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Let's talk food...

539 views 11 replies 2 participants last post by  AyalaCookiejar 
#1 ·
I have a boy who has trouble with larger pellets, so I've been crushing them to help get him to eat. It's difficult to get the pieces to good sizes, though, when I crush them, so I went out today in search of new pellets for him. I know everyone on here swears by New Life Spectrum, but I simply can't find those in any stores. I suppose I could order them off the internet, but I wanted a more immediate solution. So I bought two different kinds of pellets today and was hoping for some input on them.

I already had Aqueon pellets. I have been using those for two years for my fish and I've never had an issue with them. There is some grain, but overall they seem like a pretty good pellet. Up until Nova, all of my fish ate them eagerly. Today I bought Omega One Betta Buffet pellets (which don't look much smaller than the Aqueon pellets, though I like their nutrition better) and API betta pellets. The API pellets are TINY and I think he will be able to eat them easily... but the first ingredient in them is wheat. I am hesitant to feed him those pellets because of the ingredient list, but at the same time they may be easier for him to eat.

Thoughts? Opinions? I want my little guy to get good nutrition.

Note: I also have frozen bloodworms for my boys, but they get those only a couple times a month. And Nova won't eat them anyway.
 
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#2 ·
New Life Spectrum pellets are tiny, IF you get the right kind. The Betta formula is actually the same size as Omega One (1mm) but the small fish formula is half the size (.5mm). So if you do find them, get the small fish formula, not the Betta formula. Petco is the only big store that sells them. Some specialty fish stores may also sell them. I had to order mine online from Petco because the closest store to me is an hour away. However, I went there the Thursday before last and I couldn't find them because they don't have them by the Betta food, they were by all the other foods. I even know what the containers look like and it still took me awhile to find them, lol.

They're the smallest pellets I know of. However someone mentioned to me the other day collecting my own mosquito larvae. If you google it, you'll find how to do it. They eat mosquito larvae in the wild. It's not risky to the fish (if you don't scoop the larva out of polluted water) and its nutritious. Most people say their Betta LOVE them.
 
#3 ·
I forgot to mention that the small fish formula and Betta formula have the EXACT same ingredients but the small fish formula actually has a higher protein percentage.
 
#4 ·
Okay, so the two different types of pellets I purchased today were not a good thing to have bought? You think I should avoid using the API pellets for him? They are itty bitty and I think he could easily eat them. But if you think it's a bad idea, I can just return them to Petsmart tomorrow or something.

There is a Petco not too far from me. But it is a very small store and I rather dislike it as they sold me my first fish and he was sick right from the store. My Petsmart is far better than my Petco, but I suppose food is food, so if I need to go there to get NLS, then I will.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Yeah, the fish health has nothing to do with the food. Petsmart does not sell NLS, only Petco, but if its a small store, they might not have it. Can you call and ask?

I'm not familiar with the API food. You'd either have to list the ingredients and protein content for me or I'd have to look it up... But if he won't, or can't, eat anything else, I would use both. You want them to have a variety for their health. I'd feed the frozen bloodworms once a week.

I have a schedule. Each of my tanks gets their water change on a certain day of the week. I've started feeding 1/3 Omega One and 2/3 NLS daily. Thursdays I use Aqueon pellets to replace the Omega One (not as healthy but a variety). Mondays they get bloodworms for 1/2 of their meal. I'm probably going to try growing mosquito larvae and feeding them 1 or 2 certain days a week. It helps me to have certain days to make sure they are getting the variety they need, so I don't forget whether or not I've fed BW or Aqueon or something. I put a list of the days of the week on my calendar by my tank to remember whose water change is on Monday or Thursday and what not. Friday is their fast day :)



EDIT: I just re-read... API first ingredient is wheat. I'd definitely try to get the NLS small fish formula and use THAT as your staple. It has good meat based ingredients. :)
 
#6 ·
Yep, mine fast on Fridays as well (though Nova was not fasted as he had not been eating until a few days ago... he needs to put some weight back on). I have always only fed them Aqueon pellets with occasional freeze-dried bloodworms as treats. I know they're not healthy, but I figure every now and then they're fine for a treat.

I will go ahead and try the Omega One pellets with my other two boys tonight, and I may try to get some crushed to see if Nova will give them a shot. The API pellets have garlic in them, so I'm guessing the fish will snap them up if I offer them. Just not sure if I wanna offer them.
 
#7 ·
Hmm... Aqueon is not the worst food out there. I don't feed it as much now since I have NLS as my staple and Omega One as my second. NLS has garlic too and garlic has natural anti-parasitic properties :D it's good for them! And FD bloodworms is what I feed on Mondays. I don't have frozen because its so hard for me to get to petco and keep them frozen on the way home, plus, since its an hour away, we usually make several stops so not to waste a long trip. FD bloodworms are not AS good but I don't think they're as bad as people make them sound. They are fine once a week and they do contain protein. I've heard the freeze-dried process doesn't really remove as much of the nutritious stuff as people think, but they're definitely not meant to be a staple. Also, people say they cause bloating, but I don't know how much truth there is to that. A long time ago, I fed Tetra because it was the only good Walmart had and I was clueless. My boyfriends stupid dog ate the pellets, and when I went to get more, all they had were bloodworms (they were out of the pellets for months and they suck at restocking). So, my boy are bloodworms for months, no bloating. But that and the fact he was in a one gallon unheated tank with few water changes for so long... He's about 2 years now and has ALL the symptoms of old age :/

Water quality probably had more to do with that than food quality but the bloodworms and tetra pellets for months probably didn't help. Tetra is bad quality and its first ingredient is also wheat.
 
#8 ·
Crud. I forgot to mention that soaking the freeze dried bloodworms that is sometimes recommended actually causes them to lose some of the nutrients they do have in the water.

You might try soaking the larger pellets in garlic juice? He might like them more that way and it'd soften them up so they're easier to eat. Just don't soak it in a large amount. I used a small Dixie cup when I soaked pellets in meds. I don't know if it actually helped but I was hoping that the nutrients wouldn't be lost in a smaller amount of water, lol. I also added vitachem. It's hard to find but GREAT for soaking food and adding to the tank water. It boosts the immune system :D
 
#9 ·
Nova snapped up the pellets once I got them crushed for him! He got a total of about 3 tonight, which is better than he's done for a while. I just don't want to overfeed since he had not eaten for a long time up until a couple days ago. Once his belly starts rounding, he's done.

The Omega One pellets are even a tad larger than the Aqueon pellets, but both my other boys LOVED them. Kai usually has to be sort of coaxed to eat the Aqueon pellets, but he eagerly snapped up the Omega One pellets. I didn't try the API tonight, but I guess I might give it a try every now and then. First ingredient is wheat, but maybe it can be a good bit of variety every now and then? Goodness how I spoil my fish hahaha. Three different kinds of pellets AND freeze-dried bloodworms AND frozen bloodworms? They eat better than my broke butt does!

I will go hunting for NLS next week, but for the time being my fishies will be getting Omega One (just because they've had Aqueon their whole lives haha... time for a bit of a change up). Even Nova seems to like it once I get it crushed for him. And you can't deny it is a wholesome food for them!
 
#10 ·
Omega One is a better staple than Aqueon, better ingredients. Only second to NLS :) I am sure there are other better pellets out there but they aren't easy to get in America. I know other countries have completely different brands.

I usually would feed 3 Omega One a day or 6 NLS (small fish formula) since they are half the size.

I'm glad he likes the Omega One! He might like NLS better since it has garlic :)
 
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