'New Life Spectrum' anybody?

[beta]

Has anybody tried New Life Spectrum's 'Cichlid Formula' for their discus, seems to be the most talked about cichlid foood these days.

Here are some links:

http://forums.spectrumfishfood.com/

reviews:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/reviews...ils.php?id=286

[RyanH]

I bought a can of the Discus Formula to try out. I've had a hard time getting my fish to eat it... and they'll eat anything. :undecided

I hope they take to it... it was kind of expensive.

[beta]

Thats why I wanted to check, didn't want to spend so much on a food that my discus wouldn't eat.

[Spices]

Give them time. I have the formula holding for my new set up (once I get the orders in). At first my old tank they didn't want it. But after seeing the clean up crew (juvies) picking, the big dogs went for it. It was over. They loved it. Fish are very finicky; they know what they want more of and what they don't want more from.

P.S. I didn't see much improvement in their coloration; but I did notice that their bellies got big and they were filling in some. So I gather their varied diet was all the food they needed. --angie--

[RyanH]

Hey Beta,

One thing I'd like to point out with the New Life pellets is that they double or triple in size once they've sat in the water for awhile. I would strongly recommend soaking them for 10 minutes before putting them in your tank... or keep an industrial-sized container of Epsom salt in the house.

[ping]

Hi Beta,

I have this food and my discus eat it. It was slightly hard to make my discus to accept this food (might be due to the smell not as strong as other foods). I dont know if they are good or not as I feed with too many different foods.

You have to soak them as Ryan said, coz the pellets are very solid .
I dont feed my fish often with this food coz it's $$$ and too lazy to soak it .

Regards,
Ronny

[Anonapersona]

I have used the Growth formula and my fish love it, they start wriggling with excitement when they see me go for the jar. A little goes a long way, it is rather dense. I give the tank of 16 4 - 5" fish only about 1/4 teaspoon or less, 2 or 3 times a day. They do really well on it, I've stopped feeding all the frozen things, they don't even get BH all that often now.

I've been trying to get them onto the cichlid formula and they are reluctant to change. I've tried the parasite formula also and they don't care for it. I guess I'm going to have to buy more of the growth formula!

[RyanH]

I've been interested in trying the Growth Formula. I may order some this week.

[FeatherfinFan]

Just getting my 100 gallon setup going and found this deal at http://www.aquariumsuppliesplus.com/foodnls.html
The 300 gram jar of the Discus formula is only $9.99 so I ordered a couple of them. They arrived in 3 days so I can recommend this company Hopefully the Discus will do well on this food. Does anyone have any more updates as far as the results they're getting w/ this food?

[frenchdiscus]

I have tried and no good results, they usually eat everything but only one out of my 8 Discus eat them . There is much cheaper food out there; it's really a luxury type of food. Not convinced...

Olivier

[RyanH]

I have finally gotten my Discus to eat NLS foods. They like it now alot and it's good stuff but it is cost-prohibitive and as such will remain a small portion of my overall feeding regiment.

[Anonapersona]

I have finally gotten my Discus to eat NLS foods. They like it now alot and it's good stuff but it is cost-prohibitive and as such will remain a small portion of my overall feeding regiment.

NLS is more dense than most foods and so you do not need to feed as large an amount. And the fish make less waste.

When I had the big tank full of assorted cichlids, I was feeding 3 tablespoons of flake food and the fish were thin. I switched to NLS and fed 1/4 teaspoon and they put on weight and filled out and got better color. Some days my fish don't get any other food but NLS, with the high protein of the Growth formula, it seems like any other food is less nutritious.

[RD.]

Anonapersona ......... I'm glad to see that at least one member of this forum has figured out that this food is not cost-prohibitive. Quite frankly, for what one gets in this food, the cost is much less expensive than the vast majority of the other foods currently on the market. Flakes are full of air, frozen foods are full of water, NLS is packed full of nutrition.

Pre-soaking the food is also not necessary, with the exception of training some of the more finicky fish to switch over to it. The photo below is from a Discus breeder in Australia who uses NLS exclusively, and it's difficult to argue with results like this.



If one feeds NLS exclusively you will have good growth, great color, and far less waste compared to any other comercial food on the market. No need for frozen or live foods. If you want to increase growth, I would recommend trying the NLS Growth formula for fry/juvies, and for increased spawns the NLS TherA+A formula.


If your fish are 2" or larger, they should easily be able to handle a 1 mm sized pellet (such as the Cichlid formula), but here's what I would suggest, and it has worked well for me when the need to 'train' a fish to eat certain foods has become necessary.

Take some pellets, and 'lightly' soak them with tank water, just enough to cover the food, and only enough water that the food can fully absorb.
The idea is to have zero fluids let over, to avoid losing valuable vitamins & minerals. With NLS let them soak up the tank water for approx 2 minutes, then try feeding them to your fish.

Now continue to 'lightly' soak the pellets for the next week or so until they get used to this routine. Then slowly decrease the amount of time you allow the pellets to absorb water (over the course of another week or so), until they are eating them straight from the container in a dry form.

I usually never recommend soaking NLS pellets, but once in a while you run into the odd fish that needs a little 'training', and this method usually always works.

If a fish is raised on flakes & frozen foods, then sometimes it's difficult to train them to take pellets, unless you stop feeding all other foods. With other fish, they will eat whatever you provide. I've had fish that were raised on flakes that switched over to NLS immediately, and others that took a while to clue in.

I also know zoo keepers who feed NLS & even their wild caught fish that have eaten nothing but frozen foods have been easily trained over to NLS.
Most of those same wild fish will now refuse frozen foods over the NLS pellets.

[RyanH]

Admittedly, my experience with NLS foods as a sole food source is non-existent. I also have to agree that even at a 10 dollar price tag, a 5.3 oz. can seems to go a really long way. I also cannot yet draw on personal experience to agree or disagree with your glowing review of the product and it's performance as a color enhancer and growth food (although your wording is strikingly similar to the claims made by the manufacturer on their website).

I do have to say that even if the claims made by both you and the manufacturer are absolutely true, it is still prudent IMO to have your fish be willing to accept other types of foods at any given time. Why? ... Because you never know when it may come in handy.

For people that are new to feeding NLS pellets, soaking seems to be a good idea IMO. Especially with greedy juveniles that will eat themselves sick if given the opportunity. Once you get a good handle on how much to feed your fish that allow them to eat their fill and not get bloated then maybe this can be relaxed. I personally, don't yet feel comfortable with the portions because, as you said RD, a little really does seem to go a long way.

I have to admit that I have been giving the growth formula to my juveniles in increasing amounts and frequency lately and they readily accept it when offered. I've been alternating between the NLS, beefheart, and bloodworms and I'm getting fantastic growth out of my fish. I still keep a high-quality flake in the auto-feeder for when I'm not home during the day but I wouldn't be opposed to trying NLS in it as well sometime when I have time to experiment with portion sizes.

Just thought I'd add my two cents.

-Ryan

[Evan]

I have the discus formula. I did not find the cost bad.

However only my younger discus will eat it. The older ones will not take it.