# JBL Novo vs Spirulina and other flake questions.



## dantall (Jun 28, 2016)

Hi, 
basically after googling and reading a tone of info and further confusing myself I now have a few questions.

1. I've read that spirulina flake should be given only occasionally as it can cause black spots and as I have been feeding JBL Spirulina flake every day and have noticed a couple of fish with small black spots I'm now worried. Will these black spots now be there forever? Are they a sign the fish are sick?

2. I've now been looking in to an alternative flake and found JBL Novo Malawi flakes. The only thing is they state 38% spirulina as an ingredient. The JBL Spirulina flake is 40%, so what's the difference between the two really. Is there any point is switching to the Novo? Which is regarded as the best of the two?

3. As an alternative to the JBL stuff I've looked into what else I can easily obtain in the UK. My options are Tetra Pro Algae crisps, Sera Flora and Tropical Malawi flake. Which of these would be my best option to give a more balanced daily flake with less spirulina as I cant find an ingredient list for any of them online.

4. NLS is not really an option to me here in wales, I know you all love it over in America but it's not available here. I can and will buy Vitalis green pellets (which is the new rebrand name of New Era), and I'm led to believe these are brilliant, but is feeding the same pellets every day bad for the fish? This is why I'm looking for a good flake to alternate with these pellets.

Thank you in advance.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Compare all the ingredients and provide the % protein. Can you get NorthFin there? It's made in Canada.


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## dantall (Jun 28, 2016)

As I said, the ingredients for the brands I stated are unavailable on the companys own websites.
I was looking for personal experience from what others have seen from daily use.
My main query being why is spirulina flake advised to be used only a couple of times a week, but Novo Malawi is classed as a daily flake food when the spirulina content is only 2% less?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Don't go by manufacturers suggestions on how often to feed. I would be skeptical about any food that refuses to list ingredients. I will move this post to Nutrition (and Illness). I have never used any of the foods you mention.


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## Biciclid (Jan 27, 2016)

Hi: Tropical malawi flakes crude protein 40% main ingredient veg protein (pea 4%, nettle 3.75%, spinach 2.25) spirulina 3%. Tropical spirulina granulat -slow sinking gran- protein 48% main ingredient veg derivatives, spirulina 6%. SHG hi green (with garlic and betaglucan) rotein 38.1% main ingtedient kelp algae, spirulina unspecified quantity but listed towards the last ingredients apparently very good italian product, my fish love it but the granules sink very fast (even so few granules touch yhe sand). I feed mine all the above and jbl novo malawi flakes. Hope it helps


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## dantall (Jun 28, 2016)

Thank you very much biciclid. Some really good info there.


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## Biciclid (Jan 27, 2016)

No problem, just copied the blurb on the tubs. Is there a sticky post/thread where members can list the ingredients/analytical composition of the fish foods they use? Could be a useful database.... Just my 2 (euro)Cents


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

dantall said:


> As I said, the ingredients for the brands I stated are unavailable on the companys own websites.


This link shows the list of ingredients for JBL NovoMalawihttp://www.dubaipetfood.com/shop/jbl-novomalawi-250ml-5925p.html if anyone is interested,
All the ingredients are very general, and non-specific. The product does not say it is 38% spirulina but rather "contains 38% spirulina" which I would take to mean one of the ingredients is 38% spirulina. At least that is how I read the ingredient label. Just like whole wheat bread that says on the bag "contains 100% whole wheat flour" and on the ingredient list, it is listed farther down the list after white flour . Exactly how much spirulina is in the product is difficult to say but considering that spirulina is over 60 % protein and the product is only 36% protein, it couldn't be all that much!


dantall said:


> 1. I've read that spirulina flake should be given only occasionally as it can cause black spots and as I have been feeding JBL Spirulina flake every day and have noticed a couple of fish with small black spots I'm now worried. Will these black spots now be there forever? Are they a sign the fish are sick?


That it comes from spirulina is the claim by some on the internet. I'm not sure how causation has been determined nor am I aware of any academic study linking black spots with feeding spirulina (?). Circumstantial evidence and assumptions? IME and IMO, black spots on the face and mouth seemed to be much more common on mbuna in the past.....long before any spirulina was put in fish foods. My understanding, it's not exactly known specifically what it is and how it's passed on. Supposed to be harmless and IME goes away eventually. Maybe it originates from wild caught fish (?), I don't know.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

I also found this % breakdown of JBL spirulina flakes http://www.tropicalfishsite.com/jbl-spirulina-fish-food-review/. Algae at 28% and spirulina making up 40% of that, would make the product around 11% spirulina. Probably significantly more then most products. The % of the ingredients would match the order of ingredients for MalawiNovo, so I would suspect like most lines of fish feed they are essentially the same thing and differ mostly on packaging (they differ by 1% protein content).


dantall said:


> 3. As an alternative to the JBL stuff I've looked into what else I can easily obtain in the UK. My options are Tetra Pro Algae crisps, Sera Flora and Tropical Malawi flake. Which of these would be my best option to give a more balanced daily flake with less spirulina as I cant find an ingredient list for any of them online.


Many of these products are not available in N.A.(or at least not common) so few of us on this side of the ocean will be personally familiar with most of these products. IMO a higher amount of spirulina should generally be seen as something preferable; not something to try and avoid. It could be seen as a sign of quality....as a posed to many other ingredinets that are put in fish food. Having an actual % breakdown of its ingredients and looking at it, I would think that JBL is at least decent feed, if not exceptional.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

This link has a % breakdown for JBL Malawi Novo http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/fish/food/fish_flakes/jbl/134552. It's similar to JBL spirulina, though not identical. To list algae as the 1st ingredient, it must be in a wet state, as at 19% it's really not the 1st ingredient. Something to note with all fish foods is that ingredients are listed by weight. If it's in it's wet form, it may end up many times less once the product is subjected to high heat and dried into a pellet. If it doesn't say "meal" or is known to be dry such as grains, the order that ingredients are listed can be very deceiving.
Anyways, algae at 19%, and 38% of that being spirulina, makes the product 7% spirulina. Probably higher the many, if not most feeds out there. All pellets and flakes require grains as a binder. Generally, grains are thought to be poor nutrition for fish......so using less should make a better feed. My understanding is that 20% is about the minimum in order for a pellet or flake to hold together. Malawi Novo at 27% cereal does have significantly more then JBL spirulina at 20% cereal.....though I would suspect that this is at the very low end of the spectrum compared to many products out there, as grains are amongst the cheapest ingredients. Some fish feeds have numerous grains listed separately and may very well add up to over 50% of the product (Also by listing some ingredients by there wet weight and thereby pushing grains farther down the ingredient list!)


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