# Lake Malawi species fish food suggestions.



## masonv (Mar 27, 2011)

I am ordering the last few things I need for my new 75 gal Malawi tank setup. In the order from an online store I want to order some cichlid foods. I have in mind some vegi flakes, spirulina pellets, and some brine shrimp freeze dried or maybe flakes. 
Or am I going in the totally wrong direction. Would any type of meaty freeze dried food work, such as any kind of worm. 
If you mix a Carnivore, Herbivore,and Omnivore together will that work. Not totally sure what cichlids I'm going with yet, but I'm looking for the best color and coolest looking. I am totally aware you can't mixed the same species in fear of cross breeding. 
But I want to play it safe and order enough food and type of food to make them all happy. Plus I dont want to forget any food because I dont want to have to order some and have to pay shipping & handling. Any help would be very great thank you!


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## xxbenjamminxx (Jan 22, 2011)

Alot of people recommend using the NLS formulas. It is made so that is a great staple and produces excellent color in just about any Cichlid. That is what I am using (Cichlid formula) and also feed them spirulina flake and about once a week I give them piece of the frozen baby brine shrimp as a treat.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Just the New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula is fine. Some of the other foods mentioned may not be healthful and may actually be harmful.

If you really want to provide a treat, go with veges. They can't hurt the fish unless you leave leftovers in more than 10 hours so they pollute the tank.


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## AZcichlidfreak (Nov 16, 2010)

+1 to the New Life Spectrum! :thumb:


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## nlui220 (Feb 2, 2010)

Mbuna - NLS

Bigger Haps/Peacocks - Dainichi Supreme + Thera A once or twice a week

Growouts - NLS Grow

Beware of the cheaper brands that contain a lot of bloodmeal and poultry byproducts.


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## jordanroda (May 4, 2006)

:thumb:


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## dotbomb (Jan 5, 2011)

I know everyone is on the NLS bandwagon but I found it rather expensive.

I bought Ken's premium cichlid pellets and Ken's spirulina flake. I bought this stuff by the pound and it was a lot cheaper than NLS.


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## jordanroda (May 4, 2006)

The best always cost the most :wink:


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I don't know if I'd call NLS the "best" but it is my only choice as the one single container can feed everything I own from my cichlids and all the way to my corals and Salt water fish!

Stopped me having to order a little of this, little of that.. etc.


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## AlphaWild (Apr 9, 2009)

dotbomb said:


> I know everyone is on the NLS bandwagon but I found it rather expensive.
> 
> I bought Ken's premium cichlid pellets and Ken's spirulina flake. I bought this stuff by the pound and it was a lot cheaper than NLS.


I kinda feel embarrassed to admit it on this forum, but I just don't get it when it comes to NLS. When I compare ingredients to price, I feel I'm getting a much better value with the HBH brand from Kens Fish.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

*AlphaWild* I always say, if it's not broke, don't try and fix it. If cheap, bulk food works for your species, by all means continue.

For my pets... 
INGREDIENTS: Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Blood Meal, Stabilized Fish Oil, Poultry By-product Meal, Hydrolyzed Feather Meal, Special Blend Of Color Enhancers, Wheat Germ, Dried Whey, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulphite-Complex, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamin, Biotin, DL Alphatocopherol (E), L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (C), Choline Chloride, Cobalt Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide Ethoxyquin (Anti-Oxidant)

I have many species of fish and corals that would not be able to use some of the above, and some that might actually suffer from some of it.

Personally, I think that ingredients list looks like something on the back of a hot dog package... :lol:


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## dotbomb (Jan 5, 2011)

What's wrong with vitamins and minerals? Don't let the scientific names for iron, vitamins, and other minerals scare you off.

Pyridoxine Hydrochloride is Vitamin B6 for example.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'd rather see broccoli and peaches like the NLS list, LOL.


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## AlphaWild (Apr 9, 2009)

I'm not sure which one you listed, but here's mine for Malawi's...

