The Best Tropical Fish Food For Color & Growth

One of the best things about tropical fish is how beautiful they are.

Any aquarium with tropical fish instantly becomes a centerpiece because their bright colors catch everyone’s eye when they enter a room.

To keep them that way, you have to make sure they stay healthy by using the best tropical fish food.

The 10 Best Food For Tropical Aquarium Fish

Here is the best available food you can buy for your tropical fish on the market today.

Pictures	Tropical Fish Food	Types
	TetraMin Nutritionally Balanced Tropical Flake Food	Semi-Floating Flakes
	TetraColor Tropical Flakes with Natural Color Enhancer	Semi-Floating Flakes
	Aqueon Tropical Flakes	Floating Flakes
	Fluval Bug Bites Granules for Tropical Fish	Small, Medium Sinking Granules
	API Fish Food Flakes	Floating Flakes
	Hikari Fish Food	Small Sinking Pellets
	Tetra JumboKrill Freeze Dired Jumbo Shrimp	Supplements/Treats
	Wardley Fish Food and Accessories	Floating Flakes
	Omega One Freeze Dried Blood Worms	Supplements/Treats
	Tetra Algae Wafers	Algae Wafers

Tropical Fish Food Reviews

1. TetraMin Nutritionally Balanced Tropical Flake Food

Tropical fish need a diet that’s high in protein with the right balance of vitamins to give them energy and keep them healthy. That’s why this balanced food from Tetra is such a great choice.

First of all, it’s made of flakes that will satisfy types of tropical fish. It also has a perfectly balanced mix of vitamins, proteins, Biotin, and Omega-3 fatty acid that protect against disease and stress while boosting immunity.

This tropical fish food is made of Tetra’s “Clean and Clear Water” formula, which means it’s really easy to digest and won’t leave behind excessive waste in your aquarium. These large flakes are packed with the perfect nutrition your fish need to thrive.

2. TetraColor Tropical Flakes with Natural Color Enhancer

This TetraColor fish food has an ungraded formula that now includes prebiotics. It’s perfectly balanced to support the total health of your fish.

The clear water formula boosts your fish’s colors and is easy to digest so it doesn’t leave behind a lot of waste and keeps the water clearer, longer.

Both top and mid feeders will love this formula. It’s perfect for active fish and will help them live a long, healthy life.

3. Aqueon Tropical Flakes

Aqueon Tropical Flakes are perfectly balanced to give your fish balanced nutrition on a day to day basis. They use natural ingredients and colors fortified with essential vitamins and minerals to form a well-balanced diet that keeps your fish happy and healthy.

Not only does it support immune system health, it also enhances the natural color of your fish with natural ingredients like marigold powder, chili powder, and more. This food is also formulated so that the fish utilize as much of it as they can, which lessens waste and keeps your tank cleaner.

4. Fluval Bug Bites Granules for Tropical Fish

This tropical fish food from Fluval is unique in that it’s made of 40% black soldier fly larvae. And that’s not all, they’ve incorporated other proteins, too, like whole salmon which is rich in Omega-3 and 6.

With added vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, this food provides a balanced diet that helps your fish thrive.

For quality control and freshness, Fluval processes this formula in small batches and uses no artificial colors, fillers, or preservatives.

5. API Fish Food Flakes

API’s tropical fish food has all the key ingredients needed for a complete and balanced diet. Plus, ingredients like spirulina and beet pulp naturally enhance your fish’s colors.

Because it’s formulated for easy digestion, it leaves behind less waste. This helps keep things cleaner, longer, and keeps down the ammonia level of the water.

This formula was made especially for algae and plant-eating fish like swordtails, mollies, guppies, and cichlids. It contains multiple proteins, too, including shrimp and worms which your fish will love.

6. Hikari Fish Food

This tropical pellet food from Hikari sinks so it’s great for middle and bottom feeders plus it won’t cloud the water. These large pellets are great for bigger fish and have a healthy amount of protein which makes it a great choice for carnivorous fish.

One of the great things about this formula is it’s high in astaxanthin which helps to bring out the bright, natural colors of your fish. It also supports a healthy immune system and by increasing stress resistance and helping to prevent infectious diseases.

