Fish food is an artificially formulated diet tailored to provide your fish with all the nutrients required for health and growth. However, fish food is dry and unappealing to the eye and is far removed from the fresh and moist diet that fish enjoy naturally.

During the production of pelleted diets, the milling and extrusion process can be quite harsh on certain ingredients. Particular attention must be given to the unstable and ‘fragile’ but vitally important vitamins to ensure the final diet is not vitamin deficient.

Vitamins are naturally occurring organic compounds that are required in minute amounts for normal growth. There are 15 vitamins in total which can be divided into 2 groups, the fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) and the 11 water soluble vitamins including the essential vitamin B complexes and vitamin C.

If any of these essential vitamins are absent or deficient in the diet then fish health will be put at risk.

As vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is water soluble and is particularly unstable (as seen when over-boiling vegetables) it will easily degrade during manufacturing, reducing the vitamin content of the food. Its role is vital in maintaining the immune response and aiding the healing process.

During the food manufacturing process, pellets are produced using an extruder/expander process which can subject food to high temperatures, pressures and moisture. This degrades the unstable natural vitamin C producing a nutritionally poor diet deficient in vitamin C.

However, vitamin C’s reactive and unstable nature can now be stabilised (stabilised vitamin C) restricting its degradation in the manufacturing process, thus ensuring the recommended levels of vitamin C in the final pelleted diet.

Vitamin C is reacted with a phosphate group to produce ascorbate polyphosphate or stabilised vitamin C. During digestion, the fish removes the phosphate group leaving ascorbic acid (vitamin C) which is readily absorbed through the intestine wall.

Therefore, fish fed on a diet containing stabilised vitamin C (300mg/kg feed) will not suffer from vitamin C deficiency and the associated ailments.

All Nishikoi pellets and sticks contain stabilised vitamin C