with additional foods (either whole or processed) in order to cover all your bases nutrient-wise.
If the fish flat-out refuses to eat anything else (which is so often the case with bettas) then you don't have much chance of getting him to have a balanced diet. If he will, then using it as a staple is fine, but make sure you add in a good variety of other foods on a regular basis.

Making it harder is that I don't think that the FD foods are gutloaded before they are FD, so the fish are missing out on a good deal of varied vegetable content that they would ordinarily get from the bugs gut.

Add to that the fact that high protien foods add condition like nothing else. Fish fed on FDBW or live foods will bulk up and show off and generally be stunning, but IME their lifespan seems to be shorter than those given processed foods. In the wild there would be no way that they would find the amount of high protien foods we give them, and if they did they'd have to hunt for it. It has their body running on full constantly processing the stuff, which is fine, and they can do that, but IME it seems to wear them out.

What bothers me most is that we don't change the diet of a fish based on its age/nutritional needs. I'm positive a geriatric betta would have different needs to one in its prime, but thats rarely discussed.

Oh, and a BIG problem is that people don't seem to understand the basic idea behind FD, which is THERE IS NO MOISTURE in the foods. Not a problem in itself, but have you ever eaten dried apricots? I can easily eat 10-12 halves when they are dried, but i couldn't do that with whole fresh apricots. Its a similar thing with FD fishfood, the fish are able to eat more of it before they feel full.
This then leads to the problem most talked about with bettas and FD food, being constipation.
Its not so much that the FD foods cause constipation in and of themselves, its that most fishkeepers don't realise that once in the water these things act like a sponge, sucking up the water and swelling back up to a larger size. Unfortunately this often happens inside the fish, and if the fish has ingested too much of the food to allow for this, the swelling food and the leaching of moisture from the fish's body tissues can result in pretty severe constipation.
with FDBW the problem isn't so severe, but tubifex is a doozy. I always recommend rehydrating the food at least partially before feeding it (squish it just under the water or soak it in a cup for 10 mins or so ).


whew, that was long! But yeah, thats my take on FD foods (kinda specific to bettas, but probably applicable to most small tropicals)

Hope its a bit useful



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I think I am going to give it a try, and feed it in addition to a couple other foods. That's really the only way to see it's effectiveness one way or another.

I like to feed sparatically to help mimic a more naturally placed diet. Such as I don't have a set feeding time, some days I won't feed anything, some days I'll feed 4+ times a day, sometimes I'll only feed once or twice.
Sometimes I'll feed more (not enough to completely gorge them on a daily basis however) and sometimes I feed very small amounts.
As I have no idea how many fish/insects/scraps etc these fish eat each day in the wild or how often etc, I therefore don't know how many exact pellets to feed them each time, hee hee.

I feel that most processed and manufactured food for any animal I have cared for is lacking in some way, or too much in another way. Which is why it's very important to find that "perfect" balance for each fish, and then through the years as they age to adjust accordingly.
I don't feel there is any one food for all fish, not even one that's best for one type of fish in all cases. So I'm simply entering another experimental process.

Specially with all the conflicting information there seems to be on the internet about the feeding habits of fish, you can read up on a species from multiple sources and it seems they can't even be conclusive about if said species is an herbivore, omnivore or carnivore in many cases.

I will be feeding these foods to Blue Tetras and some Dojo Loaches. I'll let you know how it goes, and what foods I decide to use ^_^

Plus this is assuming that you are actually classifying the fish correctly when you call it a carnivore. It would probably be more correct to call the majority of small tropicals piscivores or insectivores.

I think that most would be opportunistic piscivores, leaving a whole bunch of the diet that would have to be made of other things. Most likely it would be larvae, bugs and worms.

Percentage-wise, the insectivore group would probably take in a good deal of non-animal matter. They would definately be geared to require more fibre than a piscivorous prepared diet would offer. They would also be designed to graze moreso than gorge.

I don't know, I think replicating an insectivorous diet is very close to impossible. It wouldn't be easy to find a low fat high fibre diet that included say, 20-30% non-animal aquatic matter that would appeal to the fish and be able to be fed over the day in a way that allowed for natural gut function.

