For those feeding NLS and having Bloat/Float problems (NLS contains air!!!).

[bitterman]

Yesterday when I went to Bowlmanville to get my Mpimbwe frontosa, the guy (Ryan) Told me that NLS has air in it, I was supprised so he put some in a cup or tank water. Sure enough a bunch of air bubble came out of the food as it absorbed the water.

So if you are having problems with bloat or Float I suggest doing a short presoaking of NLS before feeding it.

I think all food must have this issue, Just though I would pass on this great tip I was told.

I know I will be doing this from now on when I feed my Mpimbwe colony!

Bruce

[Crumpet]

I soak my Hikari pellet food for the same reason.  Sometimes I will pinch them as well after they've soaked to get all the air out -- definitely helps.

[mseguin]

Any pelleted food ios gonna contain air, if anything its probably better as a solid pellet would be less likely to break down and would cause more digestive problems.

[RoxyDog]

somewhere I read not to soak NLS.  although I never had bloat problems on frozen food, after adding NLS, had 2 fish die from bloat.  might be a coincendence...

[bitterman]

The reason Pablo recomneds not presoaking the food is some onf the vitamines start to leach out of the food, but since my soaking is really only 20-30 seconds (did not see any more air comming out) Really its not much of a concern (the food also has 2-3X the vitamines required). All that is happening is water is filling the place were the water was such that fish arn't getting air in there digestive system. I am not allowing the food to expand, as that would make for a potental messy tank and potention problems.

Bruce

[Melody]

I read recently that food will start to lose its vitamins within seconds of hitting the water, which is why the vitamin content is so high.  NLS didn't work out for my fish either, but I never did get to the bottom of it so as Roxy mentioned, could have been a coincidence.  I prefer Dainichi for pellet foods, but others like NLS just fine.   Most of my fish are omnivores with longer digestive tracts, so that may have something to do with it.

You could do your presoaking in a vitamin solution, thus countering the loss... theoretically anyway. I think you're right though - a short presoak shouldn't deplete the vitamin content too much, as long as its short and the fish eat the food as soon as it hits the water.

You can further retain your vitamin content by sealing the food in an airtight container and freezing, but thaw the pellets before feeding.  Feeding pellets frozen might cause problems of its own so I wouldn't feed them directly from the freezer.  I usually keep my food in an airtight container in the freezer and have a small container that I refill in the fridge.  That way I'm not constantly opening the frozen product. 

[zurus]

Thanks for the info. Your post reminded me that I gave my fish some pellets a few days before they got bloat and started dying. This could be what caused the problem!

[darkdep]

I'm not sure I believe that air in food causes bloat.  I DO think that, especially for Frontosa, that keeping air out of their systems as much as possible is a good thing (as they normally are never near the surface and suffer from "float" issues).

"Bloat" is more of a digestive tract blockage.