DrTim's AquaticsBene-Fish-al® Freshwater Fish Food - Economy 8.8 oz. Bag

I really wanted to like this product. It was my hope for easier feeding, clean-up, and less mess. The problem is (like so many others have reported) my fish will not go near it. They initially tried a little and then never came back. Now I'm back to Omega One min-pellets and flakes. I have six neon tetras, six ember tetras, and six pygmy corys. NONE will touch this stuff. Even feeding them nothing else until they are super hungry didn't work (as recommended). I also have two mystery snails and they won't touch it either and they eat almost anything else.I will say this. A lot of folks say it stinks. I do not think it does. I think it smells really nice. Kinda of like the ocean. It is super easy to make, and the add-ons are nice. It may be pricey to start, but long-term this could be so much more affordable, if it worked.The only other thing I noted is that I have never had leeches in my tank until I started using this. I don't think they could have come with it because it's just powder, but maybe there was one egg somewhere in statis from months of my tank being live and it (the leech) loved this stuff. LOL. Maybe it's great leech food, but my fish and snails hate it.I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wanted to love this product, but it's a waste if the fish won't touch it.

I am very satisfied with this food for my fancy and black moor goldies. It's interesting that it smells like dog food, though. I didn't expect that based on other reviews. I tried making my own gel food from online recipes, but they didn't seem to sit well with the 3 yr old fancy, so I was a bit nervous. I am very happy this food has the gelatin pre-mixed as it holds together well. It seems to work better for my fancy and that makes me happy. When mixed per the instructions, it only fills up about 62 1/2" x 1/2" cubes of a 90 cube tray. The instructions say to freeze it for 2-4 hours, but I find in a standard hard plastic 90 1/2" x 1/2" cube tray that I only need to freeze it for about 40 minutes on the top shelf if I want to feed it that day. It sets pretty quickly. Feeding 2 cubes a day (one for breakfast & one for dinner), one batch will last a month. That's definitely more economical than buying pre-made frozen foods and certainly more nutritious. I double bag it for the freezer to avoid freezer burn. I have used the add-ins of seaweed in the food, as well as soaking it in garlic then feeding as a treat. I don't feed any dry foods to avoid bloat, so this has worked out perfectly. I hope there will be other varieties of this food coming soon, or at least more varieties of the add-ins. I do plan on mixing in the frozen Hikari krill because krill really brings out my fancy's colors. This is also a great way to make your own medicated food. I anxiously awaited my first order to make some medicated food with Seachem Kanaplex. Per Seachem's instructions, you need 1 tbsp of food to add the medicine to. So first I made the food, scooped out 1 tbsp of food, which is about 7 1/2" cubes when mixed per instructions, then froze it for about 30 mins so the food was cold enough that the medicine wouldn't be affected. After mixing in the medicine, I finished freezing the food in the 7 or 8 cubes. I have also added Boyd's liquid vitamins and Seachem garlic to the gel mix and did not reduce the amount of water added, so that will yield a few more cubes of food (and one more cube for medicated food). This has been exactly what I've been looking for to feed my precious goldies.

This does not smell good and it made the water brown.

The directions are very clear and everything you need is included in the package. Can't say that my fish were overly excited by this food, but I'll keep trying different mix-ins to find what they like.

Great food for all fish. Guppies love it. Only this i dont like is that it stinks while making it

Seems to be doable

Dr. Tim's Aquatics Bene-Fish-Al is absolutely loved by my goldfish, though they still get some of their usual pellets at mealtime. The mix does have a strong fishy smell, and I found I do need to add slightly more of the bulk powder and water in order to fill the silicone tray completely, the latter being the reason for the 4-star rating. It would also be great to have more than 2 wooden spatulas included within the kit since I had to discard one early on. Still, it's a good product and I would recommend it for fish lovers.

Leaves little residue and the fish like it. Only bed part is the smell while preparing it is terrible.