Bites of insight.
Three-minute reads on ingredients, process, and the aquarium hobby — written by the team, no fluff.
Fish Food Ingredients to Avoid: A Field Guide to the Fine Print
Corn, soy, wheat, potato protein, wood pulp and dye: a tour of the ingredients that keep showing up in fish food despite having no business underwater, and how to spot a label worth trusting.
Krill vs Fish Meal: Why the First Ingredient Tells You Almost Everything
One bag opens with “fish meal.” The other opens with Whole Antarctic Krill. Same shelf, wildly different dinners. Here is what those two first lines actually mean.
Sinking vs Floating Pellets: Read the Mouth, Not the Marketing
Floating or sinking? The bag will not tell you, but your fish has been answering that question its whole life. The answer is printed on its face.
Black Soldier Fly Larvae in Fish Food: The Oldest Item on the Menu Is Back
Wild fish have eaten insects since before there were dinosaurs. Black soldier fly larvae finally put that meal back in the bag: dense protein, natural calcium, and a footprint small enough to fit in a warehouse.
Why Is My Cichlid Losing Colour? Six Causes and One Usual Suspect
A cichlid that fades is trying to tell you something. Stress, water, tank politics and illness all play a part, but the most common culprit lives in the food bag. Here is how to work down the list.
What Is Astaxanthin in Fish Food? Meet the Ocean’s Favourite Pigment
It turns salmon pink, flamingos famous and aquarium fish spectacular. Here is what astaxanthin actually is, where it comes from, and how to make sure your fish are getting the real thing.
The Best Food for Goldfish (Spoiler: They Don’t Have a Stomach)
Goldfish are the most popular pet fish on Earth and the most misunderstood at dinnertime. Here’s what to feed a fish with no stomach, a bottomless appetite, and twenty potential years ahead of it.
What Do Plecos Eat? Feeding the Janitor Who Won’t Work for Free
That sucker-mouthed catfish wasn’t put on Earth to clean your glass. Here’s what plecos actually need to eat, and why “he eats the algae” is a slow-motion starvation plan.
The Best Food for Guppies, Platies and Mollies (Tiny Mouths, Big Opinions)
Livebearers are the easiest fish in the hobby, right up until you feed them pellets they can’t fit in their mouths. A guide to particle size, plant matter, and keeping up with the fry factory.
Why Krill Makes Fish More Colourful (It’s the Same Reason Flamingos Are Pink)
Fish can’t make red. Neither can flamingos. The pigment behind both is astaxanthin, and the densest natural source your fish will ever meet is Whole Antarctic Krill.
What Do Betta Fish Eat? Wild Diet vs. Your Tank
A betta in the wild has never seen a flake. Here’s what these little carnivores actually eat in the rice paddies of Southeast Asia, and how to match it at home.
How Much Should You Feed Aquarium Fish? (And Why Your Water Goes Cloudy)
Overfeeding is the #1 beginner mistake in the hobby, and the usual culprit behind cloudy water, algae and ammonia spikes. Here’s the simple rule that fixes it.
What Do African Cichlids Eat? Feeding for Color, Growth and No Bloat
Mbuna graze algae off rocks; haps and peacocks hunt. Feeding the wrong diet is the fastest route to Malawi bloat, here’s how to get it right.
Water clarity isn’t a luxury. It’s a diagnostic
Cloudy water is the most common complaint we hear from new aquarists. Most of the time, the food is doing the talking, and most of the time, the fix isn’t a stronger filter.
Why whole ingredients matter, and what gets left out
Most aquatic feeds rely on cheap fillers and processed by-products. Here’s what “whole-ingredient” really means at NorthFin, and why it changes how your fish actually digest the food.
What ash content tells you about a fish food (and why higher isn’t better)
Every guaranteed analysis lists "Ash (max)." Most aquarists ignore it. They shouldn’t, it’s the cleanest single signal of how the food was made.
Inside the extruder: how low-heat steam shapes every pellet
Most fish feeds are pushed through high-temperature dry extrusion to save cost. We use twin-screw steam extrusion at low heat, and the difference shows up in nutrient retention.
Matching formula to species: a five-minute guide
Picking the right NorthFin formula is mostly about understanding three things: what your fish naturally eats, where they feed in the water column, and how big their mouth is.