NLS foods - anybody using?

[mr_alberta]

I feed the NLS pellets to my fish as well as my GF's FW fish. The FW fish don't really care for it, but my saltwater fish seem to really like it. I'm feeding the Theta-A stuff as well as the normal marine pellets. I'm not too sure what the difference is between the two pellets as the ingredients are pretty much exactly the same.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Nope, not a cult. This food is not widely available & I've read a few reviews on it so I thought I'd do an independent feed trial to see if it'll live up to the hype.

Started this thread to see what results other Canreefers have had, both positive & negative. If I'm gonna order food from Alberta, I'd rather have a better idea whether or not its worth the hassle & cost. After all, having real world experience to factor into the decision-making process is one of the real advantages of the internet. Sorta like the earlier Reef-roids thread.

Like I stated, I will be posting my results and observations, positive or negative. There are so many products out there that I think its a good idea to test & post whether the claims are true or just marketing.

Anthony

[Cap'n]

I use it with good results. The fish weren't crazy about it at first but now they prefer it to most other offerings. Can't say I've noticed any significant changes, but everyone is healthy. I also feed the cichlid formula to my Tanganyikans. When I asked about the similarities I was told they contained the same ingredients but in differing formulas.

[JSTR]

Well cant say I swear by the stuff, but my experiences with NLS pellets have been fantastic.
I started using NLS pellet back when all I had was African Cichlids, they loved it. Attacked the food more varatiously than any other flake or pellet I tried. The fry did great on first two weeks, cyclop-eeze then I switche dto the NLS growth formula. Never had troubles raising the frys and most are still out there in Calgary and areas.
When I switched to saltwater, I tried the conventional wosdom of mysis, flakes and various other forms of food. What a pain, multiple foods and only soe fish would eat some foods, alot of waste IMO. Tried the NLS marine pellets, all the fish responded favouritely to it.
My fish at the time were:
2 firefish
1 purple firefish
pair of perculas
1 yellow tang
1 Coral Beauty Angel

After over a year now, feeding solely NLS pellets to my fish, I can't say I have lost any to mal nutrition, a few jumpers and one beaten but that happens.
Presently I have, and all eating NLS exclusively:
3 Orchid Dottybacks
1 Sunshine Dottyback
pair of perculas
1 mandarin
1 Bi-Color Blenny
1 Allens Damsel
1 Purple Firefish
1 Yellow Matchman Gobie
1 Flame Angel
1 Coral Beauty Angel
2 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Fire/Blood Shrimp
Various Hammers, Candy canes and mushrooms all eat NLS when it falls on them.
plus clean up crew gets the leftovers.
and two new acquisitions:
1 Copperband Butterfly (just getting over being moved)
1 Purple Tang (barely 1 week in the tank)
neither are actively eating NLS but neither are getting really thin either.
One thing that surprised me was the day I caught my Mandarin swiming to mid tank to get some of these pellets.

And the real oddball of the groups, I have a Volitan Lionfish that will take NLS H2O wafers from time to time, trying to ween it on to then completely. This was inspired by a thread in on the NLS Forum as to Pablo having 4 Volitans fat and eating only NLS pellets.(read that and had to try - no more live or frozen foods )

Have pics I can post of the fish, but I honestly never figured out hoe to post them here.

By the way Bob, sorry for leading you to these pellets and them not working out for ya. If you need a small bit to continue your present experiment, let me know I will help you out.

Oops long winded responce here, but just wanted to be thorough.
NLS is not the end all be all of prepared foods, but in my experiences it is the only pellet I now use and will remain that way. The only other things added to my reef tank are Kents phyto & chromo max and trying reef roids for the corals but all the fish are eating NLS marine pellets. Not to mention that Neil is really great to deal with, and don't have to order from BigAls online or an American distributor.

Feel free to PM me any question, or better yet direct them to Neil Wagner, either from his webpage http://www.cichlid-food-canada.com/index.htm or his persona RD on Alberta Aquatica - http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showuser=20 .
And if anyone can help me post pics I will gladly pass them along.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Thanks for all the replies. Always good to know the good & bad experiences people are having with a new product (at least new to me).

My wife is also sick of sharing our little freezer space with all that frzn foods, so that was one of the reasons for wanting doing this feed trial. Too many foods equals too much money & too much room.

Anthony

[RD]

I'm feeding the Theta-A stuff as well as the normal marine pellets. I'm not too sure what the difference is between the two pellets as the ingredients are pretty much exactly the same.

The TherA formula is higher in both protein, as well as fat, compared to the Marine formula. It also contains a mega dose of garlic, so much so that some people find the odour to be more than they can cope with. I personally like garlic, and find that if your tank is vented there is no serious odour build up caused from using this formula. YMMV

There's also a product review on the TherA formula posted here:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=20606

HTH

[Willow]

if you guys break out the kool-aid im outa here

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Grape or strawberry punch?















Where'd he go?

Ok, now back to the topic.

Last night I gave a few 3mm pellets to my LTA & RBTA & they grabbed them & shoved them down their mouths. Today, they're both looking fine, so the concentrated food pellets seem to be ok for them. I'm gonna take a series of pics of both anemones & see if they change (colour, size, etc) with this new diet, instead feeding of mysis, prawn & scallop chunks. A lot easier & less messy than what I was previously doing.

Anthony

[christyf5]

Originally Posted by Willow

if you guys break out the kool-aid im outa here

[JHG]

I purchased NLS cichlid formula from Neil some time ago and began feeding it to all of my marine fish -- they love it! My pair of Ocellaris' colour has really perked up since being on the pellet.