Hikari vs. NLS

[RD.]

If I was forced to choose, I would pick Bio-Gold over Gold.
But still, both have what I personally consider a high ash content, and the amino acid profile is based entirely on a generic fish meal. This is where *variety* of raw ingredients comes into play.

Bio-Gold's main ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flour, brewer's dried yeast, gluten meal, spirulina, fish oil.

NLS main ingredients: Antarctic Krill Meal, Herring Meal, Wheat Flour, Squid Meal, Algae Meal, Soybean Isolate, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Vegetable and Fruit Extract.

For the "wide variety" camp, consider this ..... New Life also contains Algae Meal, that consists of Seaweed, Kelp, Haematococcus pluvialis (a micro algae), and "several" other micro-algaes. A premium grade of natural Spirulina, as well as a fruit & vegetable extract that consists of Spinach, Red & Green Cabbage, Peas, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Kiwi, Apricot, Pear, Mango, Apple, Papaya, and Peach.

Their main source of amino acids (protein) is derived from Antarctic Krill, Herring, and Squid. Not just some generic "fish meal", and a single source of plant matter.

And again, this is without even beginning to compare micronutrient levels, such as vitamins & trace minerals.

 

[RD.]

That would be a poor way to assess if the food is better or not.

It certainly would be. I could make a fish food with 60% protein content, using nothng but soybean for the protein, add some fish oil for fat, mix it up with a binding agent such as flour, and dump a cup full of synthetic color enhancers such as Carophyll Pink, Carophyll Yellow, and several other synthetic lakes & dyes & your fish will POP with color.

Like everything else in life, some things cost a lot more to manufacture than other things. In fish food most of that cost is based on the cost of the raw ingredients.

You don't neccesarily have to drive a Porsche to get from point A to point B, but if you do don't expect to pay Hyundai prices.

The irony of all of this is that for anyone buying Hikari in bulk, such as their 2.2 pound containers of Carnivore or Massivore, the cost is over double of what any formula of NLS costs.

Perhaps the cost of wheat & corn flakes has gone up, got me?

 

[pengu13]

this thread and others like it are great lots of opinions, lots of info.
read threw take what you want from it and make a educated decision

 

[fishguts]

That would be a poor way to assess if the food is better or not.

im not trying to asses the food being better or not by color. all i am saying is if my fish are getting a currently healthy diet as it is then there would be absolutly no reason to buy more expensive food unless it may enhance the color of my fish.

 

[RD.]

That's fair enough fishguts, but if you are going to go that route then my advice would be to hook up with a feed mill & buy your food in bulk, at a fraction of what other vendors are charging for simply re-packaging the same. Seeing as you are in PA, check out the Zeigler Brothers.
http://www.zeiglerfeed.com/html/


Just keep in mind that you are comparing hot dogs, french fries, and an iceberg lettuce salad covered in thousand island dressing, to Angus steak & Lobster, served with a freshly baked whole wheat dinner roll, a Romaine lettuce & Spinach leaf salad, garnished with 6 different tropical fruits.

Both will supply amino acids (protein), lipids (fat) starch (carbs) and vitamins & trace minerals - but both meals will certainly not be equal in nutritional value, or sticker price.

 

[ahud]

I am only 20, but I have been feeding NLS for three years. My fish interest have changed over the years, but I have always fed NLS to everything from cichlids, tetras, and livebearers. I'm taking my first leap into large Central American cichlids soon and you better believe I am going to feed NLS.

I even started my Eretomodus(A Tanganyika mouth-brooder species) fry on crushed NLS "grow" formula and had great growth rates and zero mortality.

Currently I have a 125g with SA cichlids, tetras, and siamese algae eaters. I feed NLS exclusively and I observe no "chewing" or "spitting" what so ever. I did have trouble getting the L. Dorsigera to eat it at first, but nothing severe. All the fish group at the top of the tank and attack the pellets I drop with vigor. As RD has said, its basically what your fish is used to. I do believe that some pellets/feeds are more palatable, but does that really matter?

I think the key to feeding NLS is pellet size. Take the size you think your fish needs and go one size smaller, your fish should not have to "chew" at all.

I think RD is guilty of supporting NLS, BUT where do you see a bias in the ingredient comparisons he has posted? I have found his post informational and appropriate for this discussion. At the risk of sounding crude, I have seen real life proof that I do not usually digest corn completely, I'm sure my fish can't do any better.

All of the above is my opinion and my experience and therefore I do not expect it to be evaluated on a scientific level.

