Hole in the head

[naesco]

What are the first 3 ingredients listed on the NLS package/

What is the cost?

[RD]

What does that have to do with anything? One should feed Wardley's because it's cheaper, or because Wardley's gives the illusion that it is high in spirulina content?



Previously it was mentioned that one should not feed garlic on a daily basis due to it's long term effect on liver. The reason for the negative effect on a fishes liver is due to the high level of fatty acids derived from (non aquatic) terrestrial based plant matter. Keeping that in mind, take a close look at Wardely Spirulina Discs, the food that you recommended.

Ingredients
Spirulina Algae Meal, Corn Gluten Feed, Corn Gluten Meal, Corn Distillers Dried Grains, Wheat Flour, Wheat Germ, Wheat Gluten, Wheat Middlings, Linseed Meal, Canola Meal, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Soy Protein Concentrate, Pea Protein, Brewers Dried Yeast, Corn Flour, Rice Flour, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Soy Protein Isolate, Ground Barley, Calcium Carbonate, Soybean Oil, Spinach Powder, Dried Lecithin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Dicalcium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate, Cholecalciferol (Source of Vitamin D3), Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Ethoxyquin (a Preservative), Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Riboflavin, Cyanocobalamin (Source of Vitamin B12), Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Carbonate, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite.


Once one gets past the spirulina meal, it looks more like a recipe for pancakes, than it does a fish food. The reality is there is FAR more terrestrial based fillers in that food, than there is spirulina. I don't need to be privy to the various inclusion rates of the raw ingredients to figure that much out.

[Proteus]

Well I am feeding large amounts of marine based fresh macro algea now and it took a day for the tang to rake it but now it's gone in a minute. On the ingredients of the wafers it has been recommended not
To feed corn to the trout in our lakes so why would I feed it to the fish in my aquarium.

The spot on the head to which this thread was made for has disappeared I attribute this to fresh plant matter and I will keep with occasional pellets from NLS. The tang has shown a
Major improvement and loves the fresh algae daily. So I think I found the trick to it and thank you to blue tang for the macro he gave me.

[Proteus]

Oh and also. Even though we put mass amounts of corn into processed foods doesn't mean it's healthy. I myself won't eat corn. Not knowingly anyway

[RD]

Titus - while I'm glad to hear that your tang is doing better, the removal of carbon from your system is most likely the reason for that (see previous link) not an increase in plant matter.

Either way, I'm glad to hear that it's doing better.

[fishytime]

RD..... just wondering if you have anything else to say on this forum besides promoting the food you distribute?

[RD]

I promote sound husbandry practices, fishytime. Something that I have been doing for a long time, long before forums like this even existed.

[Proteus]

Well no matter what the opinions are and weather others agree with them I took in all the info given and so far I am making progress. What works for one doesn't work for another but it's always worth a shot

[naesco]

Originally Posted by RD

I promote sound husbandry practices, fishytime. Something that I have been doing for a long time, long before forums like this even existed.

And I have been keeping tangs before forums like this existed and have been lucky enough to swim with them in the reefs

On the reefs I observed tangs spending their whole day eating the marine algae off the rock.
Based on my experience the best food for tangs is marine algae in the form of good quality unflavoured nori and, spirulina.
The best source and delivery method is Wardleys spirulina discs. Unlike other brands, spirulina is the first ingredient listed on the label. The best delivery method is the hard spirulina disks because they remain hard for quite a while.
I scatter them around the tank and they fall to the bottom so the tangs spend their day searching for them just like in the wild.

There may be other products but reefers should look for marine algae based foods and avoid foods that contain land based plant fillers.

[RD]

The reason that I posted in this discussion was to point out that the very food that you dismissed as being adequate for tangs, has now been used in two seperate studies that involved HLLE in herbivorous reef species with resounding success. The previous study was performed in 2001 by Dr. Ruth Francis-Floyd, Chris Tilghman, and RuthEllen Klinger from the University of Florida.

In both studies (the Toledo Zoo & Tilghman et-al) the fish fed NLS pellets steadily gained weight, with no noticeable signs of disease, and no deaths. None of the fish fed NLS came down with HLLE. (unlike the other test subjects) It was used by the Curator of Fishes and Invertebrates at the Toledo Zoo as NLS had already been shown not to induce HLLE, hence from a dietary standpoint that could be removed from the equation in his carbon study.

There may be other products but reefers should look for marine algae based foods and avoid foods that contain land based plant fillers.

If you prefer to feed marine algae that's fine by me, but nutrient wise the food that you recommended is about the furthest thing away from what a fish in the wild would find when feeding on any type of marine algae, or the organisms found within that algae, AND it appears to contain massive amounts of land based plant fillers, which you just said should be avoided. Color me confused?

Sure it contains Spirulina Algae Meal, which is followed by .......... Corn Gluten Feed, Corn Gluten Meal, Corn Distillers Dried Grains, Wheat Flour, Wheat Germ, Wheat Gluten, Wheat Middlings, Linseed Meal, Canola Meal, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Soy Protein Concentrate, Pea Protein, Brewers Dried Yeast, Corn Flour, Rice Flour, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Soy Protein Isolate, Ground Barley, Calcium Carbonate, Soybean Oil, Spinach Powder, Dried Lecithin

4 forms of Corn, 4 forms of Wheat, and 4 forms of Soy.

Now add up all of the corn, wheat, soybean, linseed, canola, rice, and barley, and your main ingredient of "spirulina" is probably so dilluted that it most likely barely shows up on the nutrient radar. This is precisely what I meant when I previously stated that Wardley's gives the illusion that it is high in spirulina content. Even if one was being generous and allowed an inclusion rate of 25% spirulina algae meal, deducting 1% for the vitamin & mineral premix, that would still leave you with 74% land based plant fillers. They then add soybean oil for additional lipid content, which boosts the terrestrial based lipid content even higher, which we know can cause liver damage in marine specimens when fed in excess.

Still seem like the best source of marine algae to you?