Knowing what to feed your goldfish and the proper amount of food is critical to your pet’s well-being.
Follow us if you want to know the basics of feeding goldfish, and learn how to choose the type of food that best suits your goldfish.
When one is new to goldfish care, the most common question is what do goldfish eat? As with any other pet, proper nutrition is crucial for the health of our pets.
And taking care of a goldfish (carassius auratus) is not as simple as people think. Overfeeding, not feeding enough, or using the wrong type of goldfish food are the main reasons many goldfish don’t live more than a few months.
Here’s everything you need to know about what goldfish can eat, how to feed them, and how to find the best food to support the growth and color of your goldfish.
First, let’s talk about what kind of food goldfish eat in the wild and in captivity.
What kind of food does the Goldfish feed on?
So what is the right food for my goldfish?
First, you have to know the different ways that food is sold for a goldfish.
Food for captive goldfish is typically offered in the form of flakes, floating pellets, sinking pellets, or gel. Other foods that gold carp may consume include skinless peas, bloodworms, and brine shrimp (live, frozen, or freeze-dried).
Gel food
Goldfish gel food is a highly recommended food preparation that can be used as the most primary source of food for your goldfish’s diet.
Gel food does not usually contain any bulking agents or artificial additives, so it can be a good alternative to flakes or granules.
You can even make your own gel food at home. Gel food is simple to prepare using a setting agent such as gelatin. You can include the protein-based ingredients your goldfish like when you make your own gel food.
You can also add additional items like red bell pepper to help enhance the color of your goldfish, as well as spirulina, or other vegetables for extra fiber.
Gel food is a food that is specially designed for the nutrition and digestion of goldfish.
Flakes
The flakes, flakes or flakes have become a very popular food for various reasons. Most flake products contain the required nutrient levels that your pets need daily in their diet.
They are also easy to eat and tend to stay on the surface long enough for your goldfish to consume the necessary amount of food.
In addition, dry flake food for goldfish prevents your aquarium water from being further polluted.
This is important as some other types of food tend to sink to the bottom and rot. Instead the scales remain afloat and are usually eaten whole before they have a chance to fall to the bottom of the tank.
The downside is that they start to lose their nutrients as soon as they hit the water, and it’s quite common for aquarists to go overboard when feeding their goldfish.
Goldfish do not need much food and often suffer from diseases closely related to excess food. Make sure not to add too many flakes. A little will suffice.
Pellets
You might also consider pellet goldfish food, which seems to be a popular choice for feeding larger goldfish, such as Japanese koi.
Pellets, like flakes, are a great way to ensure that your goldfish receives a sufficient amount of nutrients on a daily basis.
However, unlike flakes, which stay