Hikari suggests feeding this to cichlids and other large tropical fish two to four times a day. Just be sure to remove any uneaten food. Even though it won’t cloud the water, any food left behind could still affect water parameters.

7. Tetra JumboKrill Freeze Dired Jumbo Shrimp

Large tropical and marine fish will love this freeze-dried jumbo shrimp from Tetra. It contains the complete organism – including the shell – and is rich in a variety of ingredients that are beneficial to your fish.

Not only is this food rich in protein which makes it great for carnivorous fish but it’s also a good source of vitamin E, fat, and roughage to help with digestion. These whole freeze-dried shrimp are also high in carotenoids which naturally develop pinks, red, and orange coloring.

This food is available in four different sizes ranging from 0.87 to 14 ounces. Each container is vacuumed sealed and has an air-tight lid to maintain freshness. This food can also be used to feed smaller fish if the krill are broken into smaller pieces.

8. Wardley Fish Food and Accessories

Wardley Fish Food uses a scientifically developed formula that features high-quality protein that’s easy for your fish to digest. The large flakes are ideal for smaller fish that can’t handle larger pellets and can easily be ground into smaller, bite-size pieces.

This recipe uses fish meal, a highly concentrated form of protein that’s easy on the digestive system. It’s also fortified with vitamin C to help promote a healthy immune system and has a protein-to-fat ratio that’s balanced to support growth.

We also really like that this food contains no added dyes or chemicals that can harm your fish or cloud the water. It’s available in three different sizes, too: 1.5 ounces, three ounces, and 6.8 ounces.

9. Omega One Freeze Dried Blood Worms

Freeze-dried blood worms from Omega One are a healthy treat full of vitamins and minerals that are just as good for your tropical fish as live food. One big difference is that, since the blood worms are freeze-dried, you don’t have to worry about introducing parasites of bacteria to your tank as you would with live food.

This food is high in protein and a great way to vary your fish’s diet. Plus, contains fatty acids that improve the immune system for healthier growth. This product doesn’t use any fish meal and contains beta-carotenes for natural color enhancement.

There are two sizes to choose from, 0.46 and 0.96 ounces as well as a three-pack of the 0.46-ounce size so you can stock up if you need to.

10. Tetra Algae Wafers

If you’re looking for good food for your herbivores, these algae wafers from Tetra are a great choice. They’re available in three different sizes – 3.03 ounces, 5.3 ounces, and 72.7 ounces if you need to feed a lot of fish.

These wafers are ideal for plecos and any bottom feeders. They offer a complete diet using extrusion technology that combines the concentrated algae center with all of the other things your fish needs to round out its diet.

They’re high in fiber and easy to digest plus the clear-water formula helps keep your tank looking clean. The blend of nutrients and vitamins in this food is ideal to support your fish’s immune system and support healthy growth.

What is the Best Tropical Fish Food?

Our pick for the best tropical fish food is Tetramin Tropical Flake Food. It’s designed for top feeders because the large, wide flakes float on the surface.

This food is high in protein and is balanced with vitamins to make sure the balance is perfect for your fish’s health. Of course, that includes making sure your fish’s colors are as bright and vibrant as possible.

The large flakes are great for bigger fish because they satisfy them more easily than small ones. The mix of not only protein and vitamins but also Biotin and Omega-3 fatty acids boost the immune system to help prevent disease and gives your fish the energy it needs to really thrive.

Because the formula is so easy to digest, little waste is left behind which keeps the nitrogen level in your tank down and the water looking clean and clear.

Feed Tropical Fish FAQs

1. How much food to feed tropical fish?

The best way to think about feeding tropical fish is to consider how they would naturally feed. Think about it.

If you are used to eating 3 small meals a day and someone offers you a whole pizza for dinner but nothing for breakfast or lunch, your body wouldn’t adjust well. You’d probably eat way too much pizza for dinner then feel a bit ill.

Then, by the time breakfast and lunch came around, you’d be starving again. It’s the same with fish. You should feed them similarly to how they would naturally feed so they’re comfortable and getting the right kind of nutrition.

