Tropical is a famoust firm which produce fish food.
Diskusari brings to you a big interview with Mr.Bekir Oder
Mr.Oder can you introduce yourself and Tropical firm?
Tropical is one the world’s leading petfood manufacturers with exceptionally wide range of products and one of the most technologically advanced production lines, which can produce even smallest food granules of 0.5 mm. Its offer includes more than 1000 stock keeping units and it’s enriched with 40 new products on average every year. Following our motto – We feed, we care, we love – all feed formulas are based on natural ingredients and developed with the support of scientific institutes, research centres and world-famous pet feeding experts.
As the International Sales Manager at Tropical I coordinate exports of our products to over 80 countries worldwide. We have a strong position in Europe, but we also experience a fast growth in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Taiwan, China and Australia. We treat every customer as an independent entity and even the smallest market is important to us. Our extensive export experience in allows us to provide professional advice at every stage of sales and delivery. We have competent advisors who speak different languages and guide customers throughout the transaction process. Our experience and flexible approach are valued by our customers worldwide.
You start to produce a lot of foods for discus fishes in granulated and flakes forms, can you tell us which foods shows best results,and difference between flakes and granules?
From the fish’s point of view, it does not matter what form of food it takes. You can achieve the same results feeding your fish with both flake and granulated foods. In the case of discus fish, aquarists simply choose the food they like best, However, it is a fact that our offer for discus fish is dominated by granulated food. The choice is greater compared to flake foods for these fish. And hence it allows you to create a more varied diet. Here the key factor for both flakes and granules is both forms should be in the best conditions physically and made of a good dedicated composition of ingredients. We also offer soft granules and sticks for discus if their owners think that their discus need so.
In food products,Tropical have a Standard and Premium line,which is diferences between them,(better components,different additives…)?
Indeed, our fish foods are categorized across various lines. This makes it easier to navigate through our wide range of products. Standard Line includes basic formulated foods that ensure proper growth, development and spawning of most aquarium fish. This line includes our oldest products, popular among aquarists for over 40 years. They are distinguished by yellow labels with graphics referring to these historical foods from the first years of the company’s activity. Their composition provides the fish with all the necessary nutrients. However, if the aquarist is looking for modern solutions and functional additives, they should choose food from the Premium Line, as well as the Soft, Pro Defence or Gel Formula lines. The Premium Line covers most of our products and to make it easier for the clients to find the right food, we have categorized our foods according to their intended use. The colour of the bar at the bottom of the label indicates which group of foods it belongs to.
Yellow category – universal foods
Purple category – foods for cichlids
Green category – foods for bottom-feeding fish and crustaceans
Red category – foods dedicated to specific species or groups of fish
Blue category – foods for marine fish
Discus lovers might be then interested in products from the purple and yellow categories.
Premium Line foods contain a number of attractive additives, which ensure excellent condition, beautiful coloration and greater resistance to diseases.
Tropical make a good deal when make a cooperation with mr.Jack Wattley,can you tell Us what he suggest?
Jack Wattley was a world-popular authority for aquarists around the world. When his family informed us about his passing away we all as Tropical family felt like we lost a member, we are still very sad about it. . We worked together, Jack was the ambassador for our discus foods, but above all he was our friend, family. We will miss him very much.
Cooperation with Jack was great, very inspiring, we shared the same opinions and attitudes. Jack knew everything about discus breeding and we created food for fish, which he appreciated and recommended all over the world. Our plan was simple. We wanted professional breeders and hobbyists all over the world to choose Tropical foods and not to have to look for another effective feeding program for fish. We guaranteed the highest quality of formulas in our foods, which are the effect of many years of experience, while Jack fed his fish with our food on a daily basis. This way he could observe how they affected the life and health of his breeding, which allowed him to be sure about the excellent quality of our products.
Tropical put on the market first granulated food for wild discus fishes,can you tell us difference between wild and some other granulated foods for discus? and one another question is, on the market still exist discus gran wild but not exist on the Tropical web page (is it out of production or some other reason)?
Tropical Discus Gran Wild is still available on our website. You can find it among foods for cichlids in our Premium Line. 
Tropical Discus Gran Wild is a multi-ingredient food in the form of slowly sinking granules with added algae, krill and fruit. Its formula has been developed to support the health and condition of wild discus. It takes into account their needs, which are completely different from those of the farmed fish. The variety of ingredients used, such as fruits, is striking. Thanks to its delicate texture, which softens when placed in the water, it is readily accepted even by wild-caught fish. It contains algae: spirulina (Arthrospira platensis), chlorella (Chlorella vulgaris), and Ascophyllum nodosum and Laminaria digitata, known as Kelp algae. Unsaturated fatty acids from spirulina and chlorella, protein (rich in essential amino acids) and vitamins from chlorella, together with macro nutrients and trace elements from Kelp algae (including iodine, chromium, selenium and iron) ensure excellent condition, intensive growth and vitality in fish. High share of ingredients of plant origin, including alage and fruit, reflects discus’ natural diet. Fish regularly fed with TROPICAL DISCUS GRAN WILD granulate receive a large dose of chlorophyll – a green pigment, whose concentrated sources are spirulina and chlorella. Chlorophyll limits the development of unwanted bacteria in gastrointestinal tract and prevents inflammatory conditions. Active substances of garlic and spirulina enhance fish’s immune system to effectively fight pathogens. Carotenoids from krill, red pepper and other sources and added astaxanthin maintain fish’s natural coloration and prevent fading. Due to its strengthening properties this food is recommended for feeding fish undergoing quarantine, acclimatization period or recovery after medical treatment
One of the biggest exporter from Brazil mr.Vitor Hugo Quaresma use wild gran on their fishes,what is his feedback?
