Eheim stirs up the aquatics market

Over the years Eheim has developed extensive skills in the aquarium field. In the past, the company based in Deizisau in southern Germany has applied this knowledge solely to the development of technical equipment, but this is about to change: in future it intends to market a full range of aquarium supplies. Underlying this transformation is the company's goal of not only improving the life of fish by means of high-quality technology, but also of focusing on the entire cycle comprising food, water care and equipment.A study of various types of fish food that was commissioned by Eheim and undertaken by the Research Center for Nutrition and Food Sciences at the Technical University of Munich revealed that some of the products offered by retailers leave a lot to be desired in terms of quality. Some food products were found to contain an excessive amount of raw ash, attributable to a high fish meal content. In many of the products, according to the scientists, the raw fibre content is too high, resulting in poor digestibility of the food. If fish produce too much excreta due to deficient nutrition, however, this leads in turn to greater water pollution, which promotes algae growth. This is known to be a major problem for many aquarists. Eheim promises aquarium hobbyists a practical benefit: the high quality of its new food means that less of it is required, yielding a financial saving too.

Eheim aims to go in a completely different direction with its fish food. The new line, which is being launched under the name Eheim Professionel food, will make its debut at Interzoo and should appear in stores in mid-June.Measurements carried out by the Technical University of Munich of the raw ash and raw fibre content of the new food line produce much better values on the whole than rival products. According to these measurements, the raw ash content of the Eheim food is 8 per cent, compared with as much as 12.36 per cent for one competitor. The scientists recorded the proportion of raw fibre in the Eheim food at 2 per cent, whereas values up to 5.3 per cent were recorded for competitors.Another factor that dictates the quality of food for ornamental fish is the protein/fat ratio. Eheim cites current technical literature that recommends a ratio of 3:1. This is exactly the ratio measured in the Eheim food, while rival products were found to have a…