A good general guideline to follow is 3 flakes per fish with every feed. Believe it or not, you’re more likely to overfeed than underfeed so, as long as your fish seem healthy, they’re probably getting enough food.

Keep in mind that this is just an estimate and it depends on the size and age of your fish, the size of the pellets, and how often you’re feeding them.

A good rule of thumb to figure out how much food you should give your fish is to let them have whatever they will eat in a 2 minute period. If they scarf everything down in 30 seconds, they’re probably still hungry.

On the other hand, if there’s a lot of food left after 2 minutes have passed, it’s safe to say that you’re overfeeding your fish.

2. How often to feed tropical fish?

As we mentioned, about 3 flakes per fish per feed is a good amount to give your fish. But how many feeds should you do?

Again, try to stick to their natural routine. In their natural environment, tropical fish aren’t going to eat on a set schedule. They eat when they find food. Sometimes, that might be a few times a day or they may go a day or two between feedings. This makes it a little difficult to keep tropical fish and is one reason that it’s important to pay close attention to how much and how often they’re eating.

The best way to replicate natural feeding is to feed them small amounts about 3 times a day. And remember that every fish is different so do some research on the fish in your aquarium and try to match their natural patterns.

As we mentioned, you’re more likely to overfeed your fish than underfeed them. That’s because it’s kind of hard to understand that they don’t need to eat that much. But, if you think about how they live in the wild, it starts to come together. In the ocean, tropical fish only eat when they come across food. That could be a few times a day or a few times a week. Whatever the case, their bodies know what they need.

In a way, that’s why it’s so much easier to overfeed them. The fish are eating so much because it’s there. They don’t know that it’s going to be there again later on or tomorrow. Believe it or not, some people actually skip days during the week by only feeding their fish every other day or only 4 or 5 days a week. Fish can thrive like this because there’s less chance of overfeeding.

3. How to feed tropical fish when on holiday?

That depends on how long you’re going to be gone.

Remember, fish don’t eat every day in the wild so if you’re going to be gone for a long weekend, they’re just fine if you don’t feed them. This might seem mean or cruel but it’s what the species is used to.

Plus, some people actually incorporate a fasting day or two for their fish throughout the week so letting them go hungry for a few days isn’t typically a problem. The one exception to this is if you have young fish. The younger the fish are, the less fat they have stored which means they won’t have the reserves to last quite as long as older fish if they’re not fed.

If you’re going to be gone for a week or two, it’s probably best to make some feeding arrangements. There are a few options.

First, you can find a pet sitter to come to your home and feed your fish. You can work out a schedule that works best for them and your fish and, since they don’t need to eat every day, a friend or family member that you trust would probably be willing to help you out.

Another option is you can get an automatic feeder. These are machines that you can set to release food into the water at a set time. Some of them you can program for up to two weeks at a time!

A third option is to get a vacation feeding block. These are basically large blocks of fish food that have been designed to slowly disintegrate to release a few flakes at a time. There isn’t an exact science to how fast and how often the block will release food, but it’s a good option if you can’t find anyone to feed your fish.

There is something to consider this option, though. Not every kind of fish food is available in block form so you’ll have to decide if it’s worth the risk of introducing new food to your fish while you’re gone.

4. What to feed tropical fish when out of food?

If you run out of food, there’s really no need to panic. Most tropical fish can go a week or two without eating anything so you don’t have to try to come up with alternative food options. Just wait until you can get to the store and they will be fine.

Tropical fish can eat a few things from your kitchen, depending on the type of fish. You should research the specific kind of fish you have to figure out what’s safe and what isn’t. That said, most tropical fish can tolerate peeled peas, spinach, or lettuce cut up in small pieces, and even cucumber and zucchini diced into tiny pieces.

While these foods are a nice treat for your fish, they shouldn’t be included as part of their daily diet. Once or twice a week is fine but tropical fish foods are formulated to give your fish exactly what they need nutritionally and don’t require any other supplements.

Conclusion

The best quality tropical fish food will keep your fish happy, healthy, and beautiful. Any of the foods we reviewed would be great for your tank but our top pick is Tetramin Tropical Flake Food. It’s formulated with the vitamins, minerals, and proteins your fish need to thrive.