I like the diet, I think the fact that its only aquatic animals is impressive, but I don't think it could be classed as a complete diet as it is missing the vital veggie matter, and is probably comprised of way too much fish flesh, which is likely not the standard diet of your average tropical fish. I don't think it would be outright damaging to feed it constantly, I think the fish would be able to cope as they are able to cope if they did happen upon a carcass in the wild, but if you are aiming for a diet close to natural as a staple, I think its not quite on the mark.

Last edited by Callatya at 12-Dec-2005 00:20

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

But there was yet another point glanced over in the above posts which holds true not only for wild versus pet fish but for all animals. In the wild they are always swimming in large areas, hunting, competing against each other, running from predators, swimming against strong currents, or any other number of activities depending on the fish. In the tank rarely does any of that exist. My congos are pretty lazy most of the day. When you take any animal out of the wild into a smaller enclosure and feed it exactly what it ate in the wild chances are it will get fat and unhealthy. When I turn my guinea pigs loose in my 12x24' horse stalls for awhile I have to feed them more pellets or they lose too much weight whereas when in their cages for the winter they never get pellets. They turn into fat blobs if I give them such a concentrated nutrient source instead of just hay and vegetables.
One last thing that I know applies to at least guinea pigs and horses but wild creatures generally don't live all that long. They can eat different diets because they need to grow fast and multiply fast before their life ends. If we want them to live longer in captivity we need to pay more attention to their diet and alter it a little. In the wild a guinea pig lives 1-2years, a horse lives around 5-6years and while growing or pregnant, which females are doing either of those 2 things for pretty much their whole life, they can use lots of nutrients such as high protein, high calcium diets. The domesticated guinea pig can live 6-8years and I've had horses over 20years old. At those ages concentrated nutrients such as the high protein and calcium are dangerous particularly to guinea pigs who are very sensitive to bladder stones when they pass a year of age. I'm sure it's not all that different for fish but while I've taken horse nutrition and can find extremely detailed dietary needs of small animals like guinea pigs it's not as available for fish. Mostly because people are not as interested to know such things in detail. If they eat it and they live a few years that's generally good enough for most people. Alot more fish die prematurely from poor water quality, stunting, and illness than from poor nutrition.

I do understand that they get small amounts of other types of food via eating other creatures but it's not an overly large amount, and certainly not in the large amounts that some "carnivore" type foods use.
Most animals will eat all sorts of things be it good for them or not.
That is something that pet food manufacturers depend on a lot. I also do not accept the mentality of "If he likes it then that's good enough for me" or "If he likes it then it must be good."

Even more carnivorous fish in the wild would receive a fair amount of vegetative matter. I believe someone mentioned above that such things would be in the digestive tract of the bugs they eat. My congos will also grab chunks of duckweed or algae and munch away despite the fact they have quite a row of teeth and can tear a cricket apart savagely enough that plenty of people have asked if I have parahnas in there.

As for ethoxyquin I have been searching for a fish food without it and the only one I found was Pro Balance color flakes by Penn Plax. Aside from the foods like freeze dried with only 1 ingredient I haven't found a dry food I like. It's probably used in about every fish food just like it is for guinea pigs despite being proven unsafe. I have to order guinea pig pellets from a person in Washington or a company in Nebraska because they are the only 2 that make a pellet without ethoxyquin. Small caged pets and fish don't rank very high to very many people when it comes to care and nutrition concerns.

I have not used their dry foods yet, but I have used their Formula Two frozen food in the past, and it's been great! I know several others who use their stuff as well.

I do not know what their cooking process is, perhaps I can find out on their website on email/call them and ask. If they don't tell me or are vague that tells me it's not a manufacturer that I want to be buying from. I talk to food companies often and most of them are very helpful.

The way a food is cooked can be damaging no matter how it's done, which is one reason why I'm a firm believer in raw and home made diets for our other pets.

I don't know how stringent the regulations are on fish food, but for say dog food the food itself would be tested regularly to assure that the proper stated amount of nutrition was indeed in the food.

Now I don't know if it's the same for fish food, I imagine it is, but in other foods, the ingredient list you see goes in order of how much is in the food, meaning if fish meal is your first ingredient then that food is made up of mostly fish meal, if the next ingredient is corn derived then you have a lot of that in the food too.
However, the list is generated BEFORE the cooking process, and as was stated before, the contents of this actual food can change drastically after cooking.

