# exclusivley NLS or a mix???



## padlock 08 (Jul 31, 2008)

*do you feed NLS on it's own??*​
Yes3159.62%No2140.38%


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## padlock 08 (Jul 31, 2008)

which do you do? the NLS container says to feed it exclusivley for best results but i like to feed some cucumber, shelled pea's and occassionally nori with my NLS, which I only started feeding a month ago
-Paul


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

I voted NLS alone. It is a complete diet so the other things are not needed. Plus fresh foods have a tendency to mess up water quality if they are not removed and refreshed quickly.

I have been feeding exclusively NLS to all of my fish for several years now and the colors are vibrant any everybody is very active.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

I do feed NLS only. Complete diet, extensive research was performed to create the formula.
Also flakes are messy and due to the design of flakes being wafer thin in most cases nutrients have already started leaching the second it hits the water. NLS holds together very well and begins to break down long after hitting the water.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

everyone promotes "variety" but it escapes me... if there's a variety of foods used to make up a pellet, then why vary away from that variety?

:lol:


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

I voted NLS only, but I do give my mbuna some veggie treats once every week or two. It's not necessary, but I enjoy watching them tear into zucchini, cucumbers, steamed carrots, etc.

I think you can't go wrong with NLS as your staple food.
But I also think you can't go wrong with some fresh vegetables every now and then (at least for mbuna).


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## zinn250 (Feb 16, 2009)

I use NLS "almost" exclusively. I also have some Bio-Spira veggie pellets that I throw in on occasion. IMO the NLS really brings out the color in the fish and it must help with health too, because I haven't lost any yet!!


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

I tried NLS exclusively and I tried OmegaOne exclusively, both for extended periods of time.
There was no noticable difference between the two.
My experiences with food is high quality food is the way to go, regardless of brand.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

NLS only. Problem with veges is removing uneaten parts timely and completely. Why take the chance?


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## PiePuncher (Feb 1, 2005)

Doesnt matter, especially with mbuna. The quality of fish that you purchase makes the biggest difference then there is just quality food. Give your fish a quality environment and treat them well and you will be rewarded. I am not sure where all the NLS only stuff on this site came from but any high quality food should work just fine. Smells fishy hit it right on the nose....


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

The NLS brand claims that fish that are fed their product exclusively will show improved coloration.
I always fed high quality foods and tried many brands and colors stayed bright regardless of brand.
Brand of food is over rated and over hyped; tank mates, water quality, and genetics seem to affect coloration most dramatically.
There are more factors but I digressed......


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

NLS exclusively. 10 Tanganyikan and Malawi tanks. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2009)

I don't feed NLS at all. Never liked it. I feed strictly Dainichi Ultima Krill and Dainichi Color Supreme, aside from the occasional frozen treat.


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

NLS Cichlid Pellets and HBH Spirulina Flake. Not a _'NLS is #1"_ fan, but it works fine. Definitely any quality food will work, it's just easiest to get NLS around me - haven't tried Dainichi yet.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

PiePuncher said:


> I am not sure where all the NLS only stuff on this site came from but any high quality food should work just fine.


I don't really recal many posts about NLS being the only "good" food. There are a lot of people specifically asking if NLS is a good quality food, but I haven't read any that diss the other high quality brands like Hikari or Dainichi. Lots of us just happen to use NLS and are very happy with it. I know it is hard to get in some places and if one of the others is more available, there is no reason to ship in NLS.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I haven't seen a Hikari food that has the lower protein I like the way NLS does. I do use Hikari algae wafers in a pinch.

Since I'm satisfied with NLS, I haven't looked into Dainichi, so can't comment but lots of people like it as well.


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## Username (Aug 26, 2009)

I switched from a variety of high quality commercial foods to NLS exclusivley for almost six months and didn't notice any difference. I now try to avoid flakes and pellets as much as possible and feed frozen and freeze dried.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

Username said:


> I switched from a variety of high quality commercial foods to NLS exclusivley for almost six months and didn't notice any difference. I now try to avoid flakes and pellets as much as possible and feed frozen and freeze dried.


What is your reasoning behind doing this?


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## Username (Aug 26, 2009)

smellsfishy1 said:


> What is your reasoning behind doing this?


Even if a flake or pellet food starts out with really high quality ingredients I believe a lot of it will be destroyed during the processing. I think flake/pellets are liked human canned food, we can live off of it but fresh food is so much better for us.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

I feed NLS exclusively, but there are other good quality foods out there.



> I am not sure where all the NLS only stuff on this site came from


The idea behind feeding NLS exclusively comes from the makers (of course :wink: ) and the reason is that it has all that the fish needs. We can either believe them or not. They give a convincing argument, but I've also proven it to myself, so am now a believer that mixing won't improve on what they're getting now.

I also haven't seen anyone here lately on the forum touting NLS as the 'only' way to go. No need for anyone to be defensive if you've found something else you're happy with that works for you.



> fresh food is so much better for us.


Frozen and freeze dried are not fresh. They're subject to vitamin and nutrient loss during processing as well. If you truly believe that fresh is best, you need to be raising live food.


