You are what you eat...goes for pets (fish) too.
In the old days, dedicated hobbyists fed a lot of live foods because commercial fish foods just weren't that good. But times have changed and there are some very good commercial fish foods out there. BUT you have to read the ingredients. Sadly, many fish foods are made with fish meal and there are a couple of problems with this...
1) Fish meal is often made with cannery waste of fish parts not suitable for human consumption (e.g. head, bones, scales...) ground, dried, loads of preservatives and sits in a warehouse for unspecified periods until ordered by a fish food Mfg.
2) Because it's a dry powder, fish meal requires copious amounts of starch as binder/filler, usually a grain (rice, wheat, gluten...) Fish can't process this so it just passes through as waste!
So the fish food Mfg also adds preservatives and it sits in a warehouse again and then on a store shelf until the hobbyist buys it.
Okay, so frozen and/or live foods may be used as treats, but they are not a well balanced meal so we should stick to a good commercial food for routine feeding.
I am a fan of Omega One and Almost Natural as these use fresh, whole fish and not fish meal.
New Life Spectrum ALSO appears to be a very good food using whole krill, squid, fish, etc. in their formulas.
Footnote: Many, many years ago when I switched to high quality commercial foods, I quickly noticed that my fish produced MUCH less waste. And less waste means a cleaner tank with less detritus and lower nitrates, In addition, fish are healthier, with better color, and live longer - believe it or not.
Note: Other than a consumer hobbyist, I have no affiliation with any of the companies or their products listed in this post.