Typically if the cooking process removes a large portion of the nutrients from what was raw food, they then later on have to add in all the vitamins and minerals back into the food either with natural means or chemical compounds.
If there is a food out there, specially as big as Ocean Nutrition is, it would really make me wonder if there are no officials who keep track of these things. Which would then lead me to ask "why in the world are we feeding any processed fish foods then?"

I know all about Ethoxyquin, while I don't eat it, and my pets don't eat it it seems to be in the majority of fish foods still. I have not yet read any studies concerning the effects Ethoxyquin has on aquatic life forms.

If I decide to use this food, it would only be part of their over all diet. I am confused by the fact that if a fish is a carnivore why do we feed them largely as omnivores? The fish I have live on insects, worms and larva which tells me they have a high need for protein normally a minimum of 45% of we are talking processed foods. Which would lead me to believe that feeding a food like this with other foods could make for a good balance.

I'll figure it out eventually.

Last edited by angelzoo at 10-Dec-2005 09:36

Looks pretty good. I've not used Ocean Nutrition before, but we are somewhat sheltered over here, i'd have to hunt a store that stocked it, so its not a concious decision not to buy the stuff.

The amino acids and vitamins would all be powders, so i'm not sure when they would be added, presumably to the drymix. It may be worth contacting them to find out the manufacturing temps (perhaps phrase it in a way that makes them think you are afraid of bugs from the fishmeal?)
Anyway, it appears they have most things covered in that department. The grain is fairly far down the list, which is good


My two concerns:
1) Ethoxyquin. I personally think its fine, and I've done a fair bit of research on allowable levels etc and they appear pretty low, however it always causes quite a stir and I feel that you should be aware of that so that you can do your own research on the product.

2)Protien level. That protien level is quite high for most flake-eating fish. There is very little fibre in that diet at all. I'd be hesitant to feed that to any fish as anything other than a conditioning food (which I think it would be fantastic for!). If you were to alternate foods so that the fish got some green matter and extra fibre for gut function, then thats fine. As a stand-alone food though, I feel that it is lacking.



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I have never had the experience with that brand, but from what you litsted there, it sounds like a good food. But, just listing that they are there does not make them there in always a good way. What I mean is, the pre-prepared foods may have the stuff listed there in them. But the preparation process could damage the stuff and make it useless as a nutrient. This is one of the reasons I pay more for the TetraPro Crisps, as they are prepaired at a lower temp so as to not damage the nutrients as much.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Ok, I've been doing some extra reading and come across some intersting material. But there is still so much to learn ^_^

AcidRain: On the first site I didn't see any foods containing bugs, about the only thing I found that most places don't have are the FD earth worms and deshelled brine shrimp.

What do you guys think about the Ocean Nutrition Flakes?


Ingredients:
A fresh seafood mix including (salmon fillets, Euphausia pacifica plankton, squid, salmon eggs and/or salmon egg oil, Euphausia superba plankton and/or krill hydrolysate, sea clams, kelp, herring, adult brine shrimp, and brine shrimp nauplii, MPAX ™ (Marine Protein Amino eXtract: fish meals, hydrolysate, and select amino acids (arginine, histidine, isoeucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, cystine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine), wheat flower, egg, lecithin, magnesium sulfate, vitamin premix (ascorbic acid, stabilized vitamin C, dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate, d-pantothenic acid, riboflavin, niacin, menadione, folacin, cholecalciferol, biotin, thiamin, retinol, pyridoxine, and cyanocobalamin), carotenoid pigments (canthaxanthin and/or astaxanthin), artificial color, and preservative (ethoxyquin).

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min) 55.0%
Crude Fat (min) 11.5%
Crude Fiber (max) 0.9%
Ash (max) 6.5%
Moisture (max) 8.8%

How can one tell what percentage of carbs are in a processed fish food?
I'm just trying to learn more about fish nutrition as it's a very important thing to me. I know a lot about other animals needs, but not fish yet.

How long can a container of food last for once it's opened and kept in the refrigerator? 1 month? 2 months? Before you pitch it. I've heard some people keep theirs in the freezer, but others feel that the drastic temperature can change the make up of the food and further effect any vitamins and minerals with in.

Also if anyone has any good articles they can recommend to me, that would be appreciated.

Thanks!

As for the blood worms, they are actually a larval form of a misquito. You don't want to raise them in your house.

As for the freeze dried foods, I have only heard of them being a great source for years and years. Much better than any flake or pellet on the market. Depending on the type of fish.

