Hikari food

[top dog]

Hey all
Noticed on some Facebook groups that guys are throwing some shade on hikari foods. This worries me as it is staple food for all of my cichlids. I am in South Africa and the hikari comes with a serious premium price, that I am now wondering if it is still worth it. Been using it for years with no complaints but really would like some input and information on it. Using jumbo food sticks, masicavour and cichlid bio gold.
Thanks in advance

 

[Gourami Swami]

I've been using it for years and years, still feed it. Nothing wrong with it. There are some people who analyze every nutrient in their fish food. From what I understand, New Life Spectrum uses better ingredients, has less filler, and doesn't have certain "harmful" preservatives like ethyoxquin that hikari and pretty much all other commercial fish foods do.

So, the people who really analyze this sort of thing, generally feed NLS. I would say Hikari is fine to feed your fish, but if you are paying a huge premium for it, it's probably no better than, say, omega one. So if you can get omega one or another decent pellet brand cheaper than the hikari, I'd go for it.

 

[Jexnell]

My Oscar Toni has been raised on Hikari food exclusively for the most part since I got her. She still eats Jumbo Carnisticks as her staple. It may not be the "best"food out there, but it turned this

Into this big beautiful beast

 

[FishNCash]

I, myself, have tried other brands to see if it’s a better alternative since Hikari pellets raise their price every few years. I have tried ken fish food brand due to price. This brand pellets is a lot dense and harder than hikari. It took my bass awhile to accept the pellets. I fed them for about six months and noticed my water got dirty faster. The colors did not fade but did not improve either.

My next brand I tried was Tetramin Tetra Cichlids floating sticks. I got 6lbs for $36 online. This way cheaper than bio gold plus. My bass seem to love it and their colors did improve to a shiney glow. My only complains is that it does create a lot of waste thus making my water dirty quicker.

In conclusion I did not find a superior products to Hikari but did find a substitute. Hikari has probiotics in them which generate less waste. I want to try NLS but most are sinking pellets which my bass do not like.

I still feed Hikari pellets along with tetramin sticks to cut down on food cost.

 

[tlindsey]

Hikari still a good brand imo raised Silver Aro's on their food sticks without issues.

 

[GTcichlid74]

I find it is good for initial growth, it has a really high protein content which is probably owed to the fact that it’s made using fish meal rather than straight up fish like omega one. I have the Hikari carnivore sinking pellets and omega one sinking cichlid color pellets. Both of my jags won’t touch the Hikari so I’m basically forced to feed them the omega one. From my experience Hikari is good you just have to be careful with the amount each individual fish gets at feeding time. I’ve had experiences where I slightly over fed fish and their stomachs expanded a lot almost like they were bloated, for me if I can get my little guys to eat the Hikari I would be happy to mix it in there diet. If your fish is primarily a piscavore like a jag the Hikari should be fine.

 

[top dog]

Thanks for all the replies, and it makes sense what I have learnt. Would love to give my fish the absolute best but unfortunately it not feasible or affordable living in South Africa.
Very glad to read that while not Perfect hikari is still good and up to standard. Will look at other options thou.
Strangely enough while at my lfs today and looking threw ingredients/ratios on different foods I noticed hikari Saki koi food has almost the exact same ratio: protein, fats, etc as jumbo food sticks and hikari cichlids at half the price on mass
Is high quality hikari saki a good substitute or am I missing something

 

[GTS]

Hikari is fine, though I do not feel I would pay a premium for it, frankly, I do not think I would pay much of a premium for any fish food. I do not consider myself to be a nutrient nazi, but the argument that a significant part of the ingredients in these foods consists of fillers and preservatives is actually truer than it is false. Keep in mind, people who have been keeping and importing fish for decades, ie. Jeff Rapps and Don Conkel, feed their fish mostly koi food or commercially available channel catfish food, then they cut in some premium foods. Frankly, I feel a base of Koi Food and supplements of Krill and Shrimp is fine.

 

[Mojojo The Invader]

I, myself, have tried other brands to see if it’s a better alternative since Hikari pellets raise their price every few years. I have tried ken fish food brand due to price. This brand pellets is a lot dense and harder than hikari. It took my bass awhile to accept the pellets. I fed them for about six months and noticed my water got dirty faster. The colors did not fade but did not improve either.

My next brand I tried was Tetramin Tetra Cichlids floating sticks. I got 6lbs for $36 online. This way cheaper than bio gold plus. My bass seem to love it and their colors did improve to a shiney glow. My only complains is that it does create a lot of waste thus making my water dirty quicker.

In conclusion I did not find a superior products to Hikari but did find a substitute. Hikari has probiotics in them which generate less waste. I want to try NLS but most are sinking pellets which my bass do not like.

I still feed Hikari pellets along with tetramin sticks to cut down on food cost.

I've noticed with the Hikari aglae wafers my water gets very cloudy as well. It will usually clear up in a few days but I end up doing water changes instead.

 

[slyme]

My Oscar Toni has been raised on Hikari food exclusively for the most part since I got her. She still eats Jumbo Carnisticks as her staple. It may not be the "best"food out there, but it turned thisView attachment 1307957

Into this big beautiful beast
View attachment 1307958

what a nice lookin oscar, great color