STOP Wasting Money On Fish Food! What is THE BEST Food For Your Fish?

[@KGTropicals]

🛒*Check out our website and order the foods discussed in this video!* keepfishkeeping.com

[@pencilpauli9442]

I've just ordered my first tank which comes with all the gubbins required. My only concern is with the filter, which requires a cartridge that requires changing every 60 days. I don't really want a cartridge filter because it seems wasteful, and means extra expense every two months. Two things; firstly *which is the best filter*? Secondly, is it possible to use substitute materials instead of a cartridge?

[@officialthomas]

They has a whole video on filters and you can remove the cartridge and put other materials inside that don’t need to be thrown away.

[@pencilpauli9442]

@@officialthomas Thanks Thomas. Will have a look for it! 👍🏽👍🏽

[@graffic13]

When I lived in Tempe az. Pets Inc. Had bulk fish food that you bought in plastic tubs out of an acrylic dispenster...it had several sizes .. sinking floating goldfish...all of them ... my fish never looked better and no bad water.. Idk the brand never seen it anywhere else.

[@cbarbe02]

Thanks John, that’s what I tell other fish keepers let your fish decide what is the best food, end of story.

[@pencilpauli9442]

8 out of 10 catfish say they prefer Whiskers. (Not sure if the reference will travel beyond the UK)

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

After 62 years in the hobby I have finally settled on a fish diet far superior to the many I have tried for years. Three key phrases- 1) Variety. 2) Natural Foods. 3) limit Highly Processed foods. What this means in my routine is that each aquarium gets at least 4 different foods fed on a rotational basis. Natural Freeze dried Krill, Ocean Plankton, brine shrimp make up 50% or more of what I feed my fish. I feed XTreme pellets on a limited basis- which is highly processed (baked, ground, dried, etc.). My fish have never done better as measured by accelerated growth rates, breeding activity and few digestive and intestinal issues.

[@rhyanlumilay6317]

Simple, just vary the food don't stay with one food. Actually I have many flakes, pellets, wafers, tubifex and mosquito larva and I bought several brands so that my fish will not get bored with one taste and texture. Also, I bought some vitamins/supplements that I dose or mix in their food.

[@pkendlers]

I make a special weekly mix of several different fish foods. I include a staple adult food and Fry food, because I am feeding breeding tanks with babies living with their parents. It has high protein for growth of the fry & keep the parents from eating the fry, and conditioned for breeding.

[@louiegroenewald]

What I also try to do.

[@davidellis1746]

So you’re telling me fish are more high maintenance than dogs🤣

[@brendandoughty6578]

Hey guys....... long time viewer but brand new subscriber here..... I absolutely love how honest you are. Especially in this video. You even tell people that you WANT to sell to them...... but if it's not a right fit then there is no point! I love that! This hobby won't grow if people are constantly upsold. It takes honest business owners like you to teach people! Actually it makes new people more inclined to buy off you in the future anyway! Because they trust your honesty! Thank you for this video! THIS is what this hobby needs! NOT sponsored videos! I would love to see a video on "mixing fish"...... whether that be African or South American cichlids or whatever. Doesn't matter. So many people are confused and follow the old rules of fish keeping ........ meanwhile ive had friends who keep Africans with South Americans .... it would be nice to hear someone with experience talk about it !

[@rowenate3419]

👍👍👍

[@Weezlenut]

"Only your fish can answer what is the best food out there." Perfect answer to the question. The fish don't read labels and pay attention to marketing, they just eat what they like and don't eat what they don't like. Great video!

[@PepeCoinMania]

fishes are dumb thats not true at all

[@MeanOldLady]

Just as with people, they will eat themselves to death on candy, so you have to be careful. ^^

[@yousefabdelwahed3802]

Does they eat corn?

[@GenRN]

Xtreme is the absolute best and I was excited to meet the owners at Aquashella Dallas. They gave away full size samples which was very generous. I’ve heard that the owner is a veteran so I’m even more happy to support the company. I also love Repashy and Hikari especially for my goldfish. All 6 of my tanks eat all the brands of food. Glasgarten for my shrimp. Plus steamed or blanched veggies for my omnivores. Plus blood worms and bbs. Variety is key!

