# OSI versus Ken's Spirulina?



## hiyamoose (Nov 24, 2011)

I am trying to decide whether to use OSI or Ken's Premium Spir Max Flake. Looking at the ingredient lists, OSI has it 2d (so more spir than other ingredients except fish meal). Ken's does as well (also 2d to fish meal), but none of Ken's other Spir flake food does which tells me about the quantity of spir actually present. So which do people prefer or recommend? I've been using OSI, but several people have told me about Ken's. Price - wise, there's very little difference.

Tank has 4 lombardoi, 3 baenschi, and 7 or so zebras. Lots of fry in the rocks as well within the last few weeks, which tells me they are all fine with the OSI. Every now and then I throw in a defrosted spirulina/brine shrimp cube.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Personally, I wouldn't use either. 

Ken's food (which many people do love and use) is full of grain. Look at the top ingredients- _fish meal, soy flour, wheat flour, oat flour, corn gluten meal, dried spirulina algea..._

OSI is a little better: _ Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Spirulina, Shrimp Meal, Algae Meal, Fish Protein Concentrate..._

Here's Ocean Nutrition:_ Euphasia pacifica Plankton, Wheat Germ, Salmon Fillets, Marine Algae, Spirulina, Garlic, Kelp..._

Or Dainichi: _Kelp, white fish meal, soybean meal, wheat flour (binder), shrimp, krill, spirulina_

I use NLS almost exclusively for all my tanks: _Whole Antarctic Krill Meal, Whole Herring Meal, Whole Wheat Flour, Algae Meal, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic... _

While looking at the first ingredients doesn't really tell us the quantities included, it's a pretty good idea of what the bulk of the food is.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

Scientific studies have shown that the actual source of the various amino acids necessary for proper balanced fish nutrition is not important. For this reason you will see what appears to be odd things to be included in a fish's diet, such as grains. A big part of the reason is, of course, cost. Manufacturers are in the business of fish food production to make money. They need to supply their customers with a decent quality food at a reasonable cost. The research in fish nutrition is done primarily for the benefit of the aquaculture industry, not the ornamental one. However, the important aspects are the same, and the goals of those manufacturers that supply the ornamental trade, is also to make money. The difference is that if you are a fish farmer you are driven by the need to keep costs as low as possible. A hobbyist who buys only a few pounds of food a year is more likely to pay far more for food than a fish farmer who buys by the ton. So, if you look at aquaculture foods, which cost a fraction of what you pay for aquarium fish food, it may seem the list of ingredients is inferior, the bottom line is that they do the job very well or they aren't used. One thing that is important is that fish food does not contain a lot of digestible carbs, as that will lead to fatty livers.


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## hiyamoose (Nov 24, 2011)

Cool. Thanks for responding. If I switch from the OSI spirulina flake to something else, should I also try pellets as opposed to flake? What are the benefits of using pellets?

The fish love the flake and I don't feed more than what they can devour in 2 minutes. I have more fry popping up from the rocks than I realized and everybody's color is fantastic. Am I risking too much switching with the + results I have now? I just want to make sure they are getting the food they need.

Also, since I have a mix of herbivore, omnivore and carnivore, is there anything special I should be feeding in addition to flake/pellets?


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## quentin8 (Sep 30, 2011)

*hiyamoose*


> The fish love the flake and I don't feed more than what they can devour in 2 minutes. I have more fry popping up from the rocks than I realized and everybody's color is fantastic


 If its not broke dont fix it.... :thumb:


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

BillD said:


> ... So, if you look at aquaculture foods, which cost a fraction of what you pay for aquarium fish food, it may seem the list of ingredients is inferior, the bottom line is that they do the job very well or they aren't used.


Aquaculture has very different goals than the home aquarist. In most aquaculture situations, they're looking for extremely fast, cost-efficient growth, not long-term health or longevity. Only a few probably care about color, and I'd guess they feed their breeders something different than what the growing fish get. Additionally, they don't typically worry about cloudy water or waste production because of the massive systems they have in place to manage water quality.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

While the goals are slightly different, waste production is a concern and is addressed by the manufacturers. As well, they do care about the health of the fish, in that fish not staying healthy cost the farmer money. So, open ocean farms may not be concerned about waste production, but many fish such as tilapia are grown in closed systems. If one food creates less waste, that will be the one used. Typically, high amounts of waste can be expected from foods with a lot of filler product. Actually, attention is paid to the food producing solid stools. 
The massive filtration systems that support the typically heavily stocked Tilapia tank/pond is costly to run, and having a food that negatively affected water quality would not likely be used if something better was available. Regardless, the knowledge derived from the fish nutrition research is equally applicable to ornamental species.


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