Vitor Hugo Quaresma has been working with us for many years. I think he is one of the most professional and well known wild discus exporter in the world ! Santarém Discus farm, located in a small Brazilian town, has been fishing discus and distributing them worldwide for 10 years now. I am very happy that Vitor feeds his fish exclusively with Tropical products. It’s amazing that fish that swam 3-4 days earlier in the waters of the Amazon jungle are so eager to eat our food. Vitor was delighted that it was so easy to start feeding wild-caught fish with ready-made foods. In Santarem Discus, Vitor’s company, only Tropical discus foods are used, mainly the Discus Gran Wild for feeding wild discus and other demanding species of fish caught in their natural environment. We had a similar opinion about the whole series of foods for discus. They are excellent foods that keep fish in great health and coloration, do not interfere with filtration systems and allow to maintain excellent water quality. I recommend them in particular because of their rich composition and diversity. Our offer includes flakes, granules, foods for young discus, for mature fish and for wild species. We also offer an excellent colour-enhancing food, Astacolor and vitality-enhancing food D-Vital Plus, which promotes the reproduction of fish.
In his breeding farm Vitor also tested our new product – DIY Gel Formula food. The effects were amazing, his wild discus reacted enthusiastically to the food!
He admitted that the new gel formula was a real surprise. Everybody knows that wild-caught discus fish are difficult to feed with any ready-made food. When he tested Tropical Gel Formula, fish had been already accustomed to Tropical granules and flakes. But they suddenly got a new food with totally different characteristics: different texture, smell etc. And everybody was totally taken by surprise by their reactions. Despite the change of form (gel food is innovative in terms of form and consistency), fish eagerly ate new food without wasting a single piece. It’s really amazing that wild discus react so well to Tropical foods!
Granulated foods for discus fishes are changed in shape (before was like a small discs),can you tell us why?
Indeed, the shape of Tropical Discus Gran D-50 Plus has changed. Originally it was a small, regular granulate with closed pores and very high hydrostability, we had this change quite some years ago though , but the reason is simply to listen the markets. All of our granules , no matter their form and shape they have high hydrostability, they do not keep expanding in the water, they got softer in water without desolving their shape or leaking any nutritions into water, however it is a general habit of discus owners all around the world that they prefer the irregular granules without closed pores, so we changed ours accordingly, but it is still a very clean product that you can see in their see through tins, they are dust free!
Before few (if I remember good before 3 years) Tropical put on the market soft granulated food, can you tell us advantages of soft food for fishes?
Soft Line granules were launched in 2016. For the first time, we presented them at the Nuremberg trade fair, which took place at that time. They were awarded with several Innovation Aawards worldwide. 
Soft Line foods are highly nutritious, easily assimilable granules that do not disintegrate in water. Due to their high hydrostability they retain their original shape and their swelling is reduced to minimum. Soft non-swelling granules ensure easier digestion and greater safety of fish. High hydrostability of the food also limits the release of nutrients into the aquarium water and does not cause its cloudiness. The composition of Soft Line foods includes: herring, crustaceans, insect larvae, a few species of algae and immunity enhancers such as beta-glucan, garlic, prebiotic from algae and vitamin C. Due to their soft texture and a wide range of components Soft Line foods ensure convenient feeding that matches habits presented by the animals in the wild. To sum up ; it has advantages of feeding fish that not eager to feed with regular hard type of food , even most fragile fish doesn’t need to do the -spit out and in process- , fish can collect the soft granules faster so less or none food fall in the roots of a planted aquarium, a healthy and delicious formulation increases the palatability even higher.
America soft is excellent food all 3 size have a same contains,you make a really good job with recipe,and one detail which we can see in many many products is a red pepper,can you tell us a secret with pepper?
Thank you very much, it is very important for us to hear such feedback from specialists like you.
It is no secret. Red pepper is a source of carotenoids, which not only intensify the colour of the fish, but also have a positive effect on the condition of the fish, their maturation, reproduction and resistance to diseases. These properties are widely known, however, hardly anybody dared to use such an ingredient in fish feeding. Tests that we carried out confirmed that fish willingly accepted this additive in their food. According to the principle that the more varied the diet of fish, the better, we are never afraid to look for new interesting raw materials. That was the case with red peppers, calanus, insects, fruit and birds. The formulas of our food can be really surprising. 