[@trexxanns]

The drama! The comedy! Were you a theatre kid John?! Always entertaining. And haha, I knew the punchline. 😉 So proud. 😂 I do remember you saying though, if a fish is hungry enough... they will eat what you give them. Just NO feeder fish. ✌️

[@sorinvoicu3188]

John, thank You for sharing Your experience! I must admit, that You are right. In the last year, tried a lot of food, spend a lot of many on different food. I did not regret it, I was curios about the „quality food issue”. None of the food that give into the tank makes problems, expect the overfeeding. Some food makes the surface to have a thin oil film and that is the real issue that I can confirm to have, regardless of quantity. The only fish that was refused to eat a food was bettas. So, for betas, give them what they accept to eat. Of course, You can try to „accommodate” to a specific food, when they finally accepted its fine, when not, I suggest to give them what they like. I am breeding guppy just as hobby. Guppy, like goldfish, will eat everything you trow in the water. When Guppy did not eat a specific food, that means, that food is totally wrong. :) And by the way, having an air-stone in the tank is one of the best way to check the overfeeding the fish. For that to tell, You must known very well Your tank and Your fish. That comes with the time. I am from Bucharest, Romania and have no access to the food specific for USA or Canada. I am sorry not to able to try the food described in Your video, John.

[@RobHorror240]

I feed my wild caught minnows some cichlid pellets/flakes. I've been thinking of switching it up to tropical fish food so that it brings out their color. I'm sure they'll eat it anyway, and that it's good for them.

[@deborahcheney432]

I totally agree John. I use alot of Xtreme foods!! The other 3 i really like is Hakari , Sera and Fluval bug bites. Great video and I love Carl in the middle of everything, typical cat behavior!!

[@joeprovenzano4362]

My finish are funny they only eat home made Italian food. They hate Olive Garden. But they do loooove their breadsticks.

[@mrtron2011]

Ive used tetra goldfish flakes and shrimp pellets from wardley. Never had any issues using them, even had breeding happen with tetras, shrimp, platties without even trying

[@rowenate3419]

I beleave in that...I have friend..feed he's guppies cheap food ,but breed like rabbits..and I feed my guppies a little expensive foods.but they don't breed like my friend....

[@rowenate3419]

👍👍👍

[@pkendlers]

At first I looked at your thumbnail and thought you were growing a really dark and thick mustache and a beard. Then I realized it was your cat, LOL! Too funny. This new cat of yours is bound for KZbin stardom. It is his (and your) destiny!

[@ButtonBasher123]

i completely agree, i was buying aquarian flake and bugbites, i found a food in the uk by a company call prorezults, i got way more food for my money and you get a variety pack so you have mixture between flake, pallets, daphnia and bloodworm and my fish love it all

[@Boss-zo4lw]

Do you buy that Online?

[@mattd9205]

Besides the Northfin, NLS, Dainichi, staples that I have used with success. Many breeders and vendors I know are using Cobalt Aquatics products now and are saying some good things about that company . Most videos with best food come down to sponsered or selling a particular product claiming it is best. IMO good quality staple is just that...can name several quality foods that would work just fine as 'best food.' Hats off to you saying the plug at the end and being honest. It basically comes down to the fish...and well price (for most people). Heck, you can buy 20kg of Otohime pellets fairly cheap...but the quality of the ingredients will not be the same as NF, NLS/Extreme, or Dainichi. Cheers. Good Vid!

[@zdxstyy]

my bettas eat small/medium fluval bug bites and they go crazy for it, they're always excited when it comes near 5pm (their feeding time) every day. the growth has been so noticeable since I moved from that weird cheap expanding floating stuff, I'd even say that these new bug bites I've been feeding them for a few months even kinda smells good. very strong scent and they sink after a few seconds, or if I poke them. what are your (anybody may answer, I'd love to hear) opinions/experience on fluval bug bites and what did you feed them to?

[@drewsta005]

I try to switch up food on occasion. I love omega one frozen food, I have staples though, north fin Cichlid flake, and Xtreme Krill flake. I also have hikari and north fin jumbo fish pellets for my oscars. Heck I even used fluval bug bites. Just like with humans…variety is the spice of life. Thanks for the info John, great video!!