HBH SUPER SOFT & MOIST SPRIRULINA:

This is a new and improved formula that will replace the original soft&moist with spirulina large. This is a nutrient packed food that can be used with fresh and salt water fish. This fish food contains spirulina and a full complement of vitamins, amino acids, essential nutrients and color boosters for healthy vibrant fish. Perfect for herbivores or grazing omniverous from tangs to plecostosomus to tropheus!

MAIN INGREDIENTS: Spirulina, Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Green Pea Powder, Propylene Glycol, Fructose, Fish Oil, Brewers Dried Yeast, Lecithin Dry, Zuchini Powder. Carrot Powder, Garlic Powder, Zeolite, Haematococcus, Glucone-Delta-Lactone, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (C). With Added Vitamins And Minerals

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:Min. Protein 33%, Min. Fat 13%, Max. Fiber 2%, Max. Moisture 18%, Max Ash 8%.

You can argue some fine points ingredient by ingredient, but it's just 2 high quality foods IMHO, and the HBH is less than half the price of NLS. I'll take that value every time.


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## Glaneon (Sep 27, 2010)

*NLS* vs _HBH _
Protein: (Min) *34%* vs _33%_
Fat: (Min) *5%* vs _13%_
Fibre: (Max)* 5%* vs _2%_
Moisture: (Max) *10% *vs _18%_
Ash: (Max) *9%* vs _8%_

I guess if HBH is twice the moisture and more fat (course, fat could be good, I dunno), that would explain the reduced cost.


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## jordanroda (May 4, 2006)

Glaneon said:


> *NLS* vs _HBH _
> Protein: (Min) *34%* vs _33%_
> Fat: (Min) *5%* vs _13%_
> Fibre: (Max)* 5%* vs _2%_
> ...


 opcorn:


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## zoie (Mar 7, 2011)

Number6 said:


> I don't know if I'd call NLS the "best" but it is my only choice as the one single container can feed everything I own from my cichlids and all the way to my corals and Salt water fish!
> 
> Stopped me having to order a little of this, little of that.. etc.


So I could feed this to my clowns and my coral? =D> I should have bought more!! It cost me as much to ship it as it did to buy it.

So how long does food keep its nutrients? Say I were to buy like a year supply, would it still be good (nutrition wise) a year later?

(sorry for hijaking, but I've been curious about this for a while)


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

dotbomb said:


> What's wrong with vitamins and minerals? Don't let the scientific names for iron, vitamins, and other minerals scare you off.
> 
> Pyridoxine Hydrochloride is Vitamin B6 for example.


And sugar is sugar by any other name... Alpawilds reply with the ingredients for one of the more expensive hbh foods lists things that I just don't get why it would be added... Fructose? Zeolite? Why are they adding a mineral like that to food?

Zoie, many say that pellets shouldn't be kept and used for as long as I use it for... But I find NLS is fine for over a year. I feed NLS to some pretty fussy reef fish. My pair of breeding clowns gobble it up along with the fussy fish!


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## dotbomb (Jan 5, 2011)

If NLS has peaches it also has fructose. Zeolites can be used as antibacterial agents and antioxidants.

I understand that natural sounding ingredients are big in marketing products right now but just because an ingredient list shows "peaches" you can't know what exactly that peach contains. What fertilizers were used? What pesticides? And oh man did you know they contain fructose? :wink:


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## zoie (Mar 7, 2011)

Zoie, many say that pellets shouldn't be kept and used for as long as I use it for... But I find NLS is fine for over a year. I feed NLS to some pretty fussy reef fish. My pair of breeding clowns gobble it up along with the fussy fish![/quote]

:thumb: Thanks


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

dotbomb said:


> If NLS has peaches it also has fructose. Zeolites can be used as antibacterial agents and antioxidants.


 Not one of my containers has fruit juice listed in the ingredients but a google search confirms that the recipe for NLS has changed! There certainly seems to be much more in there than there used to be...

