Is there really anything to color enhancing fish food? Does it noticably enhance the color of the fish or is it just an excuse to chagre more for the food?
"Color Enhancing" food
- Thread starter jnwilliamson
- Start date
Color enhancing foods usually contain high levels of carotenoids which promote color development. They do actually work if used correctly. But they should not be fed as a staple since they are rarely nutritionally complete and can actually "burn" the colors on the fish, causing odd patches of color to appear.
Natural color-enhancing foods like carrot and krill work, too, they just' aren't as potent.
Natural color-enhancing foods like carrot and krill work, too, they just' aren't as potent.
IDK, what do you guys think? NLS claims to cover all dietary needs, but I'm not accrediting NLS just seeing if their claim holds true. Through my Personal experience with the stuff it does show some results, have you guys noticed anything different after use? Obviously this doesn't really prove anything in regards to general health, but higher activity levels usually indicate overall good health. Sorry op if this off topic.
most do work but as stated before they have to be used correctly,i find that a variety of foods always bring out the best in my fish.
As per your question "Does it noticably enhance the color of the fish", yes it does there are many different types of colour enhancing foods available in the market some examples are: frozen krill which brings out orange and reds in fish due to the high amounts of carotenoids, various types of pellets i.e. Hikari Food sticks, Hikari Massavours, and the whole line of New Life Spectrum, and most tropical flake foods as well.
Flamingo's have the pink coloration due to the food they eat...
Most of the pellets on the market have the same type of ingredients that enhance the fishes color. Some market it more than others.
I have tried the NLS 10 day challenge. Yes I fed it EXCLUSIVE, like the instructions said. No big difference. My Midas looked exactly the same, as did my other fish. So after using up the tub of NLS, I switched back to Omega One because of cost and the fish looks the same.
So as much as companies want say their color enhancement is better than someone else, I say most pellets are pretty close in the type of ingredients they use and you will not see any dramatic change beyond what the natural genetics of the fish will allow.
Just my rant and opinion.
Most of the pellets on the market have the same type of ingredients that enhance the fishes color. Some market it more than others.
I have tried the NLS 10 day challenge. Yes I fed it EXCLUSIVE, like the instructions said. No big difference. My Midas looked exactly the same, as did my other fish. So after using up the tub of NLS, I switched back to Omega One because of cost and the fish looks the same.
So as much as companies want say their color enhancement is better than someone else, I say most pellets are pretty close in the type of ingredients they use and you will not see any dramatic change beyond what the natural genetics of the fish will allow.
Just my rant and opinion.
DMD123;4580498; said:
i agree with the above statement,except i believe(in my experience)if you feed a quality pellet along with a variety of other foods it will make a difference.no one pellet has every thing a fish needs to be healthy.as stated above expensive doesnt mean better and genetics also does play a big part .
might be slightly off topic but when I was at the ACA here in Cincinnati I was talking to one of the vendors and he told me that all fish food is prepared the same way using the same ingredients and that theres like 3 or 4 places in the country that make it, after that the different suppliers put their label on it and sell it as their own now Im not saying this is true or not just what i was told by a vendor that was selling several different brands of fish food flakes and pellets. Mike
The vendor that told you that gave you a rather oversimplified version of what actually takes place. While it's true that there is a limited number of feed mills in the USA that supply the aquatic trade, not all of the ingredients are the same, obviously, and each manufacturer controls what & how much of those raw ingredients goes into their food. New Life is one of the few manufacturers in the USA that actually has their own on site manufacturing facility. Many USA based manufacturers now have their food made in Asia.
With regards to color enhancing foods, almost all commercial foods contain color enhancing ingredients, and there is no reason why they can't, or shouldn't be fed daily. These ingredients do nothing more than add to a commercial food what a fish would typically consume in nature.