[@matthewcraven3197]

I have been keeping tropical fish off in on for 25 years. Mostly generic ones like barbs,guppies,loaches and tetra's. I guess I have been doing it all wrong. I use under ground filters with power heads and feed tetracolor. 😂😂😂😂🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Gary-yd4zm]

I agree with you 💯... I ran a experiment within the last year... What I have realized is... From my experience I see a difference between fish flakes and pellets vs frozen vs freeze dried... I saw more growth more activity more color but also a lot more aggression when feeding a combination of nothing but frozen food... Freeze dried was not bad at all just a tad harder to continuously feed and get a community to love or eat consistently and man made fish food like pellets and flakes each time the portions were the same but doesn't get eaten the same consistency and being somewhat lethargic.. Me personally I see a difference when feeding individual servings of frozen.. not the the prepackaged carnivore diet you see but individual servings of blood worms ... Mysis shrimp..brine shrimp... Krill... and using cut up or whole Earth worms... The color and growth rate can't be matched... And it seems to me that it's absorbed better and seeing less poop and less frequency of waste... But it can get expensive very fast... And the water clarity is much much better than when using freeze dried or flakes and pellets.. just my personal experience

[@allmightygreat1892]

Walmart french cut green beans, aldi frozen shrimp and salmon.

[@bigtime911]

Variety cheap goldfish food tetra, wafers, brine shrimp - black worms fresh and frozen. Fish like variety and it makes there color pop

[@XShadoWPaws]

I've got one betta and six albino cory cats and honestly none of them are picky about what they eat, they'll eat anything. I can feed boiled peas to my betta no problem, he loves them. And the corys will eat anything from pellets to algae wafers. They mostly live of API fish food (because that's what my local pet store sells mostly) but occasionally I'll pick up a pack of Hakari food to see how they like it.

[@diannesorrell6801]

Welcome to North Carolina! I agree (fish, dogs, you name it); don't make it more complicated or expensive than it needs to be. My go-to fish food brand isn't the cheapest from Walmart, but it also will never show up in my lfs. I tried what they recommended and soon threw it out, because it didn't suit my aquarium's inhabitants as well. They ate it, but one of them also started eating things he wasn't supposed to! Went back to my go-to, and everything was fine again. Now and then I gave them a freeze-dried treat, but not that often. I no longer have that aquarium (plumbing accident, and we will have to renovate our home), but I plan to set up another in a couple of years, and feed the same brand I fed before. Unless they don't eat it, of course. I appreciate you and Lisa sharing your expertise! Watching your videos is currently helping me while away time after knee replacement surgery. Keep 'em coming!

[@troylow7900]

nice video. i feed mine with a mix of hikari freeze dried daphnia and decap artemia eggs from ocean free and up till now, those are the only two types of food that they loved. so i totally agreed with you. it is not necessary to buy a particular brand of food if they are not gonna like it. give them what they will eat. as the saying goes, don't fix something if it is not broken.

[@ReneesZooTube]

My issue with Northfin is it is SO hard and doesn't soften in a reasonable amount of time. I've lost guppies to pellets getting stuck in their mouths and not softening even after 24 hours. I've got the Goldfish pellet but I'm really worried to try feeding it because it doesn't soften even after soaking. I personally believe in feeding a variety of foods and trying to feed the highest quality food you can afford that your fish will eat. But you're totally right, the only thing that matters is what your fish will eat.

[@stewartfooter3580]

So feeding my fish milk duds and twinkies is not good? Joking lol great vid john as always,oh and your beard looks good with ears

[@ibchrismcc]

You are absolutely correct! I have several tanks...my pea puffer will only eat bladder snails. (no purchase necessary) My gold desert gobies will only eat Hikari vibra bites. I choose to only feed Tetra pleco wafers to my otto cats. The majority of foods have some kind of protein in them & will not feed any protein. My bettas have an assortment but mainly the producer is Tetra. My ember tetras, pygmy cories & shubunkins all have a large assortment by many producers. I'm not concerned about the BEST. I'm concerned about variety & the shape of the food. I love pizza but wouldn't want to eat it every day. The shape is for the benefit of the fish. For example, I have bought multiple betta foods that are supposed to float, the majority don't. Also, the majority of the pellets are too large to consume. I mainly purchase flake food. The shubunkins, I prefer sinking 3 mm pellets. I have found some 'poofs'/sticks but they float. They seem to like them & will still feed it to them but am concerned about them gulping air. Flakes are not enough. The gobies have trouble with pellets & granules. The embers & pygmies, I prefer flake so I can fine grind their food. I have gone through a lot of foods & some get thrown away. It's trial & error. They're like kids, they all have their own needs.

[@j.t.cooper2963]

36 years in the hobby here and variety is the spice of life for everything that lives.

