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View Full Version : NLS foods - anybody using?


SeaHorse_Fanatic
03-15-2006, 07:08 AM
I just got some New Life Spectrum Marine & Spectrum Thera sinking pellets (1mm). Tried the Marine & my fish, which are used to frzn foods & some flakes, have taken to this pelleted form. The YT will even invade the home turf of my Gold striped maroon pair to get at the pellets, which is quite surprising because it's the new fish in the tank & have always stayed away from that corner. The maroons at first just mouthed it, but now they are gobbling down the pellets as well. In the other tank, the ocellaris still only mouth it, so I will keep trying with them. Only one day, but so far I'm happy with most of the fish being willing to eat these new pellets.

This is going to be an ongoing trial (will try to switch the YT/maroons onto just NLS pellets) to see if it lives up to the claims & testimonials I've read.

I'll keep you posted, but I would also like to hear from anyone else feeding NLS to their fish, especially sw fish. I gave some to my fw fish & they gobbled it up but then again, they're all pigs. :)

Anthony

OCDP
03-15-2006, 01:48 PM
I use NLS flake food... all my fish go wild for it. Seems to be good stuff. Can't say I've noticed any change in my fish though... but I have only been feeding a few months.

i have crabs
03-15-2006, 01:49 PM
ive been using nlf pellets for a while even though its not every day,after a few feedings all the fish love them.

RonPeter
03-15-2006, 01:58 PM
Same here, my fish love the NLS flake and pellets.

monza
03-15-2006, 03:12 PM
Had to go look, not NLS. New flake I'm using is OSI fish love it.

Dave

Jason McK
03-15-2006, 03:58 PM
Were do you get it Anthony

J

Bob I
03-15-2006, 04:06 PM
I spent big money on the pellets, but my fish won't touch them, so I gave them away. However, I saved a few, and am trying them on my Auriga which like OSI flakes best. So far he spits them out, but then goes back to pick them off the substrate, so I will keep trying.:mrgreen:

SeaHorse_Fanatic
03-15-2006, 04:30 PM
Got mine from Neil Wegner at:

www.cichlid-food-canada.com

Decided to try this brand after reading how Pablo (guy who came up with the formula in Florida) has been keeping a huge tank of Moorish Idols, Butterflyfish & other marine species strictly on this NLS food for over 8 years. I'm used to giving my fish lots of variety but it's getting too silly in my case, with 5 frzn foods & 5 dried foods taking up a lot of space & money.

Since I have a background in aquaculture, I thought I'd see if this food lives up to the reviews & hype I've read over the last few months.

Am very interested in reading about the other Canreefers' experiences.

I plan to write a review & hopefully add some pics (if warranted) after my fish have been on it for a while & I'll post the results in the Product Review thread.

Thanks for those who have replied,

Anthony

Willow
03-15-2006, 05:36 PM
why do i always get the impression that when i see people posting about nsl it's a cult like amway thing. do they encourge people to post about it on websites after they use it? it's kinda creepy.

Delphinus
03-15-2006, 05:40 PM
I feel a little like George then and the carpet cleaning cult, I guess I wasn't good enough.

"One day the world will be covered in carpet ... and it will need to be cleaned ....."

Anyhow I bought some of the NLS pellets because my banggai cardinal would -only- eat mysis, and I mean, absolutely refused to eat anything else. I tried these pellets but no go to that.

The only fish who truly went berserk for it is my tang, and.. well .. he pretty much goes berserk for anything I offer him to eat, so it's kinda a poor comparison. I throw some into the tank every now and again but mostly it's my tang and my carpet (of all things) who clean it up, the rest of the fish are mostly indifferent to it.

mr_alberta
03-15-2006, 07:02 PM
I feed the NLS pellets to my fish as well as my GF's FW fish. The FW fish don't really care for it, but my saltwater fish seem to really like it. I'm feeding the Theta-A stuff as well as the normal marine pellets. I'm not too sure what the difference is between the two pellets as the ingredients are pretty much exactly the same.

SeaHorse_Fanatic
03-16-2006, 12:45 AM
Nope, not a cult. This food is not widely available & I've read a few reviews on it so I thought I'd do an independent feed trial to see if it'll live up to the hype.

Started this thread to see what results other Canreefers have had, both positive & negative. If I'm gonna order food from Alberta, I'd rather have a better idea whether or not its worth the hassle & cost. After all, having real world experience to factor into the decision-making process is one of the real advantages of the internet. Sorta like the earlier Reef-roids thread.

Like I stated, I will be posting my results and observations, positive or negative. There are so many products out there that I think its a good idea to test & post whether the claims are true or just marketing.

Anthony

Cap'n
03-16-2006, 02:43 AM
I use it with good results. The fish weren't crazy about it at first but now they prefer it to most other offerings. Can't say I've noticed any significant changes, but everyone is healthy. I also feed the cichlid formula to my Tanganyikans. When I asked about the similarities I was told they contained the same ingredients but in differing formulas.

