sirdarksol
- #1
We've discussed periodically the cons of using food that contains fishmeal, but, other than the options of frozen food (relatively expensive and a bit more time-consuming. Not a problem for everyone, but maybe for some) or home-made food, it seems like almost all of the fish food out there is based on fishmeal (a quick check of half a dozen different brands of flakes at the pet store shows it as #1 in all of the brands except one). Of course, there's the possibility of buying freeze-dried foods, but without buying a bunch of different freeze-dried things, you won't be providing your fish with the variety that they need.
I have, I believe, found another option, finally.
There is a brand of fish food called Omega One. This may not be news to everyone, but it was news to me when a local Petsmart started carrying it. There is no fish meal on its ingredient list. It lists whole fish as the primary sources of nutrients in most of the foods, with the exception of the kelp-based one for herbivores.
I'm not sure how much of a difference there is between the "whole salmon" and "fishmeal", since the salmon has to get ground up to turn it into flake food (you, too, could make your own flake fish food using the Bassmaster 500! brownie points to the person who gets that reference), but I presume that using the whole fish makes a pretty big difference.
Still not as good as frozen or fresh food, but probably better than the Tetra flakes.
I have, I believe, found another option, finally.
There is a brand of fish food called Omega One. This may not be news to everyone, but it was news to me when a local Petsmart started carrying it. There is no fish meal on its ingredient list. It lists whole fish as the primary sources of nutrients in most of the foods, with the exception of the kelp-based one for herbivores.
I'm not sure how much of a difference there is between the "whole salmon" and "fishmeal", since the salmon has to get ground up to turn it into flake food (you, too, could make your own flake fish food using the Bassmaster 500! brownie points to the person who gets that reference), but I presume that using the whole fish makes a pretty big difference.
Still not as good as frozen or fresh food, but probably better than the Tetra flakes.