FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Has anyone compared them side to side?

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Hey weird. i have never really compared the two, but i seem to lean more toward the hakari. my fish also took to the brine shrimp alot better, it was like a feeding freenzy when i droped some of it in my tank. with the omega there were shrimp that hit the ground, doesn't happen anymore

"The Earth is God's Fish Tank"

I realy mean the basic flake. Info on the freeze dried is helpful though. Thanks anyway silver.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

I am a big fan of the Omega One. Just take a look at the ingredients, it tells you exactly what is in there while the Hakari says fish meal then wheat something or other. I am feeding pretty much all Omega One products to my fish. The fish look quite healthy and have nice colors.

Now you have my 2 cents.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I think im gonna get a thing of each brands freeze dried blood worms and brine shrimp. Ill do my own little experiment

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Haven't really compared the two since nobody around here sells Hikari flake products. I do like both companies, and feel that they make decent foods. However, New Life Spectrum beats them both, hands down. Definitely the best food I've used.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

New Life Spectrum beats them both, hands down. Definitely the best food I've used.

But it still doesn't tell you what is in the food like Omega One does.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I think there comes a point when a fish food becomes "sufficient" , and all of the above brands have really met that mark. We keep fish from all over the world and one type of food is typically fed to thousands of species.

You may have to chop and change a bit to find foods that both suit your fish's palette and keep it in good condition, but by and large reading the contents of the packet makes little difference as a marker for suitability, after all , how many have read data collection from stomach samples of our chosen fish to know if our chosen food is suitably representative for our chosen species in the first place? You may be able to read off a list of essential nutrients, and I would personally rather see the ingredients listed, but most people dont have a clue what actually relates to good nutrition for their pet when reading off such lists.

One of the keys for success in fishkeeping is variety, and brand loyalty in that respect seems to me to be pointless. Basically most of us are guessing, but foods like hikari and tetra have been keeping fish healthy for as long as ive been alive, so you can assume they do a pretty good job. Combined with some live and fresh foods and using various mixes of different kinds of foods you achieve the variety to keep your fish healthy.

Its the same with dogs, cats , monkeys, anything you can buy a prepared diet for, there is no food that is completely inclusive of all the nutritional needs, seasonal variencies, enzymes, fibre types, and trace elements in almost any creatures diet, only nature to date does that.

Technically despite the great claims of numerous manufacturers there is no such thing as a " totally complete diet" unless of course you have a monotypic and specialist feeder species, all you do for practical purposes is choose a main staple or a mix of various foods to make a main staple, and for that you can do worse than choose one of the foods manufactured by the major companies, and after that, the real conditioning comes from variety , and using as many fresh sources of food as is available to you in the correct proportions.

Take advantage of the brands around you, there is no point in sticking to one. I use fish diets from at least 5 different companies, plus frozen and freeze dried foods and as much fresh food as possible.

There is a reason my fish breed better and outlive those of many others, and that is variety. Its also why my dog reached 19 years old, my iguana over 20 years old, and ill be gutted if my cat doesnt make 22. Diet variety is the key to life. You show me someone who feeds their pet only one type and brand of food, and i'll show you someone whos pet probably wont live very long.

"Complete diets" are manufacturers propaganda, food technology hasnt arrived there yet. You can find a good "base" food on the shelves of a petshop, but the best diet is always provided by the willingness of the aquarist to source as many acceptable foods as possible.

Use many sources of food, then "which one is best" becomes a complete irrelevance. Fishkeepers prior to 1970 couldnt get good fish food, yet a lot of their stock thrived because of the resourcefulness of the keepers, and in this respect , I still think not relying too heavily on commercial diets is still a better way to keep fish. Go to a good zoo or meet a professional long term aquarist and you will always find that formulas are only one component of the diet, and often theyre not fussed about which one in the obsessive way that a lot of more casual hobbyists are.

Food formulas are changed yearly, and marketed yearly, and research into various formulas is often not tempered by long term study, seriously, do you think the folks at hikari or tera etc took a batch of food produced in one year and tested that formula and only that formula for 30 years on a red tail catish to see if it was really nutritionally complete for the entirety of its life?

Course not.Its all big talk and averages.

Use everything!

BTW, what does "H2o Stable" mean? I heard that you should get a food that is "Sable" and also sinking pellets which are stable.

I personally use a little bit o' everything in my fish. For example, i use a daily Flake food, with an added color enhancer flake food. This will help my other fish who have a lesser coloration, get a color. I need it for my Platy Fry, because they are going to become my show platies.

After the Flakes, i use a sinking food. Exactly 3 times a week, i use 1 algae sinking tablet, and a sinking granule for every fish, 1 ea..

As a weekly treat, and for fixing fins, I use a pinch of bloodworms, freeze-dried, for every fish. I just want the fry to grow, and the surface feeders tto be fed.

><> ~=!Vote Today!=~ <><
-----> View My Dragons <-----

i feed wardly flakes in the morning and a cube of brine shrimp in the evening i was feeding a pinch of freeze dried blood worms but my cats took off with the can and i havent seen it since (about 6 months now)

*click *flash *click "whered he go???"

But it still doesn't tell you what is in the food like Omega One does.

Sure it does. I've got a can of each out in front of me, and each brand is pretty specific about what it contains. The only vague ingredient in the Spectrum food is "algae meal", whereas Omega One just says "fresh kelp". Both also list spirulina as well.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Probably depends on the blend. I know a lot of them just say fish meal as the first ingredient.

I guess the main point of all this is, do the fish like it and do they do will being fed it.

I know a lot of people like the NLS but I have yet to try it as I really like the Omega One.

The real question is between Omega One and Hakari as the topic suggest. Sorry about all the off topic stuff.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I often try to buy different brands to shake things up a bit, a little variety. See what they seem to like and what they seem happy with. I like the hikari algae wafers nut usually buy flakes from omega, tetra, topfin or the like. They do like the omega flakes, and do well with them.

I have Hikari sinking tablets and Omega One shrimp pellets for my corydoras. They devour them both. I also use Tetra sinking tablets which are devoured and have used Nutramin. The cories seem to enjoy and thrive from all of them. I have to go with the suggestion about using a variety.

29g - 5 Head and Tail Light Tetras, 1 Black Phantom Tetra, 1 melanistius cory, 1 Featherfin Synodontis, 1 otto
29g - 14 harlequin rasboras, 5 albino corys, 3 ottos
10g - 1 glowlight tetra, 2 Black phantom tetras, 1 red betta on entertainment center