API Tropical Fish Food Flakes Review
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Introduction
I do not like API tropical fish food flakes. There, I said it. Don’t leave yet though! I do believe this food could be good for some people. I also believe that even if I strongly dislike the food, some may love the food, and that’s ok. My review below will hopefully explain why I don’t enjoy the food and why you may.
This review of API flake food is from my personal experience and use of the food as an aquarium hobbyist.
Do Fish Like the Food?
This is really where the problem could begin and end for me. My fish do not like this food. I should clarify that not many of the species I keep seem to like the food. I find that most of my fish tend to do the old “try it and spit it out” routine or they spit it out and then eat it. I’ve even watched as my eager and seemly starving guppies actively swam by it and ignored it.
To be fair, I will say that some seem to like it, like my pearl gourami fish. The problem is, when you have a lot of different species you keep, you will usually want to feed one kind of food to all of them. Even if a few of my fish “like” the food, my guppies, tetras, platies, and Apistogramma’s don’t seem to truly enjoy it. I understand many other species are not covered in this, but in my opinion, most tropical fish in the hobby have similar “taste buds”.
This is one of those foods I think fish would classify in their “may eat/ kind of like” category.
Package Sizing and Pricing
API tropical flake food comes in multiple sizes at about as cheap of a price as you can get. The larger 5.7 oz. jar will cost you about $14 on Amazon which comes out to about $2 an ounce. I believe this is because of the ingredients and because API can get cheaper prices by buying in bulk. This could be great for those who are on a tight budget and have fish who will eat just about anything.
Flake Overview
Another reason I don’t like API tropical flakes is because of the broken flakes and clumping they have. (See my picture to the left.) The flakes tend to be broken pretty small and have interesting textures to them. Some also seem to be thicker and clumpy while others are thinner and falling apart. This isn’t much of a problem for most fish, but some of the more finicky ones may not want to mess with the larger clumpy flakes.
Ingredient Quality
API Tropical fish food flakes use whole menhaden fish meal as its primary protein source along with squid and pea protein. Menhaden fish is known for its high omega-3 and 6 fatty acids. I believe these ingredients are fine as a protein source, but again, the fish need to eat them.
The food then contains your basic fillers, binders, and added vitamins. These are pretty standard for most foods with lower-quality protein levels that need some extra reinforcement.
Market Availability
One of this food’s strongest selling points, is simply that you can buy it pretty much anywhere. It’s available in most shops and is readily available online. The only food in the US that may have more availability is TetraMin flake foods.
My Final Thoughts
Well, you know that I am not a fan of this food for my fish, but I do believe it can be great for some people. Two big selling points for the food is that it is cheap and readily available. If needed I am sure that even some picky fish would eat some if they didn’t have another option for a while.
However, as far as cheaper flake foods go, I would choose the Tetramin Plus Tropical Flakes over the API Tropical Flakes for myself. Be sure to check out my review on those where I cover the basics of the food and the difference between the different TetraMin flake food types.
Where to Purchase API Tropical Fish Food Flakes
If you believe this food is something you would like to try, feel free to use the link below to purchase some for yourself.
Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the food below in the comments!
Be sure to check out my current master list of fish food reviews here, and feel free to leave a comment below on your experience with the food.