Flake Food Only?

[goldmullet]

Wow guys thanks so much for the lesson of NLS pellets. I learned alot. I was just asking cause my LFS said there is now way they triggers and tangs could survive longer than 2 weeks on only dry food. Then another fish lady said she has fed tanks only dry food for years, so it didnt make sense. But now it does.

So basically, fish can live and be healthy on NLS pellets but we all like to splurge every once in a while.

 

[Allmost]

check out the NLS flake food package for a warning, that stated, that flake food can not be the only food fed, and pellets should be the only food ....


after seeing that, I Stopped using flakes ! and do only pellets, 4 times a day, plus some PE mysis and nori.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Has anyone seen any real, outside research on NLS? I don't doubt that its a great food; but I still can't imagine its a one size-fits all food for all fish, all of the time. It also seems to contain a lot of krill, which has been linked to a couple of problems with long-term use. They have a great web site, lots of promotional stuff and I've heard lots of great anecdotal comments from seasoned hobbyists. What I haven't seen is any 3rd party study on this miracle product; which should exist, given the claims and growth of this product. In spite of all I've heard, feeding the same thing to tangs and triggers, exclusively and for their lifetimes; just defies common sense. at least to me. If anyone has any link to anything on this food, other than self-promoting (nothing wrong with that, I'm a capitalist) or anecdotal info....I'd appreciate seeing it. I'm not being critical, just skeptical.

 

[Korrine]

I'm skeptical as well

I do mainly feed nls pellets, but also have pe mysis and nori. Our group is getting ready to make our own batch of frozen food containing:

frozen sea food medley containing (clams, mussels, squid, fish, shrimp, etc..).
Nutramar Ova.
PE mysis
Krill
cyclopeez
selcon
garlic
nori

Then we pretty much know what our fish are eating. This will be a staple for my fish!

 

[Mark]

Skepticism is healthy.

All I know is my anecdotal experience. I used to hog an area of my freezer with a variety of frozen food. Then I did the homemade recipes to simplify feedings. Eventually, life got busy and I wanted some freezer space back. Feeding pellets seems to keep my fish just as healthy for years. Water quality was easier to maintain with pellets. And I have more space in the freezer.

My original reason for liking NLS was that it is the only pellet that seems to appeal to all of my fish. My tangs, angels, clowns, cave basslet, gobies, blennys, and even my mandarin digs it. New fish seem to like it faster than other foods I've tried. I don't keep any large carnivores, so I can't speak for triggers, grouper, etc. I did have success weaning some scorpionfish onto pellets.

I'm not sure what their marketing department claims. I just think it's a balanced food, and it works for all my fish. If you are someone that likes to feed your fish a homemade concoction or like to keep it varied, more power to you.

That said, I always keep Mysid shrimp and some cyclopeeze in the freezer. And I have some Nori in a drawer somewhere.

 

[bigevill1]

I feed almost nothing but flake. The only time I feed anything else is when I am trying to ween new fish onto flake. I have a purple tang that has been with me just over 9 years now and he is fat and healthy with great colors. I have had several other fish 5+ years on the flake diet including all kinds of wrasses, clowns, gobies, cardinals, dottys you name it. Whats really funny is I couldnt tell you the name of the food I feed because I can never remember it, but it has been the same stuff for the last 9 years and it has garlic in it. LoL

 

[MrTuskfish]

Skepticism is healthy.

A I did have success weaning some scorpionfish onto pellets.
.

I think (unless I'm missing something) the primary ingredient in the large fish versions of NLS is krill. Krill has been linked to lockjaw in Lionfish. I guess we'll wait for one of the authorities on scorps to chime in. (Like namxas or FMarini )

 

[Northstar24]

NLS is a good pellet, I tend to mix that with Formula II flake or pellet. That being said, I also use frozen food made by a local reefer that has everything under the sun in it

 

[dstrickland]

this is a great thread and it's nice to see people be respectable of other ideas and actions, plus a lot of good info

 

[SDguy]

I'd also like to add that unfortunately some fish simply don't eat enough pellets to live. Like Mark mentioned, life has been very busy for me, so the reef gets mostly just pellets. The larger fish are fine, but some more finicky fish, like some anthias, have declined over time since my neglect .

 

[namxas]

IMHO, the key for healthy fish is a good, VARIED diet. We don't feed our preds pellets at all, but our OSFF get NLS between their regular feedings of other foods.

The "krill/lockjaw thing" is likely a nutritional deficiency (or overdose) of some type, and even tho NLS has a high amount of krill, I suspect that it contains other enrichments (I can't read the bottle now, as I'm not at home).

Still, I personally wouldn't use them exclusively.

 

[goldmullet]

Just a question. Will puffers eat NLS pellets? Or is that too tricky?

 

[lilalove]

Personally, feeding my reef is one of the easiest and most enjoyable things I do to it. Why would anyone bother with a tank if they never want to feed the fish? I don't get it.

That being said, my fish eat better than I do, though the staple is NLS pellets. Once in the morning, and at night it's usually something frozen.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

My falcula was eating NLS pellets fairly well. I had some NLS flakes and tried some of them, which it ate. Next think I know, it doesn't want the pellets any more. Go figure. I prefer to feed the pellets because the auto feeder handles them better plus they sink faster.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

ever look at the ingredients on the NLS pellets? there's a lot of stuff in there! I use a mix of finicky fish formula and thera A in my tank and feed cyclops and rods at least 2 times a week for the corals too (although the fish will eat that also). My kole tang seems happy on pellets as well. He goes nuts when I put them in the tank. He also grazes enough on film algae to keep him happy. once a week I put in some nori though. I also have one carberryi anthias that loves them as well and he's the only survivor of the 3 and boy is he plump!

 

[bigevill1]

The last package of NLS pellets I bought float and seemingly no amount of soaking I do in vitamins or garlic will cause them to sink.

 

[tcmfish]

My Golden angel only eats flake... I feed omega one. But if it would eat other stuff I would rather vary it's diet. I think a mix of food is best, and I don't think anything is better than some nori for tangs.