Aquarium giant Rolf C. Hagen has revamped and spruced up its old Nutrafin Max range of foods, and the results look promising, says Nathan Hill.
It’s good…
All of the foods we’re trialling have a pungent garlic odour to them, and the ingredients always rank it quite high up, which is great if you’re after feeding response and digestibility.
Fluval has opted to use Herring as a major constituent for its foods, citing a higher availability of Omega 3 than in Salmon-based diets. In fact, an eclectic fusion of ingredients across the board makes for interesting reading including Krill, which is heaving with immune-boosting and colour-enhancing carotenoids, as well as massive amounts of Spirulina in the vegetable flakes.
The colour-enhancing pellets make a nice alternative to many of the coarse granules on the market, and they sink nicely, but not at the kind of speed that makes them inaccessible to mid-swimmers.
Protein levels are sensible compared to some brands; the tropical flakes only contain 44%, which makes it filter-friendly too.
But…
Straight out of the tub, the flakes suffer from what I call 'small flake syndrome'. Whether it’s just the samples I have or whether it’s across the board, I have food that’ll be great for smaller fish, but big species could make a mess of it.
Pessimists might note that the flakes are quite anaemic looking and paler than many dried foods we’re used to using. In Hagen’s defence, artificial colours aren’t used in their flakes, and this paleness shouldn’t reflect any compromise on nutritional quality.
The verdict
An improvement on the old range as far as I’m concerned, and more than acceptable for the majority of fishkeeping exploits you might have planned. Watch that big fish don’t make too much mess or ignore smaller pieces.
Good:
- Chock-full of immune-boosting carotenoids and garlic.
- No artificial colours; what you see is what you get.
- Heavy krill use means good fish colours.
Bad:
- The flakes are very flimsy for bigger fish.
Price: Tropical Flakes 32g, £4.19; Vegetable Flakes 32g, £4.09; Goldfish Flakes 32g, £3.49; Colour Enhancing Pellets 90g, £7.99.
Why not take out a subscription to Practical Fishkeeping magazine? See our latest subscription offer.
Don't forget that PFK is now available to download on the iPad/iPhone.