[@cammiluna]

My question about fish food is... do they have a limited shelf life? Many foods come in really large containers and some websites say that flakes particularly lose their nutrients after 3 months. Is that true? My kissing gourami enjoys a combination of Fluval vegetarian flakes and Hiikari vibra bites, but not even half of the container is consumed within 3 months

[@ReneesZooTube]

I keep my fish foods in the freezer and use small containers for everyday use that I fill from the stuff in the freezer. I keep about 1-2 weeks of food out and the rest in the freezer. Keeps the food fresher longer.

[@authmal]

Man, I loved hearing your philosophy about buying from you. I appreciate it. I sell a product myself (I'm not going to get into what product/company) and this is the philosophy we have as well. Buy it because it makes sense, and we'll give you the best advice we can to figure out what makes sense for you. Sometimes, the right answer is not us, and we'll tell you that. You echo that sentiment, and that fits my moral compass so very well. Now you're making me actually look at your store and debate where I can reduce my current spending (looking at a kid needing a car, among other things) to buy something from you. I'll tell you that it may not be now, but I'll definitely keep you in mind for future supplies.

[@m1964c]

Gota admit, any seller is going to push the food for sale. U sell yourself. Was sorta disappointed it turned out to be a sale tactic. And price mean nothing if your selling.

[@aquahobby1982]

" So simple and so honest "...... love the second part of the video.......The best advise is expected from a hobbyists turned into businessman.. because that person will always prioritize hobby over profit ....... stay blessed Man ...

[@DavidDavis311]

I’ve never had trouble getting fresh water fish eating whatever I give them. Maybe just good luck idk.

[@MrAaroncissell]

Dude.... Dude..... What you and your wife are doing with your videos is insane. They are far better then any of the scripted fake stuff before. The old vids were good but the last few, like this one, are great. This is an important issue most new or unexperienced pet owners make. Not the "What is Best" issue but the "I think/feel" issue. Test, watch, learn, ask never just a worried guessing reaction or fretting over a self perceived untested unverified issue. It really does not matter if it is fish or any other pet.

[@samsonm1217]

I appreciate your honesty 💞...hard to find honest souls!! Please increase the frequency of your vedios 🙂

[@paulhopkins1905]

I have a 200 gallon South American cichlid tank. I buy food maybe once or twice a year because I buy 50 pound bags of game fish food.

[@briangaliote4509]

Great video John! Thank you! Suggestions for other “best” topics….Best places on line to buy fish, best way to save money in the hobby - make your own stands, lids, lights,etc., and the best way to keep new fish keepers in the hobby - educate, support, ways to simplify water changes, ways to save money, etc.

[@Jeswald1]

Great video. LOVE the Carl-bomb! Also, I think people overthink this hobby. My tanks were fine years ago, then (for no apparent reason) I started adding the many additives they sell. I broke my neck growing live foods. I wound up with dead fish. Now I only use a dechlorinator and dry food. No more dying off.

[@Laura-ed5kf]

How about non-processed food for a part 2? I rely on Hikari-mostly as the staple, but w/ my 3 1/2-tanks, I also have tossed in brine shrimp, live amphipods, greens, blue-berries…. The goldfish love the greens, blueberries, amphipods. ONE tank of guppies swarms the blueberries, while the guppy/shrimp/snail-tank ignores them entirely. What can we feed as supplemental that ISN’T processed?

[@CrownTheEmpyre]

My bolivian ram won't eat pellets, even micro pellets but she sure loves fluval bug bites flakes!

[@capnsmashem3284]

Thumbs up for that great beard. I use Xtreme and Hikari products only now. I have found over time that everything else is not worth the time or money. Sera O-nip tabs are cool for certain types of fish but still don't hold a candle to Xtreme and Hikari. Those two produce the most breeding as well. My guppies and danios both absolutely love hikari's freeze dried daphnia and brine shrimp. I occasionally change it up because I have other less successful foods that I bought by mistake that I keep in a dehumidified freezer to keep them fresh longer, I also packed a fistful of extra food-safe dessicant packets into the containers. I got into the trap of buying every food that I see anyone using, and now have like 15 types of food so I had to find a way to keep them from spoiling and it's working well, I occasionally added small amounts to balance out their diets more and slowly use it up. Now I have my favorite foods and don't buy anything but these anymore, Xtreme Betta Pellets, Hikari Freeze Dried(everything eats it, and protein/vitamins/minerals are high), Sera O-Nip Tabs(I feed it to my neons but the bristlnose pleco makes a b-line straight to it before the fish even know it is there... he likes it more than pleco wafers, only the snails seem to eat those), Cory wafers, the high protein kind (the shrimp also love these), cheapo goldfish flakes powdered up to feed biofilm in any tanks with bottom feeders, and a thriving colony of live black worms(cory's and everyone else love these). Exactly 7 perfect foods for my Neons, Corys, Betta, guppies, zebra danios, albino longfin zebra danios, neocaridinas, caridinas, platys, diamond tetras, albino bristlenose pleco, and snails. I also use small amounts of the mistake foods as fertilizer in the outdoor immersed growing tubs for my aquarium plant propogation.

