Flakes are better than pellets

[ninjamyst]

Frozen or live food is definitely best but for the convenience and cost, a lot of us feed pellets.

I usually mix frozen and pellets, but for the past 6 months, I added flakes to the mix and love it. I even prefer feeding flakes now over pellets. Reasons are

1. Flakes remain floating in the water column while pellets sink to the bottom and become wasteful.

2. Flakes disperse better which gives shy fish a better chance of eating

3. Flakes are not uniform in size and can be consumed by a range of fish from small to large. Pellets usually come in one size only so for those of us with large tanks and 30+ fish, we often buy different size pellets and mix them.

I feed flakes / pellets by mixing with water first and pour the mix or use turkey baster to add to tank. This ensures they don't just float on water surface.

Flakes often get a bad rap but IMO, they are a great alternative to frozen and pellets.

 

[Rolliad]

I feed mostly frozen, but I do feed a tiny bit of flakes/pellets, about once a week or so just to add some more variety to the diet of my fish/inverts. That said, you do have to be careful with it because some of the pellet/flake foods have crazy high phosphate.

I think that's really the only reason that they get such a bad rap.

 

[ninjamyst]

I feed mostly frozen, but I do feed a tiny bit of flakes/pellets, about once a week or so just to add some more variety to the diet of my fish/inverts. That said, you do have to be careful with it because some of the pellet/flake foods have crazy high phosphate.

I think that's really the only reason that they get such a bad rap.

Yes, that the main reason people give for feeding pellets. But IMO, because pellets have a higher chance of falling to the bottom and not actually eaten, they can contribute more to phosphate than flakes that have higher chance of being consumed.

 

[KrisReef]

As long got old I decided to feed more frozen or live (pods & phytoplankton) because I felt sorry for my captives eating cornflakes for breakfast lunch and dinner day after day.

Who knows what the fish and coral thing about their food rations? :cool:

And I fbomb hate my phone writing for me. I would feed bill gates dry food f he was in my dungeon. Right now I’m full up but I would make room for that destroyer of civilization :cool:

 

[Rolliad]

Yes, that the main reason people give for feeding pellets. But IMO, because pellets have a higher chance of falling to the bottom and not actually eaten, they can contribute more to phosphate than flakes that have higher chance of being consumed.

This can be pretty easily countered by keeping your powerheads on low during feed mode and suspending the pellets into the water column though. That said, your points are valid. :)

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What kind of flakes do you feed? My LFS's don't have variety in "marine" flake food, most of it is 'tropical fish flakes' in the freshwater section , can that be fed to marine fish?

 

[ninjamyst]

This can be pretty easily countered by keeping your powerheads on low during feed mode and suspending the pellets into the water column though. That said, your points are valid. :)

I have tons of tangs and bigger fish and 1.5mm+ pellets sink quickly. Pellets just don't float as well even when power heads and return pumps are turned off.

 

[KrisReef]

What kind of flakes do you feed? My LFS's don't have variety in "marine" flake food, most of it is 'tropical fish flakes' in the freshwater section , can that be fed to marine fish?

I’m skeptical of the origin of flakes and suspect that many of these flakes all come from the same source and have different labels attached to them for marketing purposes.

Check the content labels and see what they have.

 

[Rolliad]

I have tons of tangs and bigger fish and 1.5mm+ pellets sink quickly. Pellets just don't float as well even when power heads and return pumps are turned off.

Absolutely defer to you on that one - I have several yet to be big fish and I've moved away from dried/flake/pellets for the most part :)

 

[ninjamyst]

Absolutely defer to you on that one - I have several yet to be big fish and I've moved away from dried/flake/pellets for the most part :)

I feed frozen once a day and pellets/flakes once a day.....cuz only frozen gets way too expensive for my tank =(

 

[SaltyBear]

I started using Brine Shrimp Direct flakes. The fish seem to like it they stared to ignore the other.

Also changed up the pellets to Ultra Fresh Marine Fish Food. Comes in different pellets sizes makes the blood shrimp go into a frenzy to get at it and the duncan seems to like them too.

As to frozen I by Fresh brine shrimp and freeze portions in tank water in small ice cubes. Less brine added that way. I can portion control better too.

Ultra Fresh Marine Fish Food, 75%... Amazon product ASIN B0BXRRQLKB
Brine Shrimp Direct Cool Mysis... Amazon product ASIN B08YQP5PXV

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Yes, that the main reason people give for feeding pellets. But IMO, because pellets have a higher chance of falling to the bottom and not actually eaten, they can contribute more to phosphate than flakes that have higher chance of being consumed.

I get it, but at the same time I consider food that hits the bottom as food for my 3 conchs

 

[UncommonSense]

What kind of flakes do you feed? My LFS's don't have variety in "marine" flake food, most of it is 'tropical fish flakes' in the freshwater section , can that be fed to marine fish?

My LFS only stocks New Life Spectrum flakes/pellets!

I’ve used them for many years… In fact; I just restarted using the optimum flakes, which seem to be loved by fresh and saltwater fish alike! It’s a bit unusual…

https://www.feedspectrum.com/products/nlsoptimum
Do note that the manufacturer of these flakes actually acknowledges that flake foods alone typically aren’t considered the be a nutritionally complete diet!