Pfk: Avoid Dry Foods

[jmkgreen]

Read in this month's PFK to avoid dry foods for Oscars as it:

1) causes stomach problems
2) breaks up through the gills

Yet I'm looking at several packets of Hikari food with Oscars and other large cichlids on the front. What gives? Safe or not safe?

(Note: The dry foods are on top of frozen (thawed) food. And as of Sunday he seems to like mealworm.)

 

[micko]

Mine also love cichlid gold. I only put that in once or twice a week though and feed frozen mostly, he also loves flakes.

 

[AstonN24vantage]

ive never heard about this before!

 

[MBOU]

What on earth were they suggesting that you feed them? I have seen far more problems of osars fed purely/mostly on frozen foods that were far too high in protein! Causing hole in the head/bad water problems!!

I always have and will feed pellets to oscars!

 

[jmkgreen]

Quoting PFK May 2011 page 19: "Dry foods are inadvisable. Showers of particles from gills will pollute the tank and excess dry food seems to cause digestive troubles which can be fatal."

I have just emailed Pet Products International (the main Hikari importer in the UK) asking for comment.

 

[Verminator89]

More so the particles flying round the tank from the gills than digestive troubles i think. An oscar fed only on dry food will suffer from slight digestive trouble, but so would you if you ate nothing but beans all day every day, it would have to literally be just one brand/type of dry food to give a fish trouble. A good, varyied diet will keep any fish in good health, as is with humans. So take what they are saying with a pinch of salt, as its not as extreme as what it may read.

 

[ChilliPepper]

What a load of carp - try explaining to my Oscar that he can't have his Doromin! It'd break his heart! He also likes Cichlid Gold.

All my fish are fed on predominantly Hikari and Tetra foods. They all thrive on it and love it.

I will carry on as normal, thanks PFK.

 

[mattlee]

hikari gold or doromin everyday with a frozen treat every now and then for Keith. he is very healthy and prefers dry to frozen tbh....

yes there is mess that comes from the gills but the catfish sort that out

 

[jmkgreen]

I have a reply from Richard at Pet Products International:

"As your an Oscar keeper, you will already know that these fish (as well as other large carniverous fish) are very messy eaters, whether its frozen foods or dry prepared foods.
The important factor here is the quality of the food that you are feeding your fish.
The better quality foods on the market like Hikari are designed to not pollute the water when excess food falls into the substrate, or is taken in by the filtration. It is the quality of the dry ingredients, proteins and fats used to make these higher quality foods which make them 'safe', any pollution caused will easily be broken down by your filter bacteria.
The quality of the ingredients used also make the foods highly digestable. Most of the fats, proteins and amino acids in the food will be absorbed by the fish in the digestive tract so the content of the fishes faeces is low in pollutants and therefore easily managed by your filtration along with regular maintenance.
But please note even the highest quality foods like Hikari should never be overfed.
So the article in PFK has substance, but obviously cannot show bias toward any manufacturer.
Unlike other aquatic manufacturers, Hikari only produces fish food, and will 'tailor' all foods to the specific needs of the targeted fish types.
When feeding your fish, always consider the quality of the ingredients, the amount, and the frequency you feed.
Never overfeed your fish!"

So reading between the two, dry foods are fine just not exclusively. Unfortunately fish cannot communicate whether we keepers have found the correct balance or not.

Sadly the PKF article appears balanced rather heavily against dry foods, perhaps unnecessarily. Anyway, personally I feed at least six different things dry & frozen so I guess I just need to keep up with the veg...

 

[Squidward]

Some of those PFK articles can be taken with a "pinch of salt" in my opinion.

When I kept Mbuna, there was an article published at the same time recommending feeding bloodworm as the staple food!
I fed bloodworm twice in the few years I had the Mbuna, and both times I lost a fish or two due to bloat.

 

[ChilliPepper]

What page is that article on? I got given a copy of the latest copy of PFK magazine, I never buy it usually.

To be fair I wouldn't take advise from a magazine where they recommend Cycle and say you should never change 50% of your tank's water unless in an emergency. My tanks get 50% w/c every week and the fish thrive on it. OK Boris sulks, but he'd do that however often/how much I do the w/c Also it is recommended with Rainbowfish to do this and they absolutely love it when we put fresh water in. So PFK's advice there is shyte.

 

[jmkgreen]

What page is that article on? I got given a copy of the latest copy of PFK magazine, I never buy it usually.

To be fair I wouldn't take advise from a magazine where they recommend Cycle and say you should never change 50% of your tank's water unless in an emergency. My tanks get 50% w/c every week and the fish thrive on it. OK Boris sulks, but he'd do that however often/how much I do the w/c Also it is recommended with Rainbowfish to do this and they absolutely love it when we put fresh water in. So PFK's advice there is shyte.

As previously stated, p19. Agree on the other points.

 

[snowflake311]

More so the particles flying round the tank from the gills than digestive troubles i think. An oscar fed only on dry food will suffer from slight digestive trouble, but so would you if you ate nothing but beans all day every day, it would have to literally be just one brand/type of dry food to give a fish trouble. A good, varyied diet will keep any fish in good health, as is with humans. So take what they are saying with a pinch of salt, as its not as extreme as what it may read.

Yup agree. It's not the food it's the fact people are only feeding one kind of food. You need to switch it up for all your fish. I give them flakes or dry algae maybe some worms one day. You need to be feeding more then one thing.

Maybe frozen food companies payed them off to wright about how dry food is bad haha.