A Question For New Life Spectrum Fans

Hey guys, I typically feed my fish Omega One products but as I'm running low and need to get some new foods I was thinking of trying something new. I like feeding my fish whole fish foods because they tend to be much healthier than fish meal products. I've never used New Life Spectrum but I know a lot of people swear by it. So my question is why do you prefer New Life Spectrum and what has it done for your fish? I've noticed one of their main ingredients is wheat flour, which I read wasn't very good for fish to eat, and should only be used to for binding whole foods together.

 

Basically I've noticed all fish food contain wheat flour. Even Omega One does, at least I saw it in the ingredient list for the betta pellets I'm feeding. What I like about NLS is the ingredients they choose, like krill, kelp, spirulina. Some of their formulas contain garlic, which is supposed to help with parasites. Right now I am feeding my juvies in the 75 gallon "NLS Small Fish formula". I'm kind of using it like a growth formula, similar to how you would feed puppy food to a new puppy.

 

My Omega One foods have wheat flour too, but its towards the middle of the list, so I think/hope its not a major ingredient. The garlic part is very interesting. So do you prefer your Omega One pellets or your NLS pellets?

 

I prefer NLS, the packaging may not be nice. But I don't buy pet foods for the packaging, I buy for the nutritional value. My fish seem to be thriving on NLS. I tried Omega One super color flakes for a couple years but I found out it's not just about making your fish colors come out but overall health. I think NLS does that. I know others that use NLS such as LiterallyHydro. Can't remember who else... I made a similar thread about a month ago.

 

I actually think the NLS food have an attractive and flashy looking package but I'm not really interested in that. I use Omega One because they use whole ingredients, which they fish really seem to love. I've never used they're color enhancing flakes in my tanks though. I used the Tetra food when I first started a few years back, but when I switched to Omega One my fish got healthier looking, more colorful, and more active. My only complaint about Omega One is I'm tired of having to remove scales/bones from the food. I'm worried the fish would choke if they were to eat those pieces.

 

I use NLS small fish, crustacean, ultra red, and algae max foods (along with many others by other brands). The fish and shrimp I feed it to are always quick to eat it and quite healthy and overall just seem to be doing better than when I was using other foods as a staple.

 

Links of interest above.

I also feed NLS foods to my fish. They love it, they are happy and healthy and display very vibrant coloring. I like to feed a variety of foods, sticks, pellets, freeze dried (presoaked) foods and fresh veggies.

Also adding Garlic Guard and Vita Chem.

I order most of my fish foods from Ken's:


Ken (not my site)

 

I've noticed most of their products are sinking pellets, would this be a problem for surface feeding fish like Rasboras, Guppies, Hatchetfish, Pencilfish, etc.???

 

I've noticed most of their products are sinking pellets, would this be a problem for surface feeding fish like Rasboras, Guppies, Hatchetfish, Pencilfish, etc.???

Ken's actually has all types of foods from sinking pellets, wafers, to flake foods.

One that I use the most is the Thera +A brands of NLS Large Fish Forumla. They usually do not sink right away but takes a few seconds. If you want to use a smaller pellet, I think your fish would be fine with it even if it sinks.

Ken

 

Ken's actually has all types of foods from sinking pellets, wafers, to flake foods.

One that I use the most is the Thera +A brands of NLS Large Fish Forumla. They usually do not sink right away but takes a few seconds. If you want to use a smaller pellet, I think your fish would be fine with it even if it sinks.

Ken

Sorry for the confusion, I mean't NLS's products are mostly sinking pellets.

 

They don't sink all that quickly in my experience aside from the algae max. Should be plenty of time for the surface feeders to get to them.

 

Sorry for the confusion, I mean't NLS's products are mostly sinking pellets.

NLS has a few types of flake food, my fish hit it so hard they splash water. I feel that a rotation of say NLS and Omega One, for a staple and then 3 or 4 feedings a week of a quality fresh/frozen ( like bloodworms ). Most important to keep the staple food fresh, I see so many people store it improperly & use old food.

 

The dry food does last awhile though. The expiration date on my NLS states June 2018.

 

The dry food does last awhile though. The expiration date on my NLS states June 2018.

I think that the stated expiration date is if it is un- opened. Once it is exposed to air/light it starts to loose it's punch.

 

Kinda funny... Fish meal is whole fish that's been ground up. So really, no matter what you feed, whole fish or fish meal, it's the same basic thing. Whole fish is (obviously) ground up before it's placed into fish food mixes.

NLS is a great product. So is Omega One. They have very similar ingredient lists and similar benefits and downfalls.

 

Kinda funny... Fish meal is whole fish that's been ground up. So really, no matter what you feed, whole fish or fish meal, it's the same basic thing. Whole fish is (obviously) ground up before it's placed into fish food mixes.

NLS is a great product. So is Omega One. They have very similar ingredient lists and similar benefits and downfalls.

Could you elaborate on the downfalls? If the OP is considering this food, I'm sure he would like to know this information.

 

He already feeds Omega One. All I'm saying is the two foods are on par with each other.

Personally I find the main downfall is the presence of salmon as a "color enhancer". I find it's in a lot of the mixes and tends to throw off red coloration in fish.

 

I think I have read that before. Salmon skins in Omega One are used as a color enhancer.

 

Yes I've read before that most flakes labeled as "color enhancing" contain Salmon skins/scales, and that that is what causes the vibrant colors. Though, I don't use color enhancing flakes, any of the red colored flakes from Omega One seem to have that red effect.

Fish meal is undesirable in comparison to whole fish is because of the parts that are being ground together. Whole fish usually refers to pure meat, where fish meal usually refers to leftover scraps. So with fish meal, there's really no way to know what part of the fish they are using, but its most likely going to be scraps which I don't feel provides good nutritional value. I also came to this conclusion simply because once I started feeding Omega One my fish have now refused to take the Tetra min flakes or any products that contain fish meal. When I put cheap flakes in, they refuse to eat. But when I put in Omega One, they go crazy every time.

I think of fish meal as like an equivalent to "hot dogs," where whole fish would be more like ground beef, or steak.

 

Well I don't know how true this is in fish food but in dog food, "chicken meal" or similar is basically chicken with the moisture removed. So I guess chicken meal contains more meat per pound than actual chicken. I hope that makes sense.

 

The pet food industry is so very confusing and dare I say not regulated as one would hope.With the big question being just what is your pet ( dog, cat fish or ? ) eating in a commercially prepared dry food. I opt to feed frozen bloodworms 3-4 times a week along with the dry flakes, and hope for the best.

 

The pet food industry is so very confusing and dare I say not regulated as one would hope.With the big question being just what is your pet ( dog, cat fish or ? ) eating in a commercially prepared dry food. I opt to feed frozen bloodworms 3-4 times a week along with the dry flakes, and hope for the best.

It is regulated somewhat for dogs and cats somewhat by the AAFCO but I don't they regulate fish food formulas.

 

Ok, the OPs question is regarding NLs food, not pet food industry regulation, let's not get off topic.

To the OP, call NLS, they have been known to send free samples of their food. I highly recommend them, their pellets aren't as dense and hard as regular foods and seem to be a lot easier to digest. Best of luck.

 

I like the phrase "easier to digest", it means more is consumed and less poop.