As for processed foods containing bugs or worms, try http://www.kensfish.com/ this is where I order most all of mine. But there are many out there.

The live stuff may be expensive, but once you have a culture going, you won't have to buy any more. You might also look on http://www.aquabid.com for some live fish food cultures. I have seen them for sale on there.

As for your cichlids, they should have all done quite well on omnivore type diets. It may have been your foods. I have personally kept and bred all those cichlids and fed them freeze dried plankton, and TetraPro tropical crisps, as well as beef heart and a multitude of a variety of different foods. For most of my omnivores, they get a large variety of foods, such as freeze dried plankton, TetraPro, fresh/frozen beef heart, frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, frozen pacifica plankton, frozen squid, live red worms, etc. I keep a wide variety of foods for most all my fish. Very few are on a strict one or two thing only diet. Other than the shark which got strictly whole tiger shrimp, and the arowana and clown knife which got strictly night crawlers. IMO, a variety of foods is the best choice.

Are you sure your thinking of Ash?

That is what it says on the fish food jars, ash.

About the freeze dried foods, that's all I've ever heard, you are the first person to not oppose feeding it that I've spoken with (unless the general consensus on this recently changed.) For example feeding FDBW to Betta's it's not recommended to go over board with them, or even use them as part of their daily staple diet.

Can't say about the bettas. I bred them about 20 years ago, and have not kept any since. Don't really car for them personally. But, as far as fish in general are concerned, the frozen is a great food. However, there are many exceptions to this. The bettas may be one of the exceptions, I don't know this. But I do have fish that get most always (5-6 days a week) frozen blood worms. As well some are on a most always diet of freeze dried plankton. It varys with the fish.

Where have you learned your information, or is this all based on personal experience? I haven't really come across many reports and studies on these matters,

As I have stated in my previous post, much is from personal experience, and much is from what I have learned on the web as well as in books. I have been keeping fish for 29 years now. And have had as many as 124 tanks up and running. I am a long time member of one of the two largest local clubs in the US, with over 300 members. And I am a long time member in the largest fish club in the world (ACA). I also belong to the AKA, ALA, and several other local clubs in other cities other than mine. I go to all the conventions, and listen to all the studies and speakers and such. As well as just sit around with others and discuss fish stuff. Fish foods comes up every now and then. Mostly these days it is more for the specific types of hard to feed fish, rather than just a general topic.

Join your local club, or/and join the national clubs. You will learn much with their flyers, as well as all the others that you can meet.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Acidrain: Thank you very much for your information. I've only recently started to try and dive into all these fish food matters quiet as much.

The problem for good foods doesn't just lie in the companies, but the general audience as well. Just like with food for so many other animals it has taken years for even the small groups to accept that certain foods are better then others and yes are worth the price you pay.

The few things I've been able to find on the internet that provide such a service for fish keepers only ship the live cultures and it is too expensive!
I have yet to see a processed pellet food that contains bugs or worms so if you can direct me to a place which does this, please do!

The cichlids I had were Lab Trewavasae, Pseudo. Esthera and Lab Ceralious (sp, don't feel like looking it up). All of them, especially the Lab Trewavasae bloated on most foods. I have fed well over 10 brands of flakes or pellets/tabs alone, not including any live/frozen/freeze dried or misc.
All from different Brands, formulas, prices ranges etc.
fish/animal same thing, it's animal derived.

Are you sure your thinking of Ash? "Fillers" (aka carbs, empty calories, etc) or also referred to sometimes as the binding agents in fish foods.

About the freeze dried foods, that's all I've ever heard, you are the first person to not oppose feeding it that I've spoken with (unless the general consensus on this recently changed.) For example feeding FDBW to Betta's it's not recommended to go over board with them, or even use them as part of their daily staple diet.

The only live food I have been able to keep so far were black worms in very small quantities, snails which I produced a lot but most died and baby brine shrimp (of course only living those 24 hours).
I've read up on cultivating some other types but it seems that I don't have the time or the space to do so. (I don't have a yard or a basement, but I do have cats/dogs and a small child) ^_^

Where have you learned your information, or is this all based on personal experience? I haven't really come across many reports and studies on these matters, and having a food manufacturers web site say "proved in studies" is not good enough for me.

Red worms are like earthworms except much smaller and reddish colored. They are used alot in composting and some people will even keep them in a bin under the kitchen sink and toss all food scraps and things like vegetable peelings in for the worms to eat. Then it can be used on a garden instead of just throwing the food in the trash. Of course with this setup you can also feed them out to your fish.

