What Do Goldfish Eat: Choosing the best food to feed your goldfish
Aside from knowing the right size of fish tank, another question that arises for newbies is what do goldfish eat. Aquatic pet owner must ensure giving the best and healthy food for goldfish to promote growth and beautiful color.
It is difficult to keep a goldfish, especially for a newbie. That is why it is essential to know everything including the best food to feed to your goldfish. Knowing the food they eat in the wild can help what to feed them in captivity.
What Do Goldfish Eat?
By nature, goldfish eat smaller fish, crustaceans, insects, and plants. Thus, if you plan to have goldfish as an aquatic pet, keep in mind to include animals and plants in their natural diet. It may confuse you because there are commercial foods available to feed for captive goldfish. You can find foods such as sinking pellets, floating pellets, flakes, gel, and greens. There are also brine shrimp (freeze-dried, frozen, live), bloodworms, and peas without skin.
1. Flakes
Among these foods, flakes are popular, but they lost nutrients when put in the water.
2. Floating pellets
Feeding these foods to your goldfish enables you to pick up the pellets if you notice your fish has eaten enough. However, keep in mind that it may cause digestive discomfort. It is because a lot of air may ingest when eating from the surface. Worse scenario may lead to swim bladder issue.
3. Sinking pellets
It’s difficult to remove unconsumed sinking pellets, but it is the most natural way of feeding your goldfish. Once decompose, the pellets may cause cloudy and bad odor water in the tank.
4. Gel food
It is the easiest to digest food for goldfish. It is rich in nutrients than pellets or flakes.
5. Daphnia
This is also included in feeding live food for your goldfish. They are small and can be found in any dirty area.
6. Mosquito larva
Some also feed their goldfish with mosquito larva. But I am not advising to culture this kind of food for they can harm us too.
Now you know the foods to feed for your goldfish, you must also know the frequency of feeding your aquatic pet. It is necessary to avoid health problems that may arise because of overfeeding. Goldfish can thrive without feeding, even for two weeks. For your information, goldfish easily experience digestive problem because they don’t have the stomach. That’s why we recommend feeding them 30 to 60 seconds three times a day.
They have the characteristic of scavenger because they never feel full. You will notice they spend more time looking for food. Good thing is that they are cold-blooded. Thus, nothing to worry about burning extra calories. Putting leafy greens and live plants inside the tank to munch can make your pet healthier, less bored, and happier.
How many pellets or flakes to give?
The quantity of pellets or flakes to feed to your goldfish depends on several factors. Consider the water temperature inside the tank, the frequency of feeding, and the age. If you are feeding dry pellets, soak them first in a cup of water before giving to your pet. Otherwise, it can upset the digestive system of the fish.
To determine how many pellets to feed, observe your goldfish. It will give you idea the number of pellets to give the next feeding. If there are more left over pellets, reduce the amount for the next feeding. It is challenging to determine how many pellets to give each feeding. That’s why it is your responsibility as a pet owner to keep in track the feeding time.
When feeding your aquatic pet, follow a schedule and stick to it.
What to avoid?
As mentioned above, gel food is the healthiest for your goldfish. Thus, avoid foods including:
1. Grains
We do not recommend grain foods like rice, barley, corn, whole wheat, or wheat flour for your goldfish. Because grains are not part of their natural diet. It can lead to digestive problems, that is why consult first a veterinarian.
2. Land animals
Some pet food companies integrate land animals when producing goldfish food. Be careful about this. Goldfish do not consume land animals such as pork, chicken, beef, egg, and others.
3. Fillers
If you buy goldfish food, look for the one that has a “whole fish meal” label. This way you know that it offers healthier meals and not those processed fish or unwanted leftovers.
Why Avoid Overfeeding?
Overfeeding your aquatic pet with foods rich in fat and protein may lead to health problems. Too much fat can cause a fluid imbalance that may lead to Dropsy. Giving more food to your goldfish may lead to producing more waste, and the chain reaction inside the tank will suffer.
- Decreased oxygen levels–When the waste decays, an aerobic process occurs that uses the dissolved oxygen. Thus, the oxygen level inside the tank will decrease.
- High nitrites and ammonia–Excessive fish waste can lead to an increase in production of nitrites and ammonia harmful to fish.
- Poor health–If the water quality is poor, it will cause stress to your goldfish. The protective slime coat of the fish will weaken, making your pet susceptible to diseases and parasites.
- Algae blooms–Overfeeding causes excess waste that makes algae to flourish in the environment. Algae can be good to your aquarium, but allowing it to grow more is not healthy for your pet.
- Bad smells–The decomposing waste will make the tank smell nasty.
- Extra maintenance–Overproduction of waste requires frequent cleaning and maintenance. Otherwise, it can clog the filter system and disrupt the nitrogen cycle.
What do we feed our goldfish?
We feed them with Shikoku sinking pellets and floating pellets.
We also feed them with flakes and other sinking pellets which is very good in their health and body improvements.
Final Thoughts
Goldfish is a favorite aquatic pet. If you want to keep one, know their dietary requirements. Before buying food for goldfish, read first the ingredients. For newbies, the best thing to do is ask a veterinarian to ensure you’re getting the right food.
Consider all the information discussed in this post so you will know which food to feed and to avoid. Keep in mind that your pet will ingest the food. That’s why choose the one that is healthy for your fish. Proper feeding will make your fish grow healthy and vibrant.
