Hikari Slow-sinking Stick Fish Food, 2.57 oz (73 g), for tropical fish

This tropical fish food comes as worm-like sticks made with krill meal, mealworms and fish meal, and the 73 g pack is one tub. The sticks float for a moment before dropping through the water slowly, and the maker lists them for tropical fish that prefer live foods in aquariums and ponds.

What fish keepers say about these sticks

In reviews, several fish keepers report that their fish take the sticks readily, and a few mention the slow sink that follows a brief float. Two reviewers note that the water stays clear rather than clouding, while three say they noticed changes in colour and growth.

How the stick form behaves in the water

• The food is a stick rather than a flake or pellet, and the worm-like shape is what the maker calls its special feature.
• Sticks drift through the water column in a way that mimics live food, and the movement is not uniform from one stick to the next.
• Each stick floats at the surface for a short time, then descends slowly through the tank or pond.
• The maker names tropical fish that prefer live foods as the target for these sticks.
• Feeding directions cover both aquarium and pond use.

Ingredients in the sticks

The recipe leads with fish meal and krill meal, then wheat flour, flaked corn, brewers dried yeast, cuttlefish meal, wheat germ meal and wheat gluten meal. Mealworms and whole crushed silkworm pupae are also in the mix, along with fish oil, hydrolyzed vegetable sucrose polyesters, astaxanthin, DL-methionine, garlic and choline chloride. Vitamins appear as vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), inositol, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin and vitamin B12 supplement. The minerals listed are disodium phosphate, salt, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate and zinc.

Questions about this tropical fish food

What size is the pack?

The pack holds 2.57 oz (73 g) of sticks, sold as a single tub.

Do the sticks float or sink?

Each stick floats briefly at the surface and then sinks slowly through the water.

What protein sources are in the sticks?

Fish meal, krill meal, cuttlefish meal, mealworms and whole crushed silkworm pupae are among the ingredients.

Can I use these sticks in a pond?

The manufacturer lists both aquarium feeding and pond feeding for these sticks.

Which fish are the sticks intended for?

The manufacturer intends them for tropical fish that prefer live foods.