In our Discus society try a lot of food from Tropical spectre,every food is excellent,but soft granulated food is contains less proteins then other foods for discus, is that something new in diet or some other reason?
Soft Line Foods are not dedicated to discus. America Soft is a universal food for popular species from South and North America. Therefore, the protein level (41%) in this food could not be as high as in foods dedicated to farmed discus only. Of course America Soft can be fed to discus, even as a staple food, because the protein source and other ingredients we use to create this formula are from very high quality and diversed and their digestion rate is very high, fish gets the best out of these ingredients that it will be enough to keep a healthy, beautiful discus. However, we should not forget to diversify their diet with other foods, including high-protein foods, especially in the case of juvenile fish, which grow intensively.
Now again some new products Pro Defence,new product not too much info about, can you descript to us little better?
These are very interesting foods, which aroused the interest of professionals. Let me first explain what a probiotic is. A probiotic is a living micro-organism that, if administered in adequate quantities, has a beneficial effect on the health of the body. These are usually bacteria, but fungi and even algae are also used. Probiotic organisms are really sophisticated killers. The mechanisms at their disposal allow them to colonize the intestines and effectively get rid of the competition, which includes pathogenic organisms.
Probiotic organisms show great ability to settle on the surface of intestinal epithelium. In this way they gain a comfortable place to live. They create a kind of barrier, preventing other bacteria from settling down. Moreover, they produce a number of substances that inhibit the development of microorganisms. These include organic acids, which lower the pH in the intestines, thus reducing the incidence of many pathogens. Hydrogen peroxide tears apart the disulphide bridges in bacterial proteins, as well as proteolytic proteins, which have a destructive effect on bacterial cell walls and bacteriocins – natural antibiotics. Thanks to their vitality probiotic organisms also limit the food resources of other microorganisms.However, what is particularly interesting is immunostimulation. Extremely complicated mechanism of probiotic organisms’ influence on the host’s immune system. Bacteria stimulate the lymphatic system associated with the gastrointestinal tract to produce lymphotics, which in turn produce IgA immunoglobulins antibodies, which are the first line of defence of the body against harmful factors of the external environment.
There is a number of benefits of using probiotics. Probiotics improve nutrition through the synthesis of essential ingredients such as vitamins and short-chain fatty acids and enzymes. In addition, they increase the digestibility of nutrients and at the same time increase the resistance to infections, which in turn contribute to better growth. They eliminate unwanted bacteria, and thus the bacterial toxins produced by them, which usually inhibit growth. The beneficial effects of probiotics on fish reproduction and the immune system were also confirmed.
Bacillus subtilis is a very well researched probiotic organism used in feeding consumer and ornamental fish. These bacteria can be found in our Pro Defence food.
But Pro Defence is not just another food with probiotics, it’s a complete food with high protein and other very strong natural immunity boosters : Beta-glucan, Carotenoids and Multivitamin. If used regularly, it stabilizes intestinal microflora, which increases food utilization, positively influences reproduction, increasing fish’s fertility and the survival rate of the fry and alleviates stress caused by transportation, spawning, intra-species aggression, rivalry etc. The synergic effect of probiotic, beta-glucan, vitamins and carotenoids significantly improves fish’s overall condition and their immune system. It is available as M and S granules and Pro Defence Micro dust for fry. Pro Defence Micro is with 60% protein so it is excellent for discus breeding particularly.
And one other new products is gel form food Omnivore, Carnivore and Herbivore, which you recommend for discus fishes?
For farmed discus, I would recommend Gel Formula Carnivore and Omnivore, and for the wild – Herbivore, and secondly Omnivore. The formulas of these three products are extremely rich. Gel Formula Omnivore contains 3 algae (8.5%) including Spirulina platensis, Chlorella vulgaris and Ascophyllum nodosum and Laminaria digitata, krill (3%), garlic, red pepper extract and fruit
Gel Formula Herbivore is based mainly on algae. We used here 5 species of algae: spirulina (Spirulina platensis), chlorella (Chlorella vulgaris), Lithothamnium calcareum and Kelp algae – Ascophyllum nodosum and Laminaria digitata. The food also intensifies coloration and facilitates fat metabolism.
Gel Formula Carnivore contains crustaceans (shrimps 8.3%, krill 7%, calanus 1.2 %, molluscs (squid 4.2%) and insect larvae (3.5%). Herring, insects and aquatic invertebrates are the source of high quality protein and Omega-3, Omega-6 and Omega-9 fatty acids, which ensure excellent condition, intensive growth and vitality in fish. Food intensifies fish’s coloration thanks to its high content of carotenoids from krill, shrimps, calanus and red pepper and added astaxanthin. High dose of beta-glucan improves fish’s immunity.
Can we feed all size of discus fishes with gel form food ,fry also?
Of course. This food allows to obtain various forms of both floating and sinking food. The size and shape of the portion also depends only on the aquarist. You can also use it to create natural feeding grounds. It is enough to distribute the food on stone or glass plate, which after settling are placed in the aquarium.
Mr.Oder thanks to accepting our interview, we wish you a lot of success in your work.
Kind regards,