 

[Omega007]

I am only 20, but I have been feeding NLS for three years. My fish interest have changed over the years, but I have always fed NLS to everything from cichlids, tetras, and livebearers. I'm taking my first leap into large Central American cichlids soon and you better believe I am going to feed NLS.

I even started my Eretomodus(A Tanganyika mouth-brooder species) fry on crushed NLS "grow" formula and had great growth rates and zero mortality.

Currently I have a 125g with SA cichlids, tetras, and siamese algae eaters. I feed NLS exclusively and I observe no "chewing" or "spitting" what so ever. I did have trouble getting the L. Dorsigera to eat it at first, but nothing severe. All the fish group at the top of the tank and attack the pellets I drop with vigor. As RD has said, its basically what your fish is used to. I do believe that some pellets/feeds are more palatable, but does that really matter?

I think the key to feeding NLS is pellet size. Take the size you think your fish needs and go one size smaller, your fish should not have to "chew" at all.

I think RD is guilty of supporting NLS, BUT where do you see a bias in the ingredient comparisons he has posted? I have found his post informational and appropriate for this discussion. At the risk of sounding crude, I have seen real life proof that I do not usually digest corn completely, I'm sure my fish can't do any better.

All of the above is my opinion and my experience and therefore I do not expect it to be evaluated on a scientific level.

Have you tried anything else other than NLS to make you think NLS is better? Without having direct experience of feeding your fish other brand food, you don't understand the difference.

 

[Omega007]

Fishguts - the main ingredient is "wheat", that should be your first clue as to the overall quality.

Ken doesn't manufacture his own line of food, he simply private labels commercial feed made by a feed mill (or mills). IMO if you prefer to feed that type of quality of feed to your fish, buy directly from a feed mill, or consider one of the various feed mill foods that are sold at local hardware stores. You'll save a considerable amount of $$$ over the long haul.

This will save me a ton of typing, and should answer your question/s in detail.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=324394


HTH

That's fair enough fishguts, but if you are going to go that route then my advice would be to hook up with a feed mill & buy your food in bulk, at a fraction of what other vendors are charging for simply re-packaging the same. Seeing as you are in PA, check out the Zeigler Brothers.
http://www.zeiglerfeed.com/html/


Just keep in mind that you are comparing hot dogs, french fries, and an iceberg lettuce salad covered in thousand island dressing, to Angus steak & Lobster, served with a freshly baked whole wheat dinner roll, a Romaine lettuce & Spinach leaf salad, garnished with 6 different tropical fruits.

Both will supply amino acids (protein), lipids (fat) starch (carbs) and vitamins & trace minerals - but both meals will certainly not be equal in nutritional value, or sticker price.

You don't have to attack other vendor just because you are promoting NLS. I got what you are trying to say. NLS is the best. My fish should just eat one kind of food for their life. I should feel guilty of feeding them anything other than NLS. By doing so I am not a good fish owner as I am risking their life and they can die prematurely.

 

[ahud]

Have you tried anything else other than NLS to make you think NLS is better? Without having direct experience of feeding your fish other brand food, you don't understand the difference.

I never commented on if I thought NLS is better. I gave my experience that all my fish have learned to eat NLS with gusto and I have not ran into any problems with them "chewing" and "spitting".

Personally, I do think NLS is better if you want to know. I consider myself a tenderfoot, novice, noob, or whatever term you want to use, on fish nutrition, I have read a few articles and studies and as far as I can tell NLS has the better ingredients.

Protein is a very funny ingredient. People think protein is Gods gift to man to make critters strong, large, and healthy. When I was working out often, it was funny to hear peoples conversations about protein. I learned in the beginning that crude protein in a food is not a good indicator of quality.

Of course, I have tried other foods, but have I tried them in a way that I could compare them to NLS? No. You can't compare foods effectively without keeping a variety of other variables constant.

My post was simply to give my experience using NLS.

 

[I<3fish]

You don't have to attack other vendor just because you are promoting NLS. I got what you are trying to say. NLS is the best. My fish should just eat one kind of food for their life. I should feel guilty of feeding them anything other than NLS. By doing so I am not a good fish owner as I am risking their life and they can die prematurely.

You should feel guilty about feeding any other commercial, dried, pelleted food. I say this because no other food has the variety, nutritional content, etc. that NLS does. I wonder why people get so defensive when something comes along that is better than the food that they though was the best. I used to feed Hikari because I thought it was the best, until I read the ingredients and the only difference between it and other crap foods sold at fish stores was the packaging. Now you shouldn't just feed NLS, I would suggest feeding it with raw seafood/healthy, QT'd feeders (no cyprinids, because they are just as garbage as Hikari.)