[@reegonfall8866]

I agree, John. Give your fish the food what they eat. I am the owner of rainbows, angelfish, and others and I feed them Premium flake food and dried frozen bloodworm. It's always a good rule if you have a system that works, no matter what it is it pays to stick by it. Otherwise, things may get a little dodgy.

[@lruddy8820]

i tell this to people all the time, i work for in a pet store for a pet food company and so many people come to me saying they want to change foods and i always ask why, why change what works you have no idea if a new food will sit well in your animals stomach, your animal doesnt have an allergy to it or just if they will like it

[@ferlosaquatics4522]

Couldn’t agree more!! Glad you put this out there because I get asked this a lot when I help out at the fish store and this is exactly what I tell them

[@JamesBoothby15]

i mean as much as the point of the vid was to calm some people down with what to feed, its not the end of the world, some fish can eat things that arnt the best for them, blood worms are mostly terrible for fish, for example corys go nuts for them when they cant digest them, some africans prefer vege diets over carnivorous diets, same with plecos, i think the easiest answer in a sentence would be, "Reserch your fishes diet and give it a comlimentary food/foods that you can reasonably obtain" I remember having a eartheater that completly changed colour and sexuel hirarchy when i changed foods. food for thought.

[@chrishowell4775]

This is so true as long as it meet all of that type of your fishes requirements

[@sandrabattye8689]

Think about it this way - ask a 4 year old what's the best food? I doubt any of them will say Christmas/Thanksgiving dinner. They'll say chicken nuggests and chips, mac'n'cheese.... Any parent will say what ever they eat is good. Don't overthink, if you have fish that like anything, then feed them what you think is best of their choices.

[@curtiscrump7153]

Hello John an Carl. Great video and common sense answer is where I was going. My “best” questions tend to divide the fish keeping world and the “wrong” one causes rant with cues of “You’re a bad fish keeper.” First, strips vs kits for water checks. Do you need a mad scientist level kit for spot checks once the tank is established? I use strips once a week and after water changes to make sure generally things are good. I do have an ammonia test kit with drops for that check. Second, digital vs analog temp gauges. I have used both and find them guides. One is not better than the other IMHO.

[@thekilleroffish9296]

I’m with you, Curtis. I have a master test kit but haven’t used it in more than a year. Strips get me in the ball park and my fish are telling me they are ok.

[@PaulZyCZ]

I've got several different "chocolates" of the frozen food (Artemis, blood worms, Mysis...) and different dry foods (flakes, granules, pelets, Gamarus...) I feed my fish. Of course I feed them also some veggies (cucumber, carrot, stingy neetle) or grated piece of fish fillet sometimes.

[@Elohssa23]

I noticed a difference when I switched to xtreme for sure, and it's made in my home town! They hand deliver it to my local fish store. I'm interested in that northfin tho!

[@flemmingj1965]

I feed flakes and pellets by omega one to my polar blue parrot cichlids and platinum parrot cichlids and blood parrot and convicts cichlids

[@larslinebarger6712]

I rotate as well. I have a small bin on a shelf under my tank thats full of a variety of foods. Dried worms flakes pellets and I get live blackworms every few weeks to really liven them up.

[@bradsuarez2683]

Been feeding my 3 ft pacus meow mix and it is DA BEST for my pacus.

[@SteveP79]

Anyone else getting Kenny Bania vibes from this video? "The best Jerry, the best" LOL. 🤣It all goes to show we all over think things when it comes to our fish. We want the best for them and cant help but tinker. Its the one thing this hobby tought me. If its working leave it alone. Dont keep trying to fix something thats not broke until its broke.

