Whats wrong with making Dough in Fish Food?

 

By Clayn; Co-Founder of Paradigm Fish Foods

I recently attended a seminar on bariatric surgery with a friend. During this time I learned that after the surgery you are strictly forbidden from eating any form of cooked dough including most bread, pizza crust etc.
I have been told by those that have had the surgery and forgot the rule that you immediately regurgitate the dough. At this point I began thinking about how this might apply to starch bound fish food.

Most of the starch in our foods is from whole ground green pea flour. Dried egg whites are also used to bind our food. Green pea flour contains roughly 21% starch. The use of green pea flour allows us to cut protein and fat without adding excessive starch energy. Our Herbivore food contains roughly 11% starch which is the highest amount of starch found in our line of foods. Green pea flour contains roughly 34% fiber which aids in digestion.
This is very important for herbivores that have a very long digestive tract. After mixing Herbivore is a very thin paste that can literally be poured onto the trays to be dehydrated. The other foods have more body but can easily be spread over the trays to be dehydrated. Once dehydrated the food can be broken into pieces and with a little practice crumbled into smaller pieces for feeding. I can't prove it but it stands to reason that once fed the reverts back to the form it took before dehydration. This is a light paste that can easily be digested.



Fish Foods bound entirely with starch need a minimum of 15% starch to hold the food together but most contain much more.
See How to Read a Fish Food Label for more information.

Increased starch use produces a very thick paste or more than likely a dough. The dough is then extruded at 350 degrees F. to produce a pellet type feed. It stands to reason that once these pellets are fed that they revert back to dough. I have read many comments about filler (excessive use of starch) causing digestion problems in fish. To make this problem worse is the fact that these foods contain very little fiber to aid in passing the doughy mess. Its no wonder fish often suffer from intestinal blockages which causes stress which manifests itself in any number of other different problems.
To answer my question, No there there is nothing wrong with making a little dough. Just don't feed it to your fish!


OTHER ARTICLES BY THE AUTHOR

*Fish Nutrition 101
*Cyanobacteria (Spirulina) and Algae - Pond Grown vs. Naturally Grown
*Probiotics, Prebiotics, Soluble Fiber and Resistant Starch
*How to Read a Fish Food Label & Energy (Fat, Starch and Sugar)


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How to Read a Fish Food Label & Energy (Fat, Starch and Sugar)

 

By Clayn; Co-Founder of Paradigm Fish Foods

Go get a container of the fish food that you are currently using. Start adding up the protein, fat, fiber, minerals or ash and moisture percentages. Does it add up to 100 percent? Why not? Lets forget all of the Min./Max hocus pocus and use their numbers since those are the numbers on the report that they get when they send the food to be tested. It appears starch is missing. Follow the example below.

"XYZ Fish Food"
35% Protein
5% Fat
8% Fiber
8% Ash or Minerals
9% Moisture
65% Total

This leaves roughly 35% of the food consisting of starch and sugar. Whats wrong with that?

 Using this Nutrition for juvenile African cichlids study I extrapolated what I believed to be the proper level energy level to maintain healthy fish. The number that I extrapolated was 21-22. I made batches of test food and after testing for three months the fish stopped breeding. That told me that the females didn't have enough energy aka fat stored in their liver to produce eggs. I adjusted the energy maximum to 23 and sent more food out for testing. After about six weeks the fish were breeding again.



How to calculate "Energy"

Starch and sugar have a 1:1 multiplier meaning 1% of sugar or starch equals 1 point of energy.

Fat has 1:2.25 multiplier so 1% fat equals 2.5 points of energy.

Back to our example:

35% starch and sugar equals 35 points of energy.
5% fat multiplied by 2.25 equals 11.2 points of energy
So 35 points of energy from starch and sugar plus 11.2 points of energy from fat equals 46.2 points of energy. This is almost double the amount of energy that our studies have shown to be adequate.

Do you find yourself wanting to throw that container of fish food in the trash can? If not I am sorry that you wasted your time reading this article.

OTHER ARTICLES BY THE AUTHOR

*Whats wrong with making Dough in Fish Food?
*Cyanobacteria (Spirulina) and Algae - Pond Grown vs. Naturally Grown
*Probiotics, Prebiotics, Soluble Fiber and Resistant Starch
*Fish Nutrition 101


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Fish Nutrition 101

 

By Clayn; Creator of the formula for and Co-Founder of Paradigm Fish Foods, now the newer formula for AAP Custom

The Digestive Biology of Fish 

First you need a basic understanding of the digestive biology of fish. In this regard there are three types of fish: Carnivores, Omnivores and Herbivores. Frugivores are the only legitimate exception. However Frugivores in general aren't very common and are rarely kept in an aquarium.