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## padlock 08 (Jul 31, 2008)

well it seems to me that NLS is now the way to go, as there's less chance of water quality problems. i'll probably feed some cucumber every now and then as a treat before a water change but not nearly as much as i used to, so i'll be feeding 99% NLS my vote is now "yes"


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## wheatbackdigger (May 11, 2008)

I started out with NLS, from all the boasting from this forum. Unfortunately, I am not all that impressed. It's a quality food, but the stench and foulness left behind, has led me to try others. I am in the process of converting over to Hikari Gold sinking pellets, unforturnately I have two tubs of NLS to get rid of in the mean time. Much less smell and less floaties left behind and the fish seem to like it just as much or more. My fronts have been getting the Hikari and the Mbunas have been getting the NLS. The tank cleansiness between the two are like night and day.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

wheatbackdigger said:


> but the stench and foulness left behind, has led me to try others.


Odd, I have never noticed any water "dirtyness" from NLS pellets. No residue or greasy slick. It does have q bit of an odor, but it just smells like any pellet fish food I have run across, and way less than frozen foods.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

Username said:


> smellsfishy1 said:
> 
> 
> > What is your reasoning behind doing this?
> ...


I'm interested to know what fish you are feeding and what you are feeding them?


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

MalawiLover said:


> wheatbackdigger said:
> 
> 
> > but the stench and foulness left behind, has led me to try others.
> ...


Not a drop of waste in my tank either, only what comes out of smelly end. 1 pellet that i have tried in the past is Hikari Cichlid bio-gold, not bad, pellets are a bit big but **** did my fish grow. I reckon my fish each grew half inch atleast by the time i finished the pack.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> I started out with NLS, from all the boasting from this forum. Unfortunately, I am not all that impressed. It's a quality food, but the stench and foulness left behind, has led me to try others.


How much did you feed to get stench and foulness in your tanks? I thought I was an aggressive feeder.  It is easy to overfeed, so anyone trying it should be careful with it. You don't need much. The makers even warn of that. It's a very nutritious food, so go easy.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

[/quote]Even if a flake or pellet food starts out with really high quality ingredients I believe a lot of it will be destroyed during the processing. I think flake/pellets are liked human canned food, we can live off of it but fresh food is so much better for us.[/quote]

The better food companies got the processing thing down to where very little is lost nutritionally.
A great advantage is that it is has a wide variety of foods included in one feed.
It would be nice to have a wide variety of live food to feed my fish but it isn't achievable for me.

I would have to raise dozens of different critters as food and keep them alive until feeding time.
Not worth the hastle especially when commercially prepared food is doing this for me.
It would be nice though, and by the way, frozen and freeze dried are nothing near properly raised live foods in terms of nutritional value.


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## Username (Aug 26, 2009)

Certainly fish can stay alive on flake and pellets, I think there is less loss of nutrition in frozen and freeze dried. If you want to use processed food NLS is one option, but it is not the only one that has a variety of ingredients in it. Like I said before I used NLS by itself for almost six months and didn't see any improvement.

According to The 101 Best Tropical Fishes, "The bottom line, and open secret, is that most of the foods you see in good aquarium stores will work reasonably well for most commonly kept fish".

Any aquarium food from the better food companies matched to the fish (herb/carn/omnivore, top/middle/bottom, etc) will keep your fish alive. Use whatever one(s) you think is best. I used to use quality flakes and pellets and am now quite happy without them.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

So all the important people use NLS :lol: 
Only there is some great guys and gals that use other foods and methods. If it works, keep it up as long as you understand what is good and bad for your fish


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## shouck65 (Jan 20, 2008)

I should probably let an old sleeping dog lie when it comes to this thread, but I find this subject very interesting. 
I think it takes equal parts of environment, genetics and nutrition. If you lack in any of these areas your results will be less than. Keep up on your tank mainentance, including water tests, start with the best fish you can and feed a descent brand(s) of food and you should be good to go. I cycle through several brands just to give the fish a little variety. I guess just a quality of life thing. I love lasagna, but I wouldn't want to eat it 2-3 times a day every day all year long. I feed 2-3 times a day and cycle through NLS Cichlid Formula, Dainichi (Veggie FX/Color Supreme) and Ocean Nutrition Veggie Cichlid. I even use Hikari Cichlid Excel. Not even sure why I started using the Hikari, but my Yellow Labs go bonkers over it and so now it's just one of the many foods I use. It's obviously the Yellow Labs favorite. I do stick with smaller sized pellets as I feel there is less waste/pollution and these are eaten well before they become water logged and some of the nutrition leached out as I feel can happen with flakes and some frozen foods. I base this on two tanks I've had going for 2 years. One, a Demasoni colony in a 38g and a mixed african 55g.
So to each his/her own. I just feel you need to look at the picture as a whole and not worry so much about the nutrition part.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

^^^^
I think the biggest point to mention here is that fish are creatures of habit. I have been feeding my fish the same thing for a long time now and they react exactly the same when i reach for that tub now as they did when i first started using the product a while back. 
I think that the urge to feed a varied diet satisfies only are own need for variety (hense the lasagna ) not the fishes.

On an interesting point, i have been feeding NLS solely for a while as stated without a problem. About a month back i decided to by a packet of frozen brine shrimp from my LFS to feed 1 or 2 times a week to promote growth, all it promoted was a bout of bloat through male haps. Imagine what my thoughts are now.


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## paratilapia (Dec 24, 2004)




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