Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Bad batch of aquamax

Just bought a bag of aquamax 600. I hand fed the fish and was surprised at how fast that stuff was disappearing. Something wasn't right though because there weren't that many fish feeding. As I watched I noticed that the fish weren't eating most of the food but rather the food was sinking. I eventually did a test and found that the stuff only floated for 10 to 45 seconds before it dropped like a rock to the bottom. I called Purina and they said it was obviously defective. Anyone ever had this happen to them? My dealer took the food back today and gave me a new bag so all is well. Purina sent me a coupon for a discount on another bag. Any thoughts on what would cause this?

Possibly old with the oil just about gone. Or maybe it didn't get the oil that is usually mixed in.

I have seen a couple of bags of Aquamax that had a higher % of sinkers than normal. Normally almost all floats for at least several minutes, but I have seen maybe 1/3 sink within 10 seconds. My guess is that they didn't get as much air mixed in during manufacture.

P.S. Many fish prefer eating the sinkers, so a lot of what disappeared may have been eaten anyway.

Yes, I've observed it takes less effort for a fish to inhale a sinking pellet so many fish given the choice will prefer sinking. The downside of course is you don't know how much is being eaten.

My bass really tuned in on sinking feed!