Tropheus eating Paradigm Fish Food - Herbivore

Protein is used for growth and maintaining muscle and tissue.

Fat is the purest form of energy. Roughly 2.25 times more energy than starch or sugar.

Starch provides energy. Starch energy is used before Fat energy. Fish don't store Starch energy very well so it is used first.

Sugar provides energy. Sugar energy is used before Fat energy. Fish don't store Sugar energy very well so it is used first.

Fiber acts as a laxative. All fiber is passed. However it has no effect on the ecology of your aquarium.

Minerals are used by fish. Excess minerals are passed. Calcium is used to build bones and cartilage. I highly doubt the amount of excess Calcium in our food will effect your water chemistry.Excess Phosphorus does have the potential to grow algae. However nitrates (the end process of the nitrogen cycle) also has the potential to grow algae. Excess Potassium levels are negligible. 

Moisture is slowly turning the fat in your food rancid. Preservatives do slow the process but only for so long.

Vitamins are provided in our ingredients. Our low temperature dehydration process allows us to do this.

The Balancing Act

Protein: Too little Protein and your fish don't grow properly. Too much over time causes damage to the fish's kidneys.

Protein Digestibility of Main Ingredients: Dried Egg Whites 100%, Whole Menhaden Fish Meal 93%, Shrimp Meal 87%, Spirulina 87% and Green Pea Flour 70%

Energy:

Starch, Sugar and Fat: It takes around 15% binder to hold fish food together.  The use of excessive starch can provide nearly if not all of the energy a fish needs. In this case what happens to the fat? It gets stored in the fish's liver leading to fatty liver condition. Many biologist's believe that fatty liver condition leads to a shorter lifespan. This subject has taken a lot of our research and testing time in developing formulas that find balance between fish that don't have enough stored energy to breed and fish with excessive fat stored in its liver. Yes we actually created formulas and tested them with such low energy levels that fish that were breeding stopped. 

Fiber - Acts as a laxative. If the percentage of fiber in our food caused diarrhea we would have noticed it in our food testing. Some would have you believe that 12% Fiber is too much for Carnivorous fish. This is simply not the case and our testing on live subjects proves it. 

Minerals are also known as Ash. As far as our Whole Menhaden Fish Meal (containing 19% Ash) is concerned we run it through a sieve and remove roughly 6% of the scales and large pieces of bone to provide a superior product. Our Shrimp Meal is the freshest that we have found and has a very good attractant value. Our Shrimp Meal contains 48% Protein with a complete amino acid profile. Its Protein digestibility is 87% which is the same as Whole Antarctic Krill.
Shrimp Meal contains 4% fat. Shrimp Meal contains 8% Fiber. Shrimp Meal contains 31% minerals. 31% Minerals is a high number. However the ability to add quality protein and fat to provide balance to our formulas is well worth the trade off. Shrimp Meal contains 9% Moisture. The use of Shrimp Meal also allows us to complete the Green Pea Flour's amino acid profile.

Moisture - The lower the moisture content the longer the food lasts. Water is the cheapest ingredient in fish food.

This is a delicate balancing act to limit Protein, Fat, Starch and Sugar percentages that have a negative impact on the long term health of your fish. This increase in the Fiber and Mineral percentages have very minimal if any negative impact on the ecosystem in your aquarium. This trade off is well worth it.

Common Questions:

Isn't high mineral also known as ash content an indicator of inferior quality ingredients? See The Balancing Act Minerals Section. and Minerals in the Basic Understanding of the Digestive Biology of Fish Section. In short the worst case scenario is the excess phosphorus might contribute to algae growth.

Doesn't high fiber percentages cause diarrhea? See The Balancing Act Fiber Section.

OTHER ARTICLES BY THE AUTHOR

*Whats wrong with making Dough in Fish Food?
*Cyanobacteria (Spirulina) and Algae - Pond Grown vs. Naturally Grown
*Probiotics, Prebiotics, Soluble Fiber and Resistant Starch
*How to Read a Fish Food Label & Energy (Fat, Starch and Sugar)


FURTHER SUGGESTED RESOURCES:


Aquarium Fish Nutrition

Common Aquarium Keeping Myths


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There is simply NO better prepared fish food; NOT Repashy, NOT New Life Spectrum, NOT NorthFin, etc.
Best energy levels, best fiber content, best protein optimization, no added supplements.


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