who is making better food for fish?

[adam harwood]

anybody have a clue here?

 what is a quality food? does it make a difference ?

 how do you know good food?

 can you make your own food?

[tilly the tilapia]

Yes you are right

 it would be great to have sustainably harvested fish meal for fish feed and none gmo corn and soy

 

[TCLynx]

The product I believe is about to start shipping on Monday, Check out Sylvia's shop tab up at the top.  Perhaps if enough people start buying it we can get the price down into a reasonable range.

[Carey Ma]

TC are you talking about that stuff that guy is pushing as "all natural/ organic" on this site?

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Now, there is a Dutch/Norwegian company here called Skretting (last month Silver Cup became Skretting USA) who at least has a lot of marketing spiel on that topic, and it does seem like they do invest a good bit into researching quality alternatives to harvested fish meal (they have a huge R&D facility in Norway, and a trout facility in Italy).

Now, ever since I started looking into different fish feeds at least, Silver Cup feeds were always more expensive than say Purina's Aqamax series, and I remember Nate Story saying a while back that he was really pleased after he switched to Silver Cup (less undigested sludge I think)...I should add that Skretting acquired Silver Cup back in 2008 so I'm thinking this last month was just a 'name change' thing? ...

Now, I'm pretty weary by nature (companies and there marketing crap etc)...but they've probably found a good yet cheap way to keep the fish meal content down (yet still digestible) and are capitalizing on the eco angle like everyone else does...Or maybe their stockholders are the kind that care...PSYCHE! ...........

That being said though, after talking to some fish guys here in the region I think I'm going to give them a try when it comes time. They appear really well respected and reputable...And the people I talked to who made the switch pretty much noticed the same thing Nate did (since my goal is to try and avoid added filtration, this bodes well with me), and some anecdotal suggestions about noticing faster growth rates (which I personally could care less about really).

Might be worth checking out. Though I don't know if their US products are different from Europes (because your "managers" allow all sorts of stuff that is frowned down upon here).

Again might be worth checking out for a more 'eco friendly', higher quality (and more expensive) alternative to some other feeds...

[TCLynx]

I've got an order in so I can check it out and see what my fish think before I decide what I think about it.

This stuff

Carey Ma said:

TC are you talking about that stuff that guy is pushing as "all natural/ organic" on this site?

[George]

I can ship 20 pounds of coffee coast to coast (UPS) for half what it costs to ship this fish food.  That being said, I ordered it.  It would just be nice if the shipping was lower and they could probably sell more of it too.

TCLynx said:

Perhaps if enough people start buying it we can get the price down into a reasonable range.

[Glenn]

I hope our fishes find the new grub completely satisfying  And that the developers and producers have continued success in their marketing efforts. Congratulations are in order.

TCLynx said:

I've got an order in so I can check it out and see what my fish think before I decide what I think about it.

This stuff

Carey Ma said:

TC are you talking about that stuff that guy is pushing as "all natural/ organic" on this site?

[Allisyn Wood]

So how is the organic feed working for everyone?

[TCLynx]

It seems to mostly sink so I only use it when I can really watch closely to make sure it's being eaten.

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Hi all.  I missed this thread first time around so I'm glad it was "re-ignited".  I'd like to give you an update on the Organic feed we sell.  It has been made available to us in two batches: both of which are USDA certified organic.  The first batch we have and are selling now.  Sorry about the shipping costs - they are what they are.  We make no money on shipping, but pass on the shipping costs USPS and Fed Ex charge to us.  I've used this feed for about two months now and the fish seem to love it.  Also, a nice side benefit is that I've noticed my water becoming clearer.  Yes, about 3/4 of it sinks, however, so there is more work to be done on that front!

Once this first batch was certified the USDA inspector said that in order for them to provide certification for subsequent batches the fish meal needs to be removed.  Soooo, the formulator went back to the drawing board and figured out how to create as high of a quality feed as before, but now substituting ingredients to provide the same lipid profile as fish meal, and also keep it tasty to the fish.  After a few months they figured it out...but then they had more floating issues.  I've been told that they have now mostly figured that out and a sample batch is on its way to me now. Once I've used it on my own fish for a while we will order in some and make it available...assuming it at least partially floats and is exciting to my fish.  My assumption is that it will be because this is a highly reputable company who does a lot of work in organic pet food.

So, in summary, the current batch is USDA certified organic, and has no terrestrial animal parts or GMO ingredients The next batch, probably available in a month or so, features all of the above but also has no fish meal and no soy.  I hope you agree with me that organic feed is an exciting step forward in the sustainability of both aquaculture and aquaponics.  Yes, it is more expensive than those other feeds because frankly the cost of non-GMO and organic ingredients is unfortunately quite high.  But I think about it this way.  A tilapia will eat about 1 1/2 lbs of feed for each pound of fish, right?  So at a harvest weight of 1 1/2 lbs and $3 / lb for feed this gets us to $6 for a fish dinner for two ....and I know that this fish has been fed clean feed.  Even if you add in a couple buck for shipping that is still a whole lot cheaper than the fish I just bought for our dinner tonight...and I have NO idea what kind of crap that fish grew up on.

[Carey Ma]

Sorry to let all you folks down. I tried to develop and produce a truly sustainable, natural feed but at this point in time I have to admit failure. Nevertheless, I WILL try again... as soon as I can. In the meantime, kudos and congratulations to those that bring our industry closer to perfection.

Cheers

[George]

Very well at my place.  My tank stays cleaner and fish are growing fast.  Nitrate level went up a bit in my water tests, which is a good thing in that I barely had trace levels showing.  The fish are very enthusiastic about it.  Never mind what I said about shipping green coffee beans coast to coast for half as much - coffee shipping costs have doubled since then.  What bothered me the most about the feed I formerly used was learning that it contained things like ground chicken feathers - indigestible ingredients.  I don't want to feed anything that isn't providing nutrition to the fish and only serves to gunk up my tank and grow beds.  Personally, I'd rather pay more and have quality food.  Then, I'll feel better about feeding the fish and plants to my grandkids, etc.

Allisyn Wood said:

So how is the organic feed working for everyone?