Spirulina Algae; Health Benefits for Tropical, Marine & Goldfish
Carl
SPIRULINA AS A FISH FOOD;
It is possible to have a staple fish food that has spirulina algae as a
major ingredient and be an effective diet for most fish.
Even carnivores can benefit by feeding spirulina based flakes to feeder
fish before feeding as most carnivores in the wild obtain many nutrients
from the intestinal tract of the fish they consume.
The key aspect is that too much Spirulina in the diet/fish food will
cause the fish' immune system to go on over drive and add stress, while
too little will not provide the benefits that Spirulina algae can
provide.
This is why 20% works as the "magic number" in a fish food, which most
if not all fish foods containing spirulina seem to miss, unlike AAP
Spirulina 20.
What is important to note is that most commercial fish foods that
call themselves Spirulina Flakes (Spirulina 20 the exception) have
spirulina quite far down on their lists of ingredients (Tetra in
particular). You need a food that is 10-20% spirulina to obtain these
benefits, but not more than 20% either as noted earlier.
Even some of the so-called quality brands of fish food that are often
recommended (such as Omega) do NOT have Spirulina at an optimum level,
so beware!
Product Resource: Spirulina 20 from AAP
Along with adequate calcium and magnesium in the water (especially for
marine organisms), Spirulina helps insure proper electrolyte function,
calcium levels over calcium and other minerals that are added to fish
food as an after thought to make up for poor quality ingredients.
Further Reference: Aquarium Chemistry; Including Calcium & Magnesium
The one negative with Spirulina is often many fish do not like the
"taste". However in an optimum formula of between 10- 20% along with
otherwise highly palatable ingredients such as Whole Menhaden Fish Meal,
acceptance is 99% of the time quite good. I have even had carnivores
such as Oscars eat foods with optimum Spirulina levels.
SPIRULINA 20, the only balanced fish food flake with a full 20% spirulina
Spirulina 20 flakes contain a full 20% Spirulina and provide a complete
high protein diet for freshwater, saltwater fish, goldfish, crustaceans,
and invertebrates. Spirulina 20 is a particularly ideal food for the
vegetative needs of African Cichlids, Livebearers, in addition to
Saltwater Tangs and Angels.
Research has shown that fresh and saltwater fish exhibit superior
growth, maturity, energetic behavior, and more elegant coloring when fed
Spirulina. It is also well documented that Spirulina improves egg
production and hatching rates, stimulates the reproductive processes,
increases survival rates of younger fish, and arouses the appetite of
fish.
The use of Spirulina as a major ingredient has been of interest to me since some of my earlier days in the Aquarium Trade.
In this case I have conducted my own side by side comparisons (with
scientific control groups) over the years using Spirulina based foods.
This research of mine is among my oldest dating back into the late
1970s. An aquatic supplier (Aquatronics) even nicknamed me the "Green
Flake Man" (after the name food that was sold that had Spirulina Algae
as its #1 ingredient). I was an early believer of this ingredient based
on my tests.