Uploaded March 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Fish Food Ingredients Fully Explained 🐟 Everything You Need to Know About Fish Feed
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In this video we cover everything you need to know about picking the best fish food for your needs. The truth is that there is no perfect food for everyone. By the end of this video you will learn how to read the back of every bag of fish food. We are going to cover the tricks the manufacturers don't want you to know.
When selecting a fish food, high protein content is not the best way to find a quality feed. Protein content is not the most important aspect, the protein source is. When selecting fish foods and analyzing ingredients it is important to consider where the protein is coming from.
When selecting a food there are going to be primary protein sources and secondary ingredients. All fish food manufacturers are required to list their ingredients in order of weight so theoretically one could assume that the first listed ingredient comprises the largest portion of the food. This is not always the case when foods are listed at wet weight. Wet weight includes ice and things used to ship the fish, It is preferred to look for a whole fish meal, as meal implies it has already been processed and is being listed at its dry weight. When listed at the wet weight, this can lead to inaccuracies. It is possible that once the ingredient is processed and dried it will way significantly less. This means something that was listed first in the ingredients at its wet weight, may move further down the list when we look at the dry weight. Reputable companies will list their products at dry weight and use whole fish meals, rather than just "whole fish"
Many fish food companies, brands and manufacturers will use non-preferred protein sources. These come from things like excess fillers and are low quality bi -products of other industries. These companies chose cheap, easy to access sources rather then high quality protein sources that will provide your fish with the dietary requirements they need. It is important to consider your protein source vs how high the protein content is. In excess and in cases of low quality fish meals and fillers, it can lead to things like fatty liver disease and other health problems.
Another common issue is the use of random fish meal. When not listed at whole, we can assume that the fish meal is not using the whole fish and rather just the scraps, carcasses and leftovers. This does not provide for optimal nutritional value. We would prefers to see the use of a whole "named" fish meal meaning we know the type of fish that is being used and we can assume the whole animal is being used.
By definition "whole fish meal" simply means that you have re-added the oils to the fish that are normally removed during processing. This is where selecting a reputable manufacturer or brand comes into play.
Non-preferred protein sources should be limited when selecting a good quality diet for your fish. Binders are used to create pellets, flake, etc. but we do not want to see this make up a large portion of the food. Many companies will over-utilize them to boost the protein content and lower the cost of the fish food product.Things like product splitting are used to try and make it look like these non-preferred protein sources actually comprise a smaller portion of the food than what is actually accurate. When you see multiple types of the same principle product being listed several times within an ingredient label, this is an example of product splitting. Often this is done with ingredients that are wheat, yeast, soy and corn based. Many of these things are rich in protein and some even bring into question digestibility. These are things to look out for when selecting your ideal fish food.
As much as possible we want to stick with preferred protein sources from things like whole named fish meal (whole menhadden meal, whole herring meal, whole salmon meal) and plant sources like spinach, kelp, spirulina, chlorella algae and other algae sources. We do not want to see the protein sources coming from fillers or mammal or poultry meats. Aquatic meats are what is preferred.
Another factor to consider when buying a fish food is whether there are preservatives used and if so what type. The most common, cheaply produced preservative is ethoxyquin. It can have negative health impacts in certain doses and is better avoided. There are several types used and only one is considered safe. For more info check out the article in the description.
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Special thanks to Kmuda for creating this recourse.
Check out The Oscar fish Website & Forum:
oscarfish.com/fish-food-analysis.html
🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟
Fish Food Ingredients Fully Explained 🐟 Everything You Need to Know About Fish Feed
🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟
In this video we cover everything you need to know about picking the best fish food for your needs. The truth is that there is no perfect food for everyone. By the end of this video you will learn how to read the back of every bag of fish food. We are going to cover the tricks the manufacturers don't want you to know.
When selecting a fish food, high protein content is not the best way to find a quality feed. Protein content is not the most important aspect, the protein source is. When selecting fish foods and analyzing ingredients it is important to consider where the protein is coming from.
When selecting a food there are going to be primary protein sources and secondary ingredients. All fish food manufacturers are required to list their ingredients in order of weight so theoretically one could assume that the first listed ingredient comprises the largest portion of the food. This is not always the case when foods are listed at wet weight. Wet weight includes ice and things used to ship the fish, It is preferred to look for a whole fish meal, as meal implies it has already been processed and is being listed at its dry weight. When listed at the wet weight, this can lead to inaccuracies. It is possible that once the ingredient is processed and dried it will way significantly less. This means something that was listed first in the ingredients at its wet weight, may move further down the list when we look at the dry weight. Reputable companies will list their products at dry weight and use whole fish meals, rather than just "whole fish"
Many fish food companies, brands and manufacturers will use non-preferred protein sources. These come from things like excess fillers and are low quality bi -products of other industries. These companies chose cheap, easy to access sources rather then high quality protein sources that will provide your fish with the dietary requirements they need. It is important to consider your protein source vs how high the protein content is. In excess and in cases of low quality fish meals and fillers, it can lead to things like fatty liver disease and other health problems.
Another common issue is the use of random fish meal. When not listed at whole, we can assume that the fish meal is not using the whole fish and rather just the scraps, carcasses and leftovers. This does not provide for optimal nutritional value. We would prefers to see the use of a whole "named" fish meal meaning we know the type of fish that is being used and we can assume the whole animal is being used.
By definition "whole fish meal" simply means that you have re-added the oils to the fish that are normally removed during processing. This is where selecting a reputable manufacturer or brand comes into play.
Non-preferred protein sources should be limited when selecting a good quality diet for your fish. Binders are used to create pellets, flake, etc. but we do not want to see this make up a large portion of the food. Many companies will over-utilize them to boost the protein content and lower the cost of the fish food product.Things like product splitting are used to try and make it look like these non-preferred protein sources actually comprise a smaller portion of the food than what is actually accurate. When you see multiple types of the same principle product being listed several times within an ingredient label, this is an example of product splitting. Often this is done with ingredients that are wheat, yeast, soy and corn based. Many of these things are rich in protein and some even bring into question digestibility. These are things to look out for when selecting your ideal fish food.
As much as possible we want to stick with preferred protein sources from things like whole named fish meal (whole menhadden meal, whole herring meal, whole salmon meal) and plant sources like spinach, kelp, spirulina, chlorella algae and other algae sources. We do not want to see the protein sources coming from fillers or mammal or poultry meats. Aquatic meats are what is preferred.
Another factor to consider when buying a fish food is whether there are preservatives used and if so what type. The most common, cheaply produced preservative is ethoxyquin. It can have negative health impacts in certain doses and is better avoided. There are several types used and only one is considered safe. For more info check out the article in the description.
🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟
Special thanks to Kmuda for creating this recourse.
Check out The Oscar fish Website & Forum:
oscarfish.com/fish-food-analysis.html
🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟
