Chuckie Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Hi everyone, today I bought a jar of "once a month" discus food of this brand. I thought it might be good for conditioning bettas for spawning. They certainly seem to like it. I haven't used this brand before and I was curious to see that on other foods of the same brand it said something like "does not change sexual characteristics" or similar. Has anyone got any idea what this is about? Was there a time that this food made girls look like boys, for example? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Its a brand that has a reputation for doing hormone-based foods. Great colour enhancers, work brilliantly! but as soon as you take the fish off the food, they tend to crash. At least thats my experience with it, and it seems to be the general consensus on the forums I visit (and a quick google search). Now, it says it doesn't contain hormones, which is probably true, but there are PLENTY of natural products that work in a similar way. If they are using something that acts like a sex hormone (plant sterols maybe? the things they use in bodybuilding?) then its not TECHNICALLY a hormone, but it has the same effect, being that the fish will look great but as soon as you stop feeding in the colour fades and the body systems freefall for a bit. There is a shop in sydney who imports lots and lots of fighting plakats and sells them in chinese food containers. They feed White Crane. With the exception of sleet and Diego who i bought from them almost as soon as they came out of QT, all of the fish I have bought from there succumb to some nasty infection within 6 months and cannot fight it off. It freaked me out for the first little while, but then I saw the foods and it clicked. Its a great colour enhancer, don't get me wrong, but if you make the decision to feed it, DON'T STOP, and don't feed it to fish you are going to sell on, as if the new owners don't feed it, then the fish are likely to crash and burn. Probably best kept for feeding display fish that you intend to keep for yourself that way you can ensure they keep getting it Also, being as it is most likely a steriod-base, and that oestrogen and testosterone are of that group, it may well affect the ability to breed, or perhaps bring out the agression in the fish... unsure. If you want to try, choose a sacrificial pair just in case they aren't so fartile while they are on it. I suppose you could wean fish off of it too, but i've not heard of anyone trying it. Whats the ingredient list like? anything that sounds likely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figure_8 Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 I saw some food labelled growth and colour enhancer at a lfs yesterday.. I thought it sounded scary especially since it was the lfs own brand and had no ingredients what so ever listed. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted August 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 i'll check the ingredient list when I get home. It does say to feed it only once a month, so the chances of the fish getting hooked on it are hopefully reduced a bit if I follow that suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Is this the worming food? I heard they have a once-a-month discus wormer thats getting some interest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted August 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 ok, here's what's in the once-a-month stuff (Discus Monthly): Crude Protein 56% Crude fat 15% Crude fibre 0.4% ash 9.0% Vitamin A 22,500 IU/kg Vitamin D3 2,500 IU/kg Vitamin E 200 mg/kg Vitamin C (stable) 300 mg/kg Ingredients: LT fish meal, products and by-products of cereals and oilseeds, pigments, fishoil, premix, attractant, colorants, immune stimulator, PSB, enzymes, lactic bacteria. Attractant?? PSB?? Sounds a bit sus!! Doesn't say anything about worming. I also bought White Crane ADP Vitamix Breeder food - PSB added. 60% crude protein 10% crude fat 1% crude fibre 8% max moisture. Fishmeal, shrimp meal wheat gluten, fish liver powder, yeast, egg powder, milk powder, spirulina, fish extract, fish oil, vitamins, PSB (150 cc per kg) Special Vitamin, Enzymes, lactic bacteria, Ethoxyquin (as preservative). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 Immune stimulator? thats awfully vague. PSB is photosynthetic bacteria according to Azoo, although I can't find much info in its specifics. Attractant is probably aniseed oil or fish oil, but could be any number of things. Ethoxyquin is a banned insecticide, which finds its way into almost all fishfoods for some reason. Some info on Ethoxyquin in pet food The immune stimulator is the thing thats bothering me... and i'd like to know more about PSB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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