Flake Foods
By Stephen KwartlerWhen the tropical fish hobby began to gain popularity it was essential that the hobbyist would be able to maintain his prized specimens. There were at the time many homemade recipes for making and preparing fish food. Some of the early pioneers made elaborate formulas like Myron Gordon’s Liver Paste Food as the staple diet for the tropical fish. The local pet shops sold several major brands of fish foods that were mainly animal by-products and useless filler that was in a granular form. Most of the aquarium magazines were filled with advertisements by so called professionals selling their special blend of fish foods. You had guppy breeders selling their special "giant guppy growth food", and others with claims to ridiculous to mention. Most of these foods had as their main ingredient powdered dog food, fish and/or animal by-products that included bone meal. Yes the fish did eat the food, and yes they did seem healthy, but at the cost that the foods were being sold at was it a good product worth using. The foods that were being sold by the major manufacturers like Wardley, Longlife, and Tetra to name a few, didn’t concern themselves at that time with proper packaging or honest ingredient labeling. It wasn’t until sometime in the mid 1960’s that better products to help maintain our fish were sold at the pet shop level. Better ingredients were also being used to help promote growth as well. Different foods were sold for almost every type of tropical fish one could imagine. The tropical fish food industry combined with all other pet foods was as large if not larger then the baby food industry. So by now you are asking, "what about flake foods", well I’m getting to that.
The tropical fish flake foods that are sold in most pet shops are made and distributed by major manufactures. The ingredients used today are much better then before and most labels sell a vast amount of specialty diets. By weight these foods average over $15.00 per pound. For feeding guppies any of these flakes will do providing that you crush these flakes into a smaller almost powder like food. I have found that the guppies prefer to feed when the food is easier to consume. I use a food processor to break down the flakes into a much smaller flake. This can be accomplished by putting the food into a large fish bag and after letting all the air out you squeeze the bag until the food is crushed into a finer flake. Always keep your opened fish foods stored in a freezer or refrigerator between every use. This will insure freshness as well as preventing the food from spoiling. Vitamins that may have been added in the manufacturing process will lose strength in a short time.
I have tried many varieties of fish foods over the years and have seen all the claims made by manufacturers and breeders. Usually the foods that are sold by hobbyists are twice the price of commercially prepared foods and there is never any guarantee on the quality or what is actually in the ingredients. There are some mail order companies that do sell bulk fish foods that are both low in price and high in quality. It is not my intention to single out those selling high priced "specialty foods" or those selling inferior products. What I will do is give you a guideline to follow to purchase good quality flake foods for all types of tropical fish including guppies.