Pellets vs flakes vs....

[Kelly S]

Among dried fish foods, there are lots of forms. I'm not sure I really understand when to use what. I know variety is good, and I'm just not someone who is going to get into live or frozen on a regular basis at this point. Assuming the nutrition is the same and the fish can consume it, why would you choose flakes vs pellets, crisps, wafers, etc. I currently have various pellets (plus whatever Vibra Bites are considered), algae wafers, and First Bites for the never-ending supply of guppy fry. Should I also include flakes in the rotation? Is it just personal preference, or certain formulations that only happen to be available in one form or another, or...? Am I even making sense? Lol thanks!

[ange]

One of the major factors is how "cleanly" the formula feeds. Stuff like cloudy water, detritus leftover, etc. are factors for this. Generally speaking live foods feed the cleanest and flake foods are the messiest, though not all foods of the same formulation will have the same impact on water quality. Sometimes the form matters because certain fish like to feed at a certain point in the water column (many fish will only eat at mid-water so sinking pellets will go to waste and foul the water). Generally speaking, flakes are "dirty" feeders because there tend to be a lot of leftover particles or bits that sink to the bottom and end up uneaten, pellets and granules are more neutral, and then frozen/live foods are much "cleaner." 

I have fish food collectoritis (my last inventory totaled about $160 in fish and shrimp food, oops) so if you're only feeding guppies, the Hikari Fancy Guppy coupled with another small-sized pellet/granule (Fluval Bug Bites and Xtreme Nano come to mind) should be plenty. Flake is optional and you'd likely need to crush the flakes into a smaller size to get the guppies to eat them without spitting out the larger pieces. If you want to try one because you're like me and have to try EVERYTHING the only flake I'm really a fan of (liked enough to keep without passing on to another hobbyist) is Xtreme Krill Flakes.

If you want to dabble in live/frozen foods, I'd suggest smaller sized proteins like brine shrimp, daphnia, and mosquito larvae. They ultimately feed cleaner in my experience, though that may not be an issue if you have fish like corydoras who will eat the extra goodies on the bottom. Hikari is considered the gold standard for frozen foods by most, though I also have a weakness for San Francisco Bay's Emerald Entrée and Freshwater Frenzy (note that these do feed a lot more "dirty" than most frozen foods but I've found EE especially good at clearing out bloated individuals while still feeding the rest of the tank).

This is all my experience so just take it with a grain of salt. I just really like fish food.

[Kelly S]

Thanks. That's kinda what I thought, but thanks for the specifics and clarification! Luckily I have shrimp, snails, loaches, and corydoras who like to go treasure-hunting below the community fish above. The pellets are slow-sinking and I don't have any true surface dwellers, so I think I'm ok. But with all the rave reviews of the Extreme Krill flakes, I am kinda tempted to add it to the collection. I'm so glad I'm not alone in fish food collectoritis!