Flakes are better than pellets change my mind

[99problemsandatankisone]

Flakes are by far the superior option for full tank feeding vs. pellets.

flakes when broken up under water spread to the entire water column and make sure even the most shy fish have an opportunity to eat while pellets fall in a singular location for a few aggressive feeders to destroy in two seconds.

with appropriate flow all excess flake ends up in a filter roll/sock while pellets can rot.

any un-eaten pellet food is more dense than the sand bed causing it to just get buried with a gravel vac.

The one benefit to a pellet is it’s nutritional values are higher.

pellets seem to be the most popular dry food in our hobby and I want to know why

 

[zalick]

I feed both, along with LRS frozen. But I tend to agree with you on the benefits of flakes over pellets for broadcast feeding and getting food to shy fish!

 

[Potatohead]

The only time pellets are better is an auto feeder. Otherwise flakes rock. The worst part is the last third of any package turns into dust.

 

[TriggerFinger]

My opinion...
Flake is messy. Gets sucked in the my powerheads and broken apart into a slimy mess. (Maybe I’ve not ever tried a quality flake food though).
My fish don’t eat it; so double the mess.
Pellets create less mess. I see my coral eat them (never flake). Clean up crew gets pellets before they break down into nothing.

Frozen stays circulating so everyone can eat. there’s less waste in my tank. I believe it’s better for them since it’s closer to what they are supposed to eat. Also a lot more variety so I can switch up the diet.

 

[nereefpat]

It's a little funny to me that there is so much love for pellets yet people turn their noses up at flakes.

 

[99problemsandatankisone]

My opinion...
Flake is messy. Gets sucked in the my powerheads and broken apart into a slimy mess. (Maybe I’ve not ever tried a quality flake food though).
My fish don’t eat it; so double the mess.
Pellets create less mess. I see my coral eat them (never flake). Clean up crew gets pellets before they break down into nothing.

Frozen stays circulating so everyone can eat. there’s less waste in my tank. I believe it’s better for them since it’s closer to what they are supposed to eat. Also a lot more variety so I can switch up the diet.

I agree that there is no competition between dry food vs frozen vs live. My corals tend to grab my flake especially my paly/zoas.
It would be hard if your fish didn’t like flake, I struggle here with pellets, only my heaviest eaters/ Cuc ever touch them

 

[99problemsandatankisone]

It's a little funny to me that there is so much love for pellets yet people turn their noses up at flakes.

It’s like people are too good for flake because freshwater is typically flake

 

[TriggerFinger]

I agree that there is no competition between dry food vs frozen vs live. My corals tend to grab my flake especially my paly/zoas.
It would be hard if your fish didn’t like flake, I struggle here with pellets, only my heaviest eaters/ Cuc ever touch them

Very cool! I’ve never noticed my zoas grab at any food. Maybe I haven’t given them the right food!
For the people who do use and like flake food; can you share what you feed?

 

[CMMorgan]

I feed flake. My LFS sells these big quart wonton soup size containers of the stuff at a stupid great price and my fish go nuts for it. It's like catnip but for fish. I have a betta fish that I feed pellets and she never gets excited.
Living Reef Orlando just sent me a sample of pellets with my order. I may give it a try but I'm successful with flake, so why fix what's not broken.

 

[nereefpat]

It’s like people are too good for flake because freshwater is typically flake

That could be.

For the people who do use and like flake food; can you share what you feed?

Omega One for me. They make a Super Color Flake, a Veggia Flake, and a Marine Flake.

 

[mdb_talon]

I have no desire to convince you to change your mind. If it works for you and your fish stick with it. Will point out a couple things. Flakes can cause fish to gulp air and depending on the fish this can be an issue. Flakes degrade and dissolve into the water column much more quickly where pellets usually keep their form longer (giving additional time to be eaten). Flakes are also a tough feeding choice for larger fish. Takes a ton of feeding and time for a fish to get what he needs from hundreds of flakes floating around... pellets are larger and more nutritionally dense and much more effective at feeding large fish without excessively feeding. Flakes have a very short shelf life once opened compared to pellets.

As you mentioned pellets are also generally speaking more nutritious than flakes. For me that is a big one... that is the whole point of feeding afterall.