I am not being fooled by marketing gimicks nor fancy words by the by... your assumptions are not valid. Simple foods made of items that can be used up by your aquarium system and inhabitants are my preference... anti-bacterial agents, anti-oxidents and even cheap sources of vitamins like fruit juices and vegetables might be fine for a number of aquarists but all it means for me is that I'm likely back to having sets of foods for my cichlids, other food for my reef tank. A bother really... and expensive as now I'll have to buy smaller containers of each! Price goes up as package size shrinks....

Zoie, a good qualtiy pellet like NLS (and likely HBH) is still fine for clownfish. A large number of salt water fish foods contain far worse items!


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## dotbomb (Jan 5, 2011)

Number6 said:


> I am not being fooled by marketing gimicks nor fancy words by the by... your assumptions are not valid.


I never stated, nor assumed, you were.

I'm attempting to clear the FUD factor in this thread for those that are reading it or may refer to it in the future.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I buy no more than a year's supply in bulk. A bucket of NLS makes it pretty darn cheap. I keep it in the freezer. Not so much because freezing preserves it better, but as stated by someone who dives Lake Malawi...it keeps the bugs out.

A bucket lasts 6 months for me. I order it when shipping is free every six months or so.


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## zoie (Mar 7, 2011)

DJRansome said:


> I buy no more than a year's supply in bulk. A bucket of NLS makes it pretty darn cheap. I keep it in the freezer. Not so much because freezing preserves it better, but as stated by someone who dives Lake Malawi...it keeps the bugs out.
> 
> A bucket lasts 6 months for me. I order it when shipping is free every six months or so.


they sell it in a bucket? :dancing: (I only bought a small jar this time to see how long this size lasts me, but next time a bigger one for sure!!)


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I have 5 tanks. With one you may not be able to use a bucket within a year. Lots of clubs will buy a bucket and two members (or more) will split it to get the bulk price.


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## cpaulus (Apr 30, 2005)

My fish seem to go after the dainchi a little more than the NLS. I use both.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

cpaulus said:


> My fish seem to go after the dainchi a little more than the NLS. I use both.


I go for Mc Donalds more often than salads and lean meat. 

I like Dainichi so not going to knock the food, just offering a warning about using a fishes appetite as any sort of indicator.


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## cpaulus (Apr 30, 2005)

Number6 said:


> cpaulus said:
> 
> 
> > My fish seem to go after the dainchi a little more than the NLS. I use both.
> ...


I see your point but.... if your fish wouldn't eat NLS would you still feed it to them? I think you can use appetite as an indicator. I don't think there's much difference in quality between NLS and Dainchi. Some of my fish spit out the NLS but don't with the Dainchi. Go figure.

BTW i can't stand McDonalds and would go for a salad with lean meat anyday over that garbage


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If the fish won't eat most anything, they may be getting too much food or have a health issue. I agree with Number6 and I was going to post the same thing. I could not come up with a good way to say it, but he did. :thumb: :thumb:


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## dotbomb (Jan 5, 2011)

This is a very good read from the scientist at NLS. I hope this helps answer some questions.

Here's a quote and then a link to the whole article.



> In recent years Vitamin C has been discussed extensively while other vitamins that also play a key role in the overall health of aquarium raised fish seem to have been forgotten. Vitamins such as A, D2, D3, E, K, B6, B12, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Pantothenic acid, Niacin, Biotin, Folate, Choline, Myoinositol, and minerals such as Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Chlorine, Iron, Copper, Zinc, Manganese, Selenium, and Iodine, are also all essential elements in a well balanced fish food.
> 
> Unfortunately many hobbyists are simply uninformed about the vital role that all of these nutrients play in a fishes diet. Using the mineral copper as an example, many people still do not understand that copper is an essential trace element needed for all living things, including fish.


http://www.newlife.ipbhost.com/forums/i ... wtopic=328


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