Best algae wafer??

[Capt Dave]

What is the best algae wafer to feed plecos? Thanks in advance!!

[Firestorming]

I have been using new life spectrum H2O wafers for a number of years now with great results.
I dont know if it is " the best" but it is up there for sure.

[racoll]

The Hikari wafers are generally well accepted.

I am also using Wardley's wafers at the moment, as these I think have a lower protein and higher fibre content than most brands.

This is therefore better for your true algae eaters such as

Ancistrus

,

Baryancistrus

,

Farlowella

etc.

[andywoolloo]

Mine like the Hikari ones also, mine won't eat the NLS ones for some reason.

The also like OSI Spirulina wafers
The Hikari tropical wafers
The Veggie wafers by HBH
and the veggie algae wafer by tetra

[Matt30]

Hi I use Hikari wafers and my plecos love them.
My plecos are very bright in color and look very healthy.

[vanillarum]

Hikari is what I use also. The fish seem to like them. Good luck.

[robb harriston]

i have always used hikari,but have interchanged with wardley from time to time.i am considering omega one spirulina for cost effectiveness and quality. i have heard they are great when spawning and my herd of myleus rubripinnis cant get enough of algae wafers anyway. all in all i dont think there's a whole lot of difference in quality.they all taste very similar to me. so it's more a matter of cost and availability.whatever you do, buy in bulk, on line. the savings are really worth it.

[PlecoCrazy]

I use Hikari and Omega One and the plecos eat them up just fine. My plecos do not seem to like the Aqueon brand very well.

[Richard B]

Mine seem to like the Aquarian but not Tetra

[husky_jim]

Tropical's Pleco's Tabin...it is simply the best...The diameter of the tablet is 25mm(!!!) so it is perfect for our big monsters....also it has wood and 36% spirulina!!!!!

http://www.tropical.com.pl/plecostabin,d111,0,en.html

Try it!

[andywoolloo]

oh i forgot the Omega One veggie rounds.

Mine do not like aqueon either.

Wish we could get that Tropical's Pleco's Tabin here, looks good.

[matthewfaulkner]

Tropical's Pleco's Tabin...it is simply the best...The diameter of the tablet is 25mm(!!!) so it is perfect for our big monsters....also it has wood and 36% spirulina!!!!!

http://www.tropical.com.pl/plecostabin,d111,0,en.html

Try it!

I've just started to use these but yet to see if they are really successful. The ingredients and size were what attracted me to them, algae (minimum 36% Spirulina platensis) is the first ingredient. Whereas my current main 'algae' based wafer/pellet is Hikari, who's first vegetative ingredient is 5th and then some even further down the list.

Tropical also make several other vegetable and spirulina based foods which I'd like to try but they aren't that available where I am.

[racoll]

Out of interest, could people post the nutritional analysis of whatever wafers they're using at the moment?

I'll do this when I get home. Could be interesting to see how the brands differ?

[Capt Dave]

do you know if i could get those tropical pleco stabin in the us?

[Barbie]

I feed mainly Hikari algae wafers but will also use HBH Veggie wafers for my Ancistrus species when they have fry. My fish eat buckets of NLS Grow, but they won't eat their wafers for anything. Then again, a friend feeds buckets of Thera (their anti parasitic food) and my fish won't eat that stuff either. I guess they might be spoiled. Not sure who snuck in and caused that!

Barbie

[Richard B]

Tropical's Pleco's Tabin...it is simply the best...The diameter of the tablet is 25mm(!!!) so it is perfect for our big monsters....also it has wood and 36% spirulina!!!!!

http://www.tropical.com.pl/plecostabin,d111,0,en.html

Try it!

I really like the Tropical food range - but "best" is a little subjective as some plecs seem to prefer one brand to another or it may be they don't like change.

Racoll's idea of posting analysis seems a good measure to compare types but it doesn't neccessarily mean that fish will eat one more readily than another...

[sturiosoma]

I like spirulina sticks from angels plus and omega one super kelp pellets check ingredients.

[matthewfaulkner]

Here are the ingredients and analysis taken directly from the packet. I've highlighted ingredients in green that I think are algae related.

Hikari Algae Wafers

Typical analysis

Protein: 38%
Oil: 8.8%
Fibre: 1.3%
Ash: 10%
Phosphorous: 1.3%

Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flour, wheat germ meal, starch, dried seaweed meal, dried bakery product, alfalfa nutrient concentrate dehydrated, dehydrated alfalfa meal, brewers dried yeast, soybean meal, fish oil, krill meal, spirulina, garlic, and another 24 ingredients that don't sound particularly appetising but are probably necessary for the food.

Tropical Pleco's Tabin

Analysis

Crude protein: 43%
Crude fat: 5%
Crude fibre: 3.5%
Crude ash: 9.5%
Moisture: 10%

Ingredients: Algae (including Spirulina platensis min. 36%), fish and fish derivatives, cereals, vegetable protein extracts, molluscs and crustaceans, meat animal derivatives, yeasts, derivatives of vegetable origin (including oak meal min. 1%), milk and milk derivatives, oils and fats, minerals.

Both have added vitamins. Assuming that the ingredients are listed in order of greatest amount, Tropical Pleco's Tabin seems far better with all that Spirulina (36%).