As for the issues you have with pellets sinking to the bottom and degrading it is not really an issue I have. If you have diverse fish that includes bottom feeders and an appropriate CUC it should not be an issue. I would much rather my excess food be eaten by my goby, nassarius snails, etc than to get caught in my filter sock. Unless you are changing your sock soon after feeding that flake food is going to break down very quickly and negating your "pro" of them going into the filter.

 

[Born2beblack]

Now im a frozen or alive kinda guy
Pods and cubes all day.

But pellets are easier for me to direct feed certain fish. All my fish eat from the top, the second it hits the water
I play basketball with them, with the chuncky pellets
I find flakes are my lazy way out
So when im in a rush i will..
But i keep baby brine on hand for chiclid fry, so i just toss a few brine in and run out the door.

 

[HuduVudu]

Live foods trump both.

 

[Born2beblack]

Live foods trump both.

I agree but some cant get it regularly or keep it alive.
So i say frozen is also top
I prefer to feed alive
Heck my shrimp and fry that dont make the cut are food to. I also breed lizards and snakes always got sowmthing willng to eat.
Molly can breed in your sump and you can use the babis as food. Also a good method. Yes cruel but its my little ocean and im gonna treat it like the ocean

 

[99problemsandatankisone]

Very cool! I’ve never noticed my zoas grab at any food. Maybe I haven’t given them the right food!
For the people who do use and like flake food; can you share what you feed?

Currently I feed cobalt aquatics marine Omni (the purple cap one) because the fish love the stuff so much they start swimming in circles when I move the container for any reason!

I have seen them (softies) eat most flakes that I have tried, my brother once put in the freshwater flakes and they even ate that, it’s more of a “feed density” thing for me, I have to over feed a little so there is enough to get to them naturally in the water. I also break up the large flakes into smaller ones and lower my pinch under the water surface and rub my fingers together to get it not just on the surface.

it’s probably about time to admit that I do add pellets to the tank a couple times a week as well for my sand sifting goby and starfish because I worry about starving either one of them.

 

[mdb_talon]

It’s like people are too good for flake because freshwater is typically flake

Or much more likely they have decide that pellets work better for their tank and situation. Not once have I thought to myself I wont use flake because that is what is more common in freshwater. Even in freshwater I stopped using flakes pretty early on as I had larger fish. Would have had to dump in full packages of flake daily to feed my frontosas.

 

[99problemsandatankisone]

Live foods trump both.

Absolutely!

 

[99problemsandatankisone]

Or much more likely they have decide that pellets work better for their tank and situation. Not once have I thought to myself I wont use flake because that is what is more common in freshwater. Even in freshwater I stopped using flakes pretty early on as I had larger fish. Would have had to dump in full packages of flake daily to feed my frontosas.

True, larger fish are in need of a TON of flake.

and I was making a generalization, and as the saying goes “all generalizations are wrong, even this one”

 

[99problemsandatankisone]

Now im a frozen or alive kinda guy
Pods and cubes all day.

But pellets are easier for me to direct feed certain fish. All my fish eat from the top, the second it hits the water
I play basketball with them, with the chuncky pellets
I find flakes are my lazy way out
So when im in a rush i will..
But i keep baby brine on hand for chiclid fry, so i just toss a few brine in and run out the door.

Pretty sweet to play hoops with the gilled pets!
Do you ever put in extra pellets for bottom dwellers/cuc?

 

[ReefBeta]

I love flake. But I don't use flake much because it didn't fit well into my routine.

When I feed manually, I feed frozen. It's easy to agree frozen is better than dry.

All my dry food are fed through auto feeder throughout the day. Flake is unfortunately more difficult in auto feeder because how ununiform their size can be, leading to inconsistent volume between feeds.

But if I were to manually feed dry food, I will definitely prefer flake over pellets. Flake is so easy to "customize" to the right size for the fish. And it get throw all of the tank, allowing everyone a chance to eat. I always turn off return for 10 mins when manually feed, so it's really no worry about messy. No food will remain by the end of it.

The best compromise is actually the tiny pellets, those that are 0.5mm or smaller. I now use a 0.25mm pellets. It got blow around by flow very similar to flake, can go from one end to the other on my 6ft tank. Yet it fed through auto feeder nicely.