Originally Posted by LTL
So I just started feeding the fish in the small lake behind my house this summer and I’m amazed at how much they grew even with the “poor quality food” that I was feeding them (I bought a bag of Sportmans feed at Tractor Supply because I didn’t know how things would work out). My understanding *now* is that since this is a grain based protein feed - it may not be the best for my bream. Now that I have had some success, I’m ready to buy some better food. I’ve read several study results on here that seem to show that Optimal grows fish the fastest, but Aquamax 500 doesn’t seem to be too far behind the Optimal... I can get 40lbs of Optimal for $55 or I can get 50lbs of AM500 for $50 so the Optimal costs 38% more per pound than the AM500. It doesn’t seem like fish convert 38% more of the Optimal into body weight vs the AM500. If both are considered equally healthy for the fish - it seems like for my situation AM500 makes more sense and I get more pounds of fish growth per dollar. Am I missing anything here? Is there another factor in this equation that I’m leaving out (or perhaps another feed option that is just as good as Optimal and AM500 that could be even cheaper)?

Did you also take into consideration the amount of "pass through" of food that contributes to growing algae/plants, etc. that you have to treat in the pond? I truly believe that Optimal is cheaper per pound when looking at the bottom line numbers. When you break that fish weight down into fat and muscle mass, Optimal wins - less fat around the liver, etc.

Also, what does it cost you to drive to pick up the Aquamax feed?

Last edited by esshup; 12/20/21 01:29 PM.
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