Acid Rain, how would you cultivate blood worms? is that what you meant by red worms?

I do buy them when the shop has them but it doesn't have them that often

or would I be better off feeding frozen blood worms? - and if so how often?

thanks

GFG

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Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone

There was another thread somewhere on the length of time food stays fresh. Most dried foods be it for animals or people start to break down within 4-6months. If you freeze it usually 6-8months. That doesn't mean in 6months it's going to suddenly go bad but the nutrients will have started breaking down from being exposed to the air and your fish won't get as much nutrition from the food.

I have always had the feeling that processed fish food is not quiet advanced in comparison.

Well, in all honesty, it is not as advanced. The reason being, is it is much harder to study fish in their natural wild environment that to study all other types of animals. You cannot just go down underwater and stay there for months at a time watching the same fish. So, it is mostly trial and error. With some knowledge of what has been studied in the wild.

How many studies have been performed on a fish eating its exact diet as would be in the wild, compared to processed foods?

Actually quite a few. And the majority of the answers are live foods. However, this is costly and thus you do the best you can with the alternative. Live foods, as in the wild, is always the best. I personally can attest to studies I have done that prove this. And not by just a little small amount, but evidence of 3-6 times growth rates on fry, multiple levels of more intense colorations, and most anything comparing the two types of foods. One theory involved in this, is the availability of live foods 24/7 in the water. Rather than just feeding them once, twice, or three or more times per day.

It also makes me wonder if there is more to it then is commonly shared.

I would say not, it is a very competative market. Because the market is small and companies fight hard to get your buisness. New brands come out all the time. But, usually they go under, because the cost to make the better quality foods means a higher cost to the public, and well, we know how the majority of the public is, the cheapest stuff that will last the longest. If the fish do fine on it, why change to a better quality more expensive brand. In other words, affordability.

Some of the newer brands don't use advertisement, as this helps lower the cost to the public. Some people make thier own, and only use a web site, thus also lowering the cost. Word of mouth travels fast, and if you can compare your prices to the big companies, and show a better quality food, then it will be available. They are out there, you just have to look.

Again I took cichlids which were supposedly Omnivores and put them on the appropriate diet (your typical omnivore food or cichlid pellet) bloat! I switch them all to a largely Herbivore diet and they do much better, a diet where the first 2 ingredients are not animal protein, or filler wheat/flour, but plant derived material.

Not sure which cichlids you used here. Or what kind of "typical" foods you used. This could very well make the difference. Most of your higher quality fish foods use fish for the protien, and not animal protien. And fillers are usually ash, which has no effect on the fish. The foods that caused the bloat may have been cheap brands, who knows. But I can tell you this, I feed my tropheus freeze dried plankton 1-2 times per week, TetraPro Tropical Crisps 1-2 times per week, and then the remainder of the time they get spirinella flakes. I have never had a case of bloat with them ever. And I have two friends of mine that do the same with their tropheus now, and have not had any case of bloat with theirs either. But, as you can see I use expensive and high quality foods.

I'm also curious to know why they haven't including things such as bug larva and worms into processed flakes or pellets?

They have. There are multiple foods out there that contain both of those. There are several companies, as well as private makers, that have red worm, grub worm, night crawler, white fly worms, and who knows what other kind of worm flakes. They are out there, you just have to look for them on the net. As for the bugs, well, I have some powdered daphnia in the freezer right now, I use it for fry foods for somw fry. But they have others as well. Again, you just have to look for them out there in the web.

I've been told feeding freeze dried is bad because it's too "rich" if more then then occasional treat.

Not true. How can it be any more rich than how it comes in nature. IMO, the freeze dried is the best thing you can feed 90% of all fish. And/or frozen, though I prefer the freeze dried. IMO, less protiens and other nutrients are damaged during the freeze dry period than frozen wet.

And not everyone can feed live/frozen, or has access to it. Are they that difficult to cultivate to such an extent? Or just not cost effective for the food companies?

Oh they are very cost effective if you have the room to do it. There are many types of live foods, you can order on the net as well. There are a couple of companies in California that will ship you almost any type of live bug you want.

