Diet

[Fishguy2727]

I posted an article in the food section. It should help clear up any uncertainty people may have about feeding their fish.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=2562

[Severus]

Great article.

[jeffs99dime]

times two!!

[Sin]

reptile guy...very well written article there

[kimmers318]

Very good article reptileguy, it should help answer many questions that people have about how/what to feed their fish.
I do have one Q though....and actually meant to ask this before when HITH was being discussed in previous thread but it slipped my mind, so please don't think I am negating any part of your article. I completely agree that better quality foods are a must....so is variety. Since the oscars are not my fish I have a tendency to be curious about info pertaining to them, but don't always follow thru finding out more. They are hubbies responsibility. The hikari bio gold food that has live bacteria....what form does that come in? I know from researching bio spira that it has to be stored in a refridgerated state for the bacteria to remain viable for our use. What method of preserving the bacteria has hikarki adapted to allow the bacteria to remain live in the food? I'll admit, I haven't even remembered to look at it when I have been in the petstore because I usually have at least 3 children under the age of 6 in tow.....if not an additional 3 ages 11-13 so I go in and get what I want and leave:help:! If this is a flake/pellet type food hopefully that means that if they have found a way to keep the bacteria live/viable in that form an easier method of cycling will soon become available. Or is it that it is just a different type of bacteria that does not need to be kept in a certain manner to be good? I don't know.

[Fishguy2727]

It is a dry pellet, kept at room temp. I know from my microbiology class that there are ways to preserve bacteria so that they go dormant, but then 'restart' when put back in appropriate conditions. That should be what is going on here. That may be why sometimes people do see a difference when they use 'inferior' products like Cycle and Stress Zyme. Some people have used these successfully, but Bio-Spira is the best product for the use of instant cycling and speed cycling. If you read through articles on the New Life Spectrum site, you will find that their food is so superior that you get the best results when it is the exclusive food being fed. If their foods included this beneficial bacteria, it would be the only food I fed my oscars. Variety is good so that what is lacking in one food is compensated for in another, but it really does seem that NLS is in and of itself truly complete. I am not expecting you or anyone else to change their ways based on what I say, but if you read through their site you will see the results other people are getting, even with 'impossible' to keep in captivity species like moorish idols. Give it a look at nlpublish.com.

[Drumachine09]

Very informative. Great job!

[kimmers318]

Oh, I didn't doubt that both those foods were excellent forms of nutrition for oscars...I was just curious on the whole live bacteria thing is all. I don't even try to tell hubby how to feed his fish......but I have seen a difference in how MY fish act on omega foods over tetra.....enough to convince me that some foods are better than others!

[Fishguy2727]

I think of it as: most foods at varying quality levels, then Hikari, then New Life Spectrum. I suggest you try to get him to look into the NLS.