[apistomaster]

I find that Spirulina Sticks sold by http://www.kensfish.com or http://www.aquaticeco.com, catalog #F125A for 1#/454 grams or F125 for 5#'s/2270 grams to be better and less expensive than any algae wafer or brand name sticks.
They are primarily for commercial aquaculture breeder conditioning and are expensive as commercial aquaculture foods go but very cheap for tropical fish compared to well known brands.
They satisfy the requirements of fry to adult breeders of primarily herbivorous species.

[andywoolloo]

yes, definitely agree on Kens. Spirulina sticks and veggie sticks. Awesome

OSI Spirulina wafers
min crude protein 37%
min crude fat 5%
max crude fiber 5%
max moisture 9%
vitamin A, D, E, choline, C, inostol, niacin, pantothenic acid
max phosphorus 0.6%

Veggie wafers HBH
min crude protein 28%
min crude fat 6%
min crude fiber %6
max moisture 10%

first listed ingrediants:
spirulina powder,dehydrated alfalfa meal, pea powder, soy flour,wheat flour,fish meal,shrimp meal,brown rice flour,wheat starch, fish oil,wheat germ, carrot powder,spinach powder,kelp meal,brewers dried yeast,then it goes on and on into vitamins

Veggie Algea wafer tetra
min crude protein 30%
min crude fat 6%
max crude fiber 5%
max moisture 9%
min phosphorus 0.8%
min asorbic acid 100 mg

wheat germ meal,feeding oatmeal,corn starch, soybean meal,cellulose potato protein,dried yeast,wheat gluten,algae meal, on and on into vitamins

[apistomaster]

I have never been able to see any analysis of the generic Spirulina Sticks but they seem to be well received by primarily herbivorous Loricaridae and the fish have done well.
Some fellow Discus breeder in the UK posted that a little kaolin was used to improve the product's cohesion and many of the plecos in the wild eat everything covering the rocks and wood. I have wondered if the silt is not a primary source of trace elements which are so lacking in the water chemistry? Kaolin molecules have some interesting chemical properties and a lot of fauna in the Amazon seek out exposed deposits and is sought out by so many species that it has always struck me as one reason plecos may be so fond of these foods. Heckel Discus also happen to like the Spirulina Sticks and earth worm sticks but the other 2 Discus species do not eat very much plant matter and show little interest in the Spirulina Sticks. Whatever domestic Discus do isn't very relevant because they are now a truly domesticated animal.

[Richard B]

Tetra pleco wafers
protein 35%
oil 7%
fibre 2.5%
ash 30%
moisture 9%

Aquarian algae wafers
protein 28%
oil 5.7%
fibre 3.5%
ash 10%
moisture 10%

[Richard B]

Sera Viformo

protein 45.7%
fat 8%
fibre 2.2%
moisture 5.6%
ash 14.9%

ingredients - fish meal, wheat flour, milk powder, brewers yeast, cacaseinate, whole egg powder, gammarus meal, sugar, sea algae meal, fish oil, spirulina algae meal, stinging nettle meal, spinach meal, lucerne (alfalfa) meal, paprika, parsley, carrots...and then lists colours & additives

[Steen]

Tropical Algae Wafers
http://www.tropical.com.pl/green-algae- ... ,0,en.html

Protein min.34%
Fat min. 6%
Fibre max 5%
Minerals max 10%
Moisture max 8%

Spirulina algae, marine algae, spinach, alfalfa, wheat germ, herbs, soya protein, grains and grain products, tree bark and lignite meal, fish and fishderivates, crustaceans, fish oil, mineral salts, trace elements and vitamins.

...and my cat's love them.

[MatsP]

Now, someone [have I just volunteered] should make a table of these, so they can be easily compared.

--
Mats

[Richard B]

Now, someone [have I just volunteered] should make a table of these, so they can be easily compared. --
Mats

I thought this when posting earlier but decided not to say .....

if we/anyone does this then it might be worth some commentary along the lines of what sort of pleco needs what sort of food - ie not all plecos are vegetarian & those that are would benefit from lower protein and higher fibre - then people could make an informed choice depending on the needs of the species

[MatsP]

So what you are saying is that it should go inside one of the articles I've written (or a _NEW_ article, about "what's in the food", perhaps - obviously would need expanding to include other favourite foods such as courgette, tetra prima, JBL Novo Tabs and many many others). I can see "feature creep" here, and it'll balloon into a massive task. Something for Christmas, perhaps... ;)

--
Mats

[apistomaster]

Now, someone [have I just volunteered] should make a table of these, so they can be easily compared.

--
Mats

If the fish used in the manufacturers' pre-marketing tests ate the food but had not developed normally and grown at a normal rate then they would never have been marketed. Fish don't read the labels nor tables and there are no miracles in a can.
The best food is the one which yields the best results for the lowest unit cost.

[MatsP]

If the fish used in the manufacturers' pre-marketing tests ate the food but had not developed normally and grown at a normal rate then they would never have been marketed. Fish don't read the labels nor tables and there are no miracles in a can.
The best food is the one which yields the best results for the lowest unit cost.

I think the point is to compare the nutritional content easily, to see what is "best" for you - what we can't provide is a universal price comparison [without a whole lot more effort].

Also, you don't know what (if any) "pre-marketing tests" the manufacturer did. If they test with common plecos, and you feed it to something a lot more picky, then it may not work as pre-marketing tests expected...

But another point is of course that not ALL fish eat the same thing. So what is the RIGHT food for one fish, may well be completely WRONG for another one. Some would prefer more protein, others need more fibre, etc.


--
Mats

[thijs]

And it depends on what you feed aside from the wafers as well. In the end the total intake is what matters.