Fish Nutrition 101

[JHG]

Hi Neil,

As you know, I'm willing to take the NLS food and put it to the test. I have no doubt I won't be disappointed. I also agree with you about the high fat and protein content of many foods on the market - it will definitely lead to problems later on.

J

[RD.]

Hi J, let me know how it works out. Hopefully my E reached you tonight.

Neil

[JHG]

No worries, I received your email.

J

[mulakka]

I bought some NLS from RD. That stuff is amazing,,, I am not sure if I ever followed up with you in how it was working, But like I said the stuff is killer. It didnt take long for my fish to color up to 100% I have also noticed with my fry showing alot better color at a younger age, I am not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me but they look great.

[lionyouth]

full of crap....I would use NLS if it didn't brown up my water so much...and no I don't use allot of it ...the thing lasts for ever...I still can't finish the container...but it does darken up my water...and I use super veggie...and hbh cichlid flakes....if you want to see unbelievable looking africans check out my fish...the other thing with NLS is that if you go up a size in pellets too soon the fish will have a hard time digesting them because there so use to the smaller pellets they willllll get bloat....NLS should make a new size pellet between the medium and large...and should do more research on that water discoloration that occurs......I bought so much NLS thinking that it was the bomb...but it bombed out...I only use it when I don't have anymore flake and supper vegie left.....I think NLS is better suited for bottom feeding cichlids and larger ravenous fish....but if you want to grow your cichlids on it ...I say Nay ...it will take them a year or more to hit the inch mark...slowwwwww growing food....NO FAT TO BURN...After all its the fatty fish oil thats highly praised for human consumption mmmmm Yummy fatty fish liver

[JORG]

I use NLS for all my cichlids now. I have no problem with water discoloration or bloat perhaps it's my weekly water changes I don't know. I find the overall growth rates on all my fish especially the fry to be excellent.

[Shayesmommy]

i agree with Jorg, i have use NLS for about 1.5-2 years and i have never had a problem with discoloration of my water.

And my babies don't have a problem growing on the "growth formula", and as for color of the fish, i think my fish are showing very nice color.

[Vallisneria]

I use NLS on all my tanks and have never had it discolor my water, even when I'm heavily feeding in my fry tanks.

As for fry not growing on it, I find the opposite. My fry grow WAY fast and show coloring earlier using the NLS growth then they did on regular flakes.

IF your fish are taking a year to grow to 1" then you are doing something wrong, try more water changes.

[patrick]

I can't see how it could discolor the water unless it's left uneaten for a long time? I beleive slow growth can be caused by high levels of Nitrate, maybe caused by overfeeding, hence the discolored water.

[African_Fever]

I think you've probably got other problems besides NLS in your tanks. I've found that b/c the grow pellets are so small, many mouthbrooders can be started on them the day they're born, and b/c they're pellets and a much more concentrated form of food, their growth rates are much better than using flake (and you've got much less waste to boot). I don't know how different sized food would cause bloat, again I think there are other issues that need to be dealt with or checked on before blaming it on the NLS. I initially switched to NLS b/c my fry were showing no colour and growing so slow on all other foods (I tried just about everything), and I couldn't be happier since.

[RD.]

If you take a large glass of water, and add a tsp of 1mm NLS pellets (enough to feed a well stocked 90 gallon) you'll see absolutely no discoloration of the water, even if you let those pellets sit for 20 minutes.

Now take that same glass after soaking the pellets for 20 minutes, cover the top, and shake well.

What you will see is very fine particles floating throughout the glass, which is the exact same thing you will see if you overfeed your fish, or feed pellets that are too large for your fish to swallow whole. Both overfeeding, and feeding pellets that are too large for the fish, are fairly common mistakes made by some hobbyists. Either of these feeding methods will result in fine particles floating throughout your tank. If the pellet size is too large, the fish will chew them for 1-2 minutes, causing fine particles to be sifted out of the mouths & gills. Not only can this cause a mess in ones tank, but it is also wasteful. This very subject was recently discussed in the following thread;

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=12587

Even if this is the case, unless one doesn't utilize adequate filtration, the water should eventually clear up.

Feeding NLS won't guarantee that your fish will never have bloat, it only ensures that your fish will never succumb to bloat from dietary issues. Although bloat is usually triggered by one or more various forms of stress, IMO an improper diet is seldom the cause. There are many forms of stress that can take place in a glass cage, and a poorly digestible diet is only one of them. Human nature being what it is most hobbyists want to blame something when they have health issues in their tank, and unfortunately the diet seems to always be the easiest target. I doubt that I'll live long enough to read where someone actually blames an outbreak of bloat on their lack of husbandry skills.

I've used a fair bit of NLS over the years, and none of my tanks have ever been discolored, nor have I had a single case of bloat in any of my tanks when feeding NLS, even when feeding bloat prone species such as Tropheus moorii.

HTH

[Ishkabod]

I wasn't offended at all, just bewildered I guess?

Seriously, if someone can show me a product that is made up of higher quality raw ingredients than NLS, I'll be the first one in line to buy it.

How does one compare this:

Fish protien, fish products, wheat germ, grain products, spirulina, spinach, herbs vitamins, colorants

To this:

Krill, Herring, Wheat Flour, Amino Acids, Algae Meal, Soybean Isolate, Fish Oil, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal- Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine, Biotin.

Fish protein, fish products, grain products, and herbs, could be just about anything?

About the only thing that impressed me with the Sera company, is they too realize that diets high in fat cause fatty liver disease, and premature death in fish. They even mention this on their website.

Okay well after reading that i'm sure allot of people would benefit from eating NLS over what they are eating now. Now the question is WHERE CAN I BUY NLS???? on a small small budget

Thanks

Lisa

[Terrie Lee]

Nature's Corner Store is a good place to buy NLS. Even a small container lasts a long time. (for me anyway)

[Vallisneria]

Nature's corner store and Big als carry NLS. I think Aquarium Enthusiasts might also carry it.

[firestorm]

I actually just read this whole thing now. I have to absolutely agree that NLS is the best food to use, and have been using it for the past 7 months or so. I have had fish that colored up within a week after starting them on the NLS, so if that isn't proof for myself I don't know what is. Besides that I never find my fish to be fat, nor really skinny.

I have actually slowly started to swtich all my foods to NLS, currently I use the cichlid formula 1mm, and 3mm pellets, the optimum H2O flakes, discus formula, and the grow out formula (gotta get some more Thera-A). My fry have been on the grow out for only a few weeks now, and my have they grown much faster than the diet I was feeding other fry I have ever had. I used to feed them crushed tetra flakes, BBS, spirulina disks, and crushed up 1mmNLS. But I have to swear by the grow out....besides that if you buy it in bulk from a retailer, it is far cheaper than buying the little tiny bags of another brand for like $15.

I have had my 5lb pail of 1mm for over 7 months now, I now have a total of 14 tanks....maybe an average of 5 tanks full of fish, and I mostly fed them the 1mm. I still have over half that pail left. It never clouds my water from what I have ever seen, and I like the fact that it doesn't separate and go all soggy right away :thumbs: Thanks Neil for this great article!!