[@James_Hande]

I'm probably going to get a lot of haters but what the heck, I'll share anyways. For 57+ years my staple has been Tetra flakes. BUT before you all shoot me... I do feed other foods. I make my own version of homemade food, a mix between the old Jack Wattley discus food and Mark Weiss. I also hatch baby brine shrimp, collect mosquito larva along with some other live foods. The adult fish get feed once a day (unless trying to get them in breeding mode) rotating between foods. The babies get BBS 3 times a day and the juveniles get feed twice a day with my homemade food and live food. I've had success so I'm sticking with it LOL. 😉

[@nkawtg4]

Love your approach. Common sense and simple. I'm sure there is a good debate if you go around the corner of "what ifs.'' What if two of the same kind of fish in the same environment are fed two different foods, which one is better. Coloring, health, longevity, breeding will al be used to justify and support an outcome. I'm sure somebody could do this type of research and come out with an outcome, but, like you, I believe that the differences will ne minimal and insignificant at best. As long as you can find something that works for you, go with it. I would like to see a video on the "the best" tank equipment. Examples would be the best lights/filters/heaters. Fail rates, price comparisons, features, etc. Keep up the videos! Thanks!

[@tastyfishsauce4410]

100% Agree! I used to chase the "best" fish food, learned that they decide what is best for them. Some fish like flakes, some pefer pelleted form and they are the same brand. The key is to observe your fish and compare how they respond which brand and form they like to eat.

[@joestephens1506]

Love this video John thank you for being honest and open.

[@johnjwedrall4290]

Thanks, for me this video eliminated confusion on fish food and snail food.❗️

[@1988bogdana]

John and Lisa, hi! 😊 I would like to say that I partially agree with you but(there is always a but ), there are foods that do better for fish and it is worth taking the time switching the fish from tetra for example to north fin. I Personally, like a healthy combo between DR Basseleer and North Fin, agcore. If my newly acquired fish don’t take the food, I fast them for couple of days. I also feed repashy of course ( big pleco lover here ).

[@zigtonswizard3670]

Can someone please help me. I bought a couple of aquatic plants. They came in plastic containers. 1st. Do I plant them with the plastic. Into my substrate? 2nd. When and how often do I put these fertilizer balls into my substrate? 3r do they rest top of the substrate or do i push them into the substrate? Thanks. Whatever happened to "keeping it simple" in this hobby?

[@reggie2803]

Great video. Before you even started I said the best food is whatever the fish will eat. I have a betta that wouldn’t eat a certain brand of food.

[@spectreghostly]

Is it bad that I already knew this answer before you started. I think you covered this topic in an older video...the true test of fact, that answer is the same as it was then as it is now. A suggestion for a "Best" Video, the best way identifying cichlids. As you know I just got my cichlid tank, and me thinking all cichlids are the same.....Face Palm....I have 10 fish, 2 plecos, and 8 cichlids in my 75 gallon tank. I have already secured a 125 gallon, but my current tank filled with all the wrong cichlids. Right now all of them get along, but when the bigger ones grow while others only get 4 inches I am gonna be in big trouble if I don't have a back up tank.. Currently and have one Oscar, a peacock, an electric blue, yellow lab, bumblebee, jack demp. , blood parrot, and another beautiful blue one I have yet to figure out...a common pleco and a leopard sail fin pleco. After watching your videos I am now learning not all Cichlids are the same, I'm just shaking my head...what a major mistake. I wish I could got back 3 moths and stop myself....

[@rulizedeklerk3708]

Well said. You forgot to tell us what poor Carl eats? His also a part of the fish room

[@DabbleDont]

After trying several different foods that my Betta didn't seem to like, I saw Lisa's video where she mentioned the Xtreme Betta pellets. I thought, why not, and ordered some. My fish loves the new food! He eats much better now and his color (solid blue) is amazing! He seems much happier as well, so I'm happy too. Thanks so much for all the hard work you put into all your videos, all the information y'all provide, as well as the food. I've learned alot from y'all's videos and believe I started off on the right foot as a first-time fish keeper from them, so thanks again John and Lisa.

[@carlwagers9829]

Oh John that was the purrfect thumbnail 🤣

[@icarlyIV]

My blue acara cichlids wouldnt touch floating food of any kind but the Omega1 sinking pellets, they went NUTS. They also loved brine shrimp cubes lol

[@shuanaroden5226]

I agree with you John took me a while to figure it out but like all animals fish like the food they like and will turn up their noses and not eat what they don't

[@SifiFan]

I'm new to the Hobbie but I feed my fish and Neocardinia shrimp everything. I read you should feed only 1 or 2 things. I don't... My tank food is: frozen brine shrimp, live baby brine shrimp, blood warms, shrimp king shrimp sticks food, alge cubes, fresh spinach, fresh kale, Cucumber, bug bites flakes, daphnia, tropical micro pellets.

