Can anybody think of a reason that it would be detrimental to a largemouth bass's health to consume an Omega-3 soft gel produced for human consumption?

I can't wait to find out why you are asking this question.

Other than the soft gel's may not be so soft as you think and all the goodies may be going to waste. Digestive tract and absorption of said soft gel's into the said fish may be a time constraint issue.

The other thing with Omega 3's is that if they get over a certain temperature, they are no good any more. IIRC it is somewhere in the 80F range. When my dog had cancer, I was trying to source some guaranteed fresh, if you will, Omega 3 fish oil. Closest I got was a local pet shop that kept it refrigerated. Boy, does that stuff stink! And it don't wash out of clothing either!

I'm with bullhead. Why?

So you think it has to be shipped in refrigerated trucks and stored in temp controlled warehouses 4-5 months a year?

Are you worried about your LMBs lipid panel?

Maybe you should add some niacin and simvastatin to their
Feed as well?

I would love to see a bass stress test

J/k
I'm sure you have a valid reason, and I'm just poking fun

I do think there is a temp and storage issue though, not to mention
cost

There are more snake oil salesmen out there today, than ever before

I never mentioned a time frame, and I was dealing with my best friends cancer at the time. I really do not want to relive this, but the stuff is junk once it get's into the 80's F range.

Well, my house is rarely over 78 degrees, and I hope that the grocery store I bought it from didn't let it overheat...never thought of it in those terms.

The water temperature in my pond is 80 degrees, so I assume the LMB temperature is 80 degrees.

If you want more information on what I'm doing, it will be available at the Pond Boss conference.

...but perhaps tomorrow...

Cost is irrelevant if you can get the tabs for .03/each.

Maybe a bit of "true" research and documentation will help to keep the fuzzy numbers off the books

Let's just say certain animal support agencies won't love me for this one.

I think it will work. I have thought about using it also in feed. After all it is fish oil.

...and it's anchovy!

My equation goes something like this:

6-inch FEEDER BLUEGILL + 3 SOFTGEL TABS OF OMEGA-3 = RAINBOW TROUT



...and with a simple hemostat, the softgel tabs go down real easy.

Make sure you post some of your stuff!

I've been doing this for three weeks, and my giant, dock-resident LMB are starting to take on carnival colors. Evidently it's good for their "coat".

Hmm interesting..

Understood now!

will this prevent my crappies from having a heart attack?

At PB VI, Bruce will introduce fish PEDs. I am sure of this.

My bad! Now I see what BC is up to.

JKB I was at my doctor's office a couple of years ago getting my physical. I told her about a friend that recently had major heart surgery that was now taking "prescription fish oil". The doctor without any hesitation said "wouldn't live without it, I take it every single day". She said it is so much better and pure than over the counter fish oil. I said "well if you think it's so great why don't you recommend it to patients like me"? She said basically it boils down to unless you have documented heart problems the insurance companies won't pay for it and thus most patients won't be interested". I said "well I am very interested in prevention...will you write me a prescription for RX Fish Oil"? She said sure I will be glad to as long as you know it will be self-pay. I keep it in my fridge and take it every day.

...but I'm not trying to prevent heart disease. I'm trying to augment the caloric intake of fish. If it's calories, and it's in a form that can be converted by the LMB, then it's better to use the cheaper alternative.

Bruce have you been looking in on my brain (thoughts/ideas)?

I see, said the blind man!

Why? Did you have similar thoughts? So far it seems to be working great, but there's no way if there's a measurable improvement in growth rates. Seems like calories, in the form of fish oil would have a hard time hurting anything. There's also gelatin, and soy in the tablets I'm currently feeding.

Sorry, been running about with family events and school. Didn't have a chance to see this post among the posts.



JKB is smacked dead on this one. Soft gel requires time to dissolve, not at 80°, but actually at 97° in a liquid environment in X hours, based on the studies done by the nutritionists panel when they designed various gel type for the pharmaceutical grade capsules. The gel was designed to break down rapidly in high temp environment with certain acid concentration, such as your stomach, but to retain their structural shape in various humid storage and shipment environment. Once acid is introduced, it will only take less than 2 minutes to fully dissolve. The fish's stomach doesn't have the high volume of acid to break the capsule size designed for human. However, the holding time inside the fish stomach to digest is very long, at high low concentrated pH. Unfortunately, the temperature factor also now come into play. Once again, the gel designed for human's stomach, not pets nor fish, at high temp, and low pH exposure.

As for the concentrated fish oil, nothing wrong with that. It's fish oil extract for human consumption. The oil gone through quite a bit of processing, removing the essential "raw" lipids and amino acids that are needed by the fish. As human, we cook our fish, and only benefit about 25% of the amino acids and lipids derived from the cooked fish. This is why Japanese love their raw fish. For pets and fish, the reason why the fish oil required refrigeration is because oil is in its near "raw" form (85% after processing). That's why it stinks to high heaven. Have you ever think of incorporating flax seed oil instead? Less mess, same concentration, no stench.



Buying dried anchovie and mixed together with dried krill/shrimps, along with dried seaweed, and make them into pellets, would be the best ideal to promote heart healthy amino acids and lipids for fish's diets. Wish I have the pellet's making machine to incorporate it all for you. Alas, having a family and doing experiments can be counter productive, especially living in California.

Freaks.

If you only knew some of the things that I don't admit to..

I've tried fish oil as an attractant on foam flies. It is/was the OTC ones. It has been the only thing I've found that turned the fish off. They wouldn't touch it.

"...but I'm not trying to prevent heart disease. I'm trying to augment the caloric intake of fish. If it's calories, and it's in a form that can be converted by the LMB, then it's better to use the cheaper alternative."




Fat or oil is the most caloric dense 9-10cal/gm, depending on who you read. I have not gone the Healthy Organic route, but I give the BG in my retention pond the waste fat & oil from the kitchen that I have. The fat off beef & pork cooked or uncooked, is always fought over & quickly consumed. The oil from fried fish or chicken, I pour over dry fish food & let it soak in before hand feeding it to the BG. it leaves a bit of a oil sheen on the water.

I have wondered about the cost & value of large pieces of beef fat run through a grinder & fed as a high energy supplement? It would be a poor value if the BG were not getting some natural food & dry food as another supplement.

The BIG experiment: If I good get hold of a large supply of BACON GREASE & pour that over their dry food before feeding them.

What would that fried BG fish sandwich taste like with lettuce, tomato, & Mayo?

You could poke a hole in the gell cap just prior to stuffing it(assuming you are stuffing into the stomach of the BG)........
Give it a good squeeze once it is in and release the gell..

Or use a needle and syringe it out and inject into the the BG....

Friends and I have tried beef fat for chum and catfish bait. I'd have to say that the fish, and even the snapping turtle avoided it.

I've used punctured fish oil to "flavor" catfish bait, made with ground fish pellets and flour. The bait was avoided by everything in the pond.

I think it is like giving cod liver oil to kids.

Wow...no wonder us poor 'au natural' pond owners can't get the phenomenal RW and overall growth I read about on this site...you guys are juicing!

Hmmm. Interesting.