Pellet Food

[mattsilvester]

Hi All,

I am getting back into the hobby after a long break.

My LFS recommended Hikari "Seaweed Extreme" for tangs and angels. I've got a majestic (navarchus) and hippo tang, that love this pellet food. MY LFS trains all their fish to eat this (or similar) before sale. On the face of it, it's great. However, 10-15 years ago it was almost frowned upon to feed pellets to reef fish. Have things improved? Is it ok to feed mainly pellet food, and occasionally supplement with nori and some frozen food like mysis etc.?

My LFS is of the opinion that the fish identify pellets as "food", and so are less likely to identify invertebrates or corals as food. Not sure if that logic holds up or not - it is almost besides the point of my question. Basically, I would just like to know if its ok to feed mostly pellet food, and just supplement at the weekend with something frozen?

Maybe I'll mix it up a bit, with a different variety of pellets.

Thanks in advance.

Matt

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Variety is the spice of life so they say & I mix mine.
They do however increase the phosphate levels in the water.

 

[vlangel]

I also feed a variety,,,flake, frozen, pellets, nori and live food when possible.

 

[Timfish]

I've been very happy with new Life SPectrum pellets. back in the 90s flake food and pellet food used grains as the primary ingrediant. That's changed over time and seaweeds, fish or shrimp are now the primary ingrediant in most flake or pellet foods (obviously it's wise to compare ingrediants to decide which you may want to use). I've had dwarf angels outlive their wild counter parts using just NLS pellets and have tangs well into their 3rd decade with it.

 

[Uncle99]

Hi All,

I am getting back into the hobby after a long break.

My LFS recommended Hikari "Seaweed Extreme" for tangs and angels. I've got a majestic (navarchus) and hippo tang, that love this pellet food. MY LFS trains all their fish to eat this (or similar) before sale. On the face of it, it's great. However, 10-15 years ago it was almost frowned upon to feed pellets to reef fish. Have things improved? Is it ok to feed mainly pellet food, and occasionally supplement with nori and some frozen food like mysis etc.?

My LFS is of the opinion that the fish identify pellets as "food", and so are less likely to identify invertebrates or corals as food. Not sure if that logic holds up or not - it is almost besides the point of my question. Basically, I would just like to know if its ok to feed mostly pellet food, and just supplement at the weekend with something frozen?

Maybe I'll mix it up a bit, with a different variety of pellets.

Thanks in advance.

Matt

Absolutely you can do that. Pellet very high in protein/fat content for its size.

 

[Big E]

Pellets and flakes are processed foods with wheat still in them and a bunch of minerals & vitamins that are thrown in to "enrich" the food, which no one has any idea if they can even be absorbed by the fish, + a bunch of chemicals.

It's okay to feed them when in a pinch for time but this has and is always a last resort for me.

Nori is cheap and can be mixed with homemade frozen food which is much better long term.

It's also important to consider that this is the same garbage that passes through the fish and feeds your corals.

 

[Paul B]

My LFS is of the opinion that the fish identify pellets as "food",

Ask your LFS which fish in the sea eats pellets? I personally do not like pellets or even nori for a staple food. I would not feed any of my fish any food that does not have normal living bacteria in it and some of my fish are 30 years old and all of my paired fish are spawning. I also never have to medicate or quarantine.

I feel dead foods like all commercially available foods dry foods do nothing to keep fish in great condition. I don't think there is anything wrong or toxic with those foods and they certainly will keep your fish alive, but they are missing that important ingredient I mentioned which will keep your fish from becoming immune.

I think they are fine occasionally but IMO for great health something fresh or frozen should be fed as much as possible. Better if that is all you feed.

But what do I know?

 

[shred5]

Depends on the pellet. Allot of breeders use pellets in grow out and can be very nutritional unlike what they used to be,
There is even soft pellets..
I use a combo of everything depending on how much time I have.
I try to get one feeding of frozen a day but time is a issue and sometimes you have to feed what you have time for so flake or pellet certainly is better than nothing..