JSTR
03-16-2006, 02:53 AM
Well cant say I swear by the stuff, but my experiences with NLS pellets have been fantastic.
I started using NLS pellet back when all I had was African Cichlids, they loved it. Attacked the food more varatiously than any other flake or pellet I tried. The fry did great on first two weeks, cyclop-eeze then I switche dto the NLS growth formula. Never had troubles raising the frys and most are still out there in Calgary and areas.
When I switched to saltwater, I tried the conventional wosdom of mysis, flakes and various other forms of food. What a pain, multiple foods and only soe fish would eat some foods, alot of waste IMO. Tried the NLS marine pellets, all the fish responded favouritely to it.
My fish at the time were:
2 firefish
1 purple firefish
pair of perculas
1 yellow tang
1 Coral Beauty Angel

After over a year now, feeding solely NLS pellets to my fish, I can't say I have lost any to mal nutrition, a few jumpers and one beaten but that happens.
Presently I have, and all eating NLS exclusively:
3 Orchid Dottybacks
1 Sunshine Dottyback
pair of perculas
1 mandarin
1 Bi-Color Blenny
1 Allens Damsel
1 Purple Firefish
1 Yellow Matchman Gobie
1 Flame Angel
1 Coral Beauty Angel
2 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Fire/Blood Shrimp
Various Hammers, Candy canes and mushrooms all eat NLS when it falls on them.
plus clean up crew gets the leftovers.
and two new acquisitions:
1 Copperband Butterfly (just getting over being moved)
1 Purple Tang (barely 1 week in the tank)
neither are actively eating NLS but neither are getting really thin either.
One thing that surprised me was the day I caught my Mandarin swiming to mid tank to get some of these pellets.

And the real oddball of the groups, I have a Volitan Lionfish that will take NLS H2O wafers from time to time, trying to ween it on to then completely. This was inspired by a thread in on the NLS Forum as to Pablo having 4 Volitans fat and eating only NLS pellets.(read that and had to try - no more live or frozen foods :biggrin: )

Have pics I can post of the fish, but I honestly never figured out hoe to post them here.

By the way Bob, sorry for leading you to these pellets and them not working out for ya. If you need a small bit to continue your present experiment, let me know I will help you out.

Oops long winded responce here, but just wanted to be thorough.
NLS is not the end all be all of prepared foods, but in my experiences it is the only pellet I now use and will remain that way. The only other things added to my reef tank are Kents phyto & chromo max and trying reef roids for the corals but all the fish are eating NLS marine pellets. Not to mention that Neil is really great to deal with, and don't have to order from BigAls online or an American distributor.

Feel free to PM me any question, or better yet direct them to Neil Wagner, either from his webpage http://www.cichlid-food-canada.com/index.htm or his persona RD on Alberta Aquatica - http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showuser=20 .
And if anyone can help me post pics I will gladly pass them along.

SeaHorse_Fanatic
03-16-2006, 03:02 AM
Thanks for all the replies. Always good to know the good & bad experiences people are having with a new product (at least new to me).

My wife is also sick of sharing our little freezer space with all that frzn foods, so that was one of the reasons for wanting doing this feed trial. Too many foods equals too much money & too much room.

Anthony

RD
03-16-2006, 04:40 AM
I'm feeding the Theta-A stuff as well as the normal marine pellets. I'm not too sure what the difference is between the two pellets as the ingredients are pretty much exactly the same.

The TherA formula is higher in both protein, as well as fat, compared to the Marine formula. It also contains a mega dose of garlic, so much so that some people find the odour to be more than they can cope with. I personally like garlic, and find that if your tank is vented there is no serious odour build up caused from using this formula. YMMV

There's also a product review on the TherA formula posted here:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=20606

HTH

Willow
03-16-2006, 06:16 PM
if you guys break out the kool-aid im outa here :razz:

SeaHorse_Fanatic
03-16-2006, 06:37 PM
Grape or strawberry punch?















Where'd he go?

Ok, now back to the topic.

Last night I gave a few 3mm pellets to my LTA & RBTA & they grabbed them & shoved them down their mouths. Today, they're both looking fine, so the concentrated food pellets seem to be ok for them. I'm gonna take a series of pics of both anemones & see if they change (colour, size, etc) with this new diet, instead feeding of mysis, prawn & scallop chunks. A lot easier & less messy than what I was previously doing.

Anthony

christyf5
03-16-2006, 08:16 PM
if you guys break out the kool-aid im outa here :razz:

:rofl:

JHG
04-20-2006, 05:09 AM
I purchased NLS cichlid formula from Neil some time ago and began feeding it to all of my marine fish -- they love it! My pair of Ocellaris' colour has really perked up since being on the pellet.

SeaHorse_Fanatic
04-20-2006, 05:37 AM
All my sw fish are now eating these pellets. That'll make things alot easier if we go on vacation since I can just get a couple of auto feeders & load them with pellets. Woohooo. The fish are getting the Thera Formula because I got an ick magnet (ie. Powder Blue) but it's clearing up & getting fatter, with good color so I'm happy.

My anemones (RBTA & LTA) will eat the NLS 3mm pellets, but when I fed them to other corals, they ate the pellets then spit them back up a half hour later.

Anthony