Some of the easiest cultivations to do, are the white worms, micro worms, viniger eels, grissle worms, wingless fruit flies (use caution with these), etc. I know many people that have built a large refuge bin in their back yard, and they keep cultivating red worms in there. As well, you can even cultivate them in your basement if you have enough room and the right equipment. Cost effectiveness? micorworms need about a spoonful of raw oats about once a week, white worms need about a good pinch of corn meal about once per couple of days or so, viniger eels need their bottle of viniger with a slice of apple in it about once every week-month, gissle worms need dirt, red worms need dirt and some cornmeal about once-twice per week, night crawlers need dirt and corn meal about once-twice per week, wingless fruit flys need a new bottle set up once a week to breed and can be messy and time consuming compared to the others. Its all in what you want to take the time to do. I have kept cultures of all of those listed above, and continuously keep my microworm and white worm cultures going.

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There is always a bigger fish...

From everything I have read about fish foods, and the knowledge I have on other species nutritional needs I have always had the feeling that processed fish food is not quiet advanced in comparison.

It seems even harder to find people who do know anything about fish food. I hear "they will eat anything and it's fine". But is it REALLY fine? How many studies have been performed on a fish eating its exact diet as would be in the wild, compared to processed foods?

It also makes me wonder if there is more to it then is commonly shared.
For example, Betta's are carnivores, when I feed them processed foods high in animal protein they bloat and become constipated! When I feed them mostly live or frozen foods they become bloated, etc.
However when I feed them a diet low in protein and the first 2 ingredients are things like Wheat and Flour or Corn they don't bloat up!
It wasn't just an isolated case either, it was no less then 8 Betta's all from different stock and ages.

Again I took cichlids which were supposedly Omnivores and put them on the appropriate diet (your typical omnivore food or cichlid pellet) bloat!
I switch them all to a largely Herbivore diet and they do much better, a diet where the first 2 ingredients are not animal protein, or filler wheat/flour, but plant derived material.

I'm also curious to know why they haven't including things such as bug larva and worms into processed flakes or pellets? I've been told feeding freeze dried is bad because it's too "rich" if more then then occasional treat. And not everyone can feed live/frozen, or has access to it. Are they that difficult to cultivate to such an extent? Or just not cost effective for the food companies?

I'm sure I'm terribly boring most of you. -_-


Last edited by AngelZoo at 06-Dec-2005 13:10

IMO, they don't list these items, as they don't know the exact needs and levels needed for the fish. They know of the needs for them, but not the exactness. And, the problem is, they are all different, depending on the local of the individual species. All fish need some form of protien, even the veggie eaters. They get their protein from the microbes and such living in/on the algae in the wild. Due to different problems associated with too much protien for some fish, this is the reason protien is listed. Most people try to keep thier foods as close to nature as possible, and for this reason is why they choose the different types of foods that are out there.

As for how long the food is good for, well this is a very open ended question, as there are litterally hundreds of brands and types of foods out there. And they will all have a different shelf life, depending on their ingreedients. Personally, I keep everything in the freezer until ready to use it. Not the foods I am feeding today, but the stock of those foods. The main concern is the moisture in the food. The moisture can cause it to rot. This is why I keep mine in the freezer. I take out enough to feed for a few weeks, each time I refil my containers. Most of the stock you find on fish store shelves does not have a date on it, so how can you tell how long it has been prepared in the first place? They are many times vacumed sealed, to prevent moisture from getting into them, as well they have addatives to prevent rotting.

So, IMO, it depends on how long it is going to take you to use it all up, as to wether you need to place it in the fridge and what not. If you are going to be using up your container full within a few months, I would not worry about it. If it will take you longer to use it up than say 2-3 months, then I would place some of it in a tightly sealed back in the freezer.

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There is always a bigger fish...

I havn´t really got any good answers for you Angel but at least here´s [link=one tread ]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/General%20Freshwater/66586.html [/link]
discussing food in a rather interesting way!
Regarding the percentages though, it really should say so on the box. At least the high quality brands have pretty detailed content listings on th packages and it usually also says how much protein, fat, fiber, moisture and ash.


And I just realized that carbohydrates aren´t included on any of my food packs so this whole post mostly became pointless. Still, read the tread I linked and hope someone comes in with a somewhat more meaningfully reply soon.
There was another tread not to long ago discussing how long people trusted their food to be alright but I can´t seem to find it!




Last edited by robbanp at 06-Dec-2005 10:59

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So here I am once more...