Why feed pellets?

CanuckReefer

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Yes. Or, at the very least, it's not a budget option in Canada.

Pellets satisfy the pickers and sifters in my tank. The filefish seems particularly happy picking at things over a long period of time instead of a three-minute bings, and it (and the multicolor angel) haven't taken to masstick at all.
I can see how it would not be 'budget' for you, being in Peace River, but here about an hour outside Toronto its one of the few things that are budget, especially if you make your own. Live mussels are 4.99 a bag, wild caught shrimp, fish and Dulse /Nori are all also very reasonably priced imo...how are things out there anyway lately? Weather finally looking good here, Covid issues not so much...
 

davidcalgary29

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I can see how it would not be 'budget' for you, being in Peace River, but here about an hour outside Toronto its one of the few things that are budget, especially if you make your own. Live mussels are 4.99 a bag, wild caught shrimp, fish and Dulse /Nori are all also very reasonably priced imo...how are things out there anyway lately? Weather finally looking good here, Covid issues not so much...
Well, at least the snow's finally melted here. :)

Being able to make a (relatively) quick trip to a store to pick up frozen (or live) foods certainly does make a difference. I usually blow a hundred bucks on gas and other incidentals to pick up fifty dollars' worth of food. :)
 

Azedenkae

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Huh, surprised by this thread lol. Kept on being told frozen food is healthier. XD But there's so many posts saying pellets are healthier here. XD
 

NoahLikesFish

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Going to start my FOWLR tank soon, so im trying to get the best color for my fish.

Is feeding pellets (or any dry food) to fish necessary? I have read a lot that states frozen food; Mysis etc, brings out the color of fish.

Since pellets increase phosphate, Why would people feed it at all? other than being cheap ofcourse
Do 100% live food for the least waste. Pellets are more nutrient dense and easier to feed and frozen isn’t as nutrient dense. Feed diy frozen, the commercial made kind is bad imo they loose half the nutrients in production. Shrimp clams and scallops and other things are better food than pellet or frozen
 

CanuckReefer

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Huh, surprised by this thread lol. Kept on being told frozen food is healthier. XD But there's so many posts saying pellets are healthier here. XD
IMO when you do it yourself frozen with wild caught species and ocean greens it is far superior to pellets and purchased frozen. I see the ingredients listed on all the frozen and pellet mass produced stuff, but where is it sourced? Farmed? Jammed up with antibiotics? Could very well be. I wouldn't put that junk in my own body, and it (largely) doesn't go in my tank either... Somebody is in it for profit right? If somebody knows of one with all wild caught or sustainably responsibly farmed ingredients I am all ears....
 

CanuckReefer

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Well, at least the snow's finally melted here. :)

Being able to make a (relatively) quick trip to a store to pick up frozen (or live) foods certainly does make a difference. I usually blow a hundred bucks on gas and other incidentals to pick up fifty dollars' worth of food. :)
I can definitely empathize with that trip....but then again you are in 'God's Country' so only so much lol.
 

ClownWrangler

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I never thought about phosphates, but pellets are the only thing I use for QT because there is zero waste when hand feeding and less ammonia/nitrates are put into the water. It's also fun interacting with clownfish when feeding pellets. Also, a container of pellets seems to last forever. Pellets are also the easiest wat to feed plate corals.
 

Tyler Flynn

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Something not mentioned yet is the need to feed highly active fish 3 or more times a day (anthias, angels, tangs, etc). Most people can’t be or aren’t home a lot of the day.
By using pellets in an auto feeder they can keep those types of fish properly fed during the day, and feed frozen once or twice in the evening.

Basically what and how you feed depends on what organisms you keep in your tank. You need to account for their health and feed them accordingly through out the day.
 

MaxTremors

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Why feed pellets? Because they have good nutrition, don’t require thawing and rinsing, don’t need to be preserved at a certain temperature, and are quick and easy...
Why do people rinse frozen food? What is the point? But yes, people feed pellets/flakes because it’s easy and convenient and they have good (but not great) nutrition.
 

MaxTremors

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Convenience.

All foods have phosphate, it is a building block.

If you want to do the best for your fish then live foods like live worms, fresh frozen clam (the kind you would buy live to eat), quality frozen like LRS, and dried (not roasted) nori. You can add some selcon or fish oil too.

I completely disagree pellets are better then what I just listed.

Dry is a packaged processed food and not fresh food. What do we eat to be healthy? Fresh food not processed foods. The key is to pick the correct frozen foods as not all are equal.

Just look at the health of Paul B's fish ;)
What kind of live worms do you feed? I had a culture of white worms that I kept for years, but I gave it away when I went tankless for a couple years, and now I can’t find anyone locally that has a culture to buy some. What other worms are easy to cultivate?
 

jsanchez

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Is feeding frozen really THAT expensive? i mean 3 packs oh hikari only cost $10, and i have been mixing it with PE mysis which last me about...well pretty long. if anything, Im more worried about having to do frequent water change with pellet feeding as I have notice significant higher phosphate when feeding pellets within my sps reef

anyways is the main idea: If I have the time and money, Feeding frozen food bring out better color than dry food will?
I feed about 8-10 cubes of frozen a day. I only feed PE my sis (or Hikari Canadian mysis) and LRS. That gets stupid expensive. Or I could feed TDO and NLS pellets which have more nutrition.

Obviously I'd rather feed exclusively frozen since it's more natural for the fish. But Pellets really do help cut down on cost.
 

jsanchez

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Well TDO is probably the best, but a 16oz bag or so cost a bit more than a 16oz packet of PE mysis. I looked at the nutrition label and it seems almost the same.
You gotta remember, with frozen food you're paying for mostly water. I lost the label on my PE mysis but if I remember correctly it's like 90%+ water.
 

Tamberav

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What kind of live worms do you feed? I had a culture of white worms that I kept for years, but I gave it away when I went tankless for a couple years, and now I can’t find anyone locally that has a culture to buy some. What other worms are easy to cultivate?
I buy live black worms at the LFS and I also have a culture of white worms. I bought the starter culture on eBay.
 

QuarantinedCorals

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Going to start my FOWLR tank soon, so im trying to get the best color for my fish.

Is feeding pellets (or any dry food) to fish necessary? I have read a lot that states frozen food; Mysis etc, brings out the color of fish.

Since pellets increase phosphate, Why would people feed it at all? other than being cheap ofcourse
I noticed my fish’s color really started to pop after feeding a balanced diet, frozen, pellets, and seaweed predominantly. However, I think fish color is also tied into overall fish health, which is also tied to their diet. Pellets are nice because they’re packed with nutrients and I feed pellets a few times a week and I feed slowly so there’s no uneaten pellets but if there is any, my cleaner shrimps make quick work of it.
 

tigre44

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I feed San Francisco Bay brand marine cuisine and butterfly angelfish frozen. I have 6 fish in a 52 gal tank but my lemon peel will only eat pellets or flakes omega one or tetra I have great color and long lived fish. I like the mix of foods in the angel diet especially. My weekly test show little phosphate like .02
 

Azedenkae

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On the topic of fish showing healthy coloration, I have always got fish to look good on just pellets, so I do not believe a varied diet is absolutely crucial. I am not saying any pellet food will produce the same results, because there is always low quality food out there.
 

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