| Product: |
Aquarian Tropical Fish Flakes |
| Date: |
28/07/07 (89 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: colourful and easy to feed
Disadvantages: you could over/underfeed
I use both Aquarian Tropical Flake Food and King British pellets, but as this is the Flake food is the category we are in right now that is what I'll be telling you about.
Unlike the books recommend most of my fish are top feeders and I have only two middle feeders, so the flake food makes up the bulk of the food I use. As is recommended you should feed a few flakes at a time, enough to be eaten in a couple of minutes and any left over should be scooped out with a net to prevent it from polluting the tank.
The Aquarian food range is one of the most widely avaliable as it can be found in most if not all supermarkets in the pet aisle. It is made by Waltham, who make many other well known and leading pet food brands. The tubs are most often 50g or 25g ones and isnt the cheapest around at £5 for the 50g tub, obviously the smaller tubs are comparatively more expensive but there are also larger tubs avaliable up to 200g which from one online retailer is £13. They are distinctive purple and blue coloured and have feature pictures of angelfish, neon tetras and guppy's so that you cant mistake this product for the goldfish food.
Opening the lid and peeling away the foil which is there to keep the flakes fresh a smell of fish hits you, the flakes are a rainbow of colours - yellow, red, brown, and black presumably these are made up of different nutrients.
Sprinkling the flakes upon the water surface my fish soon are at the surface spashing away as they grab the flakes. I tend to feed a few small pinches adding more only when the first pinch has been eaten. Once in the water they remain floating at the surface until disturbed by either bubbles from my filter or the fish snatching at them, although eventually they will sink without these outside influences (though given that my fish are gluttons this rarely occurs).
The food is advertised as being good for the water, bringing out the natural colours of the fish (particularly important in colourful tropicals especially as dyed, tattooed or GM fish are outlawed), it is also good for keeping the fish healthy and active as it is made to meet all their nutritional needs.
The ingredients are fish and fish derivstives (most fish are carnivores), cereals, vegetable oils and fats, algae, molluscs and crustaceans (a large part of their natural diet), as well as antioxidents and preservatives allowed by the EEC - again important given the restrictions as some dyes are introduced to the fish via their food. The vitamin analysis shows matches the recommendations I have read online and in scietific journals (Yes sad I know but I was a Marine Biology student). As with human food it has a best before date in the case of my current tub March 2010 (so period of 3 years). This tub I bought in late March and if it lasts as long as the previous one should be finished in about 5 months - so it should last around 8 months in total assuming I feed at the same rate. So despite the fairly high purchase costs it is good value.
And though it has the right nutrients I do like to treat my fish to other foods occasionally - same as you would your mates if they relied on your for food!
When I bought my second hand tank there was a 200g tub with the deal but on opening it it was a solid lump of stinking brown stuff containing maggots - so I would really recommend getting rid of any left over food if you stop keeping fish!
The aquarian website is very informative and if you call the low rate helpline they will send a beginners fact sheet with tips on keeping fish, I havent seen it but a friend said it is very useful.
This is the food which the shop from which I bought my replacement Angelfish feeds their stock, and the food which I was recommended when I bought my previous fish.
Summary: Aquarian Fish Flakes my choice of food
|
|