[@shell-2-b]

Makes sense 👍

[@raulgallegos3049]

Hey John, I just wanted to drop a line and let you that o appreciate your videos. Because if your video about your peacocks getting internal parasites and how to cure them , I successfully cure my juvenile electric blue acara. Great content and very informative, only thing that I had to figure was how long to medicate

[@tomcrossan8263]

How true. Fish can't read and be taken in by the fancy packaging and where the food is placed on the shelves. That's to catch us. I have Hap and Petcock Cichlids and I reckon if I threw in a chicken leg they would be happy.. in fact I sometimes feed them finely diced raw chicken and uncooked salmon. Then it's on for young and old. Great to watch I gave up feeding larger pellets as the larger fish take them in one go, leaving nothing for the remainder. I went back to the 1.5mm size and everyone gets a feed. It's just that the larger Cichlids now have to work a bit harde.r

[@Friendlyhuman24]

I saw the name of the video and panicked 😭😂

[@CrazyAquariumGuy]

Well said!

[@zachbillings4151]

The best fish food for me is the highest quality fish food that my fish will eat. Don't confuse what he is saying and only feed your fish the cheap stuff because they will eat it. Definitely feed these higher quality foods if they eat it.

[@mrtron2011]

Well, yeah. That's a given. Go for the best food that they will eat

[@rythmjunky5292]

Weird,none of my fish will touch anything from northfin. I feed bbs(hatched by me,frozen by me),store bought frozen bloodworms and krill. And bug bites flakes and pellets. Can’t get extreme where I am without paying a small fortune. All of my fish(mostly rainbows)are always breeding and laying eggs. If I put northfin in,it goes to the snails.

[@stevegee8010]

I only feed mine frozen mixes and dried seaweed, so there's no wheat or other fillers, just whole 100% natural food that they'd eat in the wild. I wonder if your viewer tried frozen whole food?

[@thomasmalley2054]

i Feed my Guppies, ROsie red minnows and white cloud mountain minnows the same thing, the flakes that came with an aquarium starter set i bought.

[@randomtube8226]

My fish have done well on omega one brand. They have the least wasteful flakes that I have ever used. The fish consume more of it and theres little to none left in the tank. My water doesnt get cloudy like other flakes that ive used. Over time ive noticed that all my fish have developed a clean shine that makes them look nice. That has been my exsperiance. Hard to beat Hykari for a good alga wafer though.

[@garbagegremlins4707]

I give my bettas a variety of foods! Hikari betta pellets, fluval bug bites, frozen blood worms

[@Galaxy-mn4cn]

I’m planning to be a fish keeper so this video will be very helpful for me

[@jeebuzcrust]

Since I was a kid I always stuck with the idea of some variety. Some flakes, krill, wafers... always seems to keep them interested during feeding time. Don't have to invest too much and it will last quite a while depending on the fish.

[@mongguppiesandendlers]

Which foods from xtreme do you recommend for guppies, endlers and lemon tetras? Right now mine have been eating blackworm pellets, frozen brine shrimp, live mosquito larvae, aqueon community flakes and spirulina flakes.

[@epa316]

My angelfish act hungry, swimming rapidly up to the feeding hatch, but then they always act disinterested in whatever I drop in. Flakes, bloodworms, etc. I see them picking through the gravel eating later on. What’s their problem?!

[@ColossalSwordFormAndTechnique]

I feed my ranchu Hikari sinking pellets, steamed eggs, boiled peas, and sometimes Soaked Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp. Never feed fancy goldfish floating food ☝️ Swim Bladder

[@matthewdalby7283]

great video many thanks from the uk what you have said is so ture my main tank has angels kribs and albino bristlenose pleco they get a mix of algea waffers, flake and every so often live or frozen food (daphnia, shrimp ect.) have you done a video on the best filter media for external or top loaded filters ie i use foam 2 different grades with a hand full of Ceramic Bio Rings and biohome ultimate to give me an alround bio habitat for my bacteria.. many thanks p.s sorry for any spelling mistakes

[@carolinesmith1064]

The best filter for a 10g Batta tank (not hang on the back) that has slow flow but also doesn’t cause dead spots

[@janthomas6016]

John, you are THE BEST 😄. Love your content ! Any video you do, teaches us something. Thanks

[@sawyerdujardin8001]

My cories love dried bloodworms and will ignore their bottom pellets completely, I should still only be feeding them dried bloodworms a few times a week right?

