Sorry, no idea on the waste change, possibly from the meds.
Marketing works everywhere, the average consumer is lazy & gullible. They see what they want/desire/like, and they jump at the latest gimmicky bling that someone puts out there. The average FH keeper isn't going to feed food that has a discus on the label, even though the average discus food is high in protein and fat, and geared more towards larger gains in growth, due to discus often being finicky eaters. Take the same formula, increase the pellet size, slap a masterpiece designer FH on the label with a giant kok, and boom, instant sales to FH keepers. lol