[@ihspstanktribe]

To me, the best fish food is whatever they'll eat. But I believe in variety, as well. I have nano fish all the way up to Oscars. So I feed, flakes, 4 diff frozen foods(randomly), pellets\sticks(micro to xl), crickets, nightcrawlers, and on occasion home grown feeders(when my mollies get over crowded).

[@NatashaReeder]

Cat: stop spending your money on fish food and get some for me instead 😻😽

[@lizdyson3627]

I'm guilty of overthinking and trying to hard to get everything right and getting highly anxious if things go wrong.

[@invaderjoshua6280]

All I know is never feed your fish Hikari vibrabites they get addicted to the shape or something and start refusing regular pellets, flakes, and all other dry foods. If I want to get my fish off of it I’ll have to starve them. The only other food they will eat now is frozen foods. They won’t touch dry, or freeze dried foods, other then vibrabites now. I think personally if fish prefer that shape so much more then the round pellets, or flakes then that is the default shape food manufacturers should be using for all their dry foods. Why NLS, Tetra, NorthFin, Xtreme etc haven’t made their pellets that shape yet when they see those things sell like hotcakes with Hikari I’ll never understand.

[@willmurray1969]

My fish (community tank with a diverse collection of tropical fish, shrimp, and snails) enjoy Vibrabites, but my shrimp go absolutely crazy for it. It's so cute seeing 10-20 of them sitting on a log out rock, each holding one Vibrabite in their "hands", mounging down on them like a kid eating corn off the cob. Nom nom nom. It's about the only time I even see the shrimp (heavily planted tank, lots of hiding spaces). Many of the other fish enjoy it, but I use it mostly as a regular treat. I alternate between Red day and Green day. On Red day, it's the Bug Bites color enhancing (in the red container) flakes and the Vibrabites (which are red), and Bug Bites shrimp food (also a red container). On Green day, it's the Bug Bites flakes in the green container, along with a bit of Hikari micro pellets and micro wafers, and the Hikari shrimp food (not green, but oh well). Also, every day the bottom dwellers get the Hikari Sinking Wafers. Overall, everyone seems happy with good growth and no illnesses. It also makes it easy when someone else cares for my fish while I'm away. They just alternate sets of colors and chuck in the sinking wafers.

[@carlwagers9829]

Santa I love your videos I've learned so much. Sorry John about the joke the beard looks great on you!

[@riccardoricci9420]

i have a group of brichardi that don't eat anything other than live black worms. I gladly give them the worms but its way too expensive where I live to feed only live blackworms as a staple. I need to get them on something else too like a pellet but they just wont even mouth the food and spit it out. like not even frozen bloodworms and I was very surprised to see that. Should I try the "they'll eat when they grow hungry" method? I mean I've never even tried it, does it work?

[@JDfan3340too]

I like this format. Straight and to the point. I personally love variety for my fish. I have several different brands that I switch between.

[@tinyonvibrationtrainermach8729]

So far the brand foods mentioned in this video isn't available here in Australia, NSW, Outback Dubbo

[@cichlid_kings]

Yes I agree , and that was my answer at the beginning of the video. The best food is the food that your fish will eat. I try to keep a small variety of quality foods. Red Empress that I had for two years just decided out of no where he wasn't eating Northfin any more 🤣 He scooped up about 4 or 5 pieces then spit them out. Switched up to Xtreme Big Fella and he's back to being a food hog 🤣 What I'm saying is having a variety can help keep them interested. I keep Northfin , Xtreme , Hikari , Tetra freeze dried Krill all on hand for dry foods 😎

[@louiegroenewald]

Thank you for this. Because where I live we do not get the types of brand foods your channel shows or other channels. I try to buy different types of food in not too big amounts to keep buying different types to provide them something different to eat every day. Tropical food about 3 types. Same for gold fish and same for cihlids.

[@poepflater]

I've been using Tetra-min flakes for like 40 years almost. they also make a version for fish that eat slower or messier called Tetra-pro crisp... it is a bit more bulky flake.

[@ProducedbyPDot]

usually fasting a fish for a few days will do the job , and if they still resist just a super light feed to get em by intil the next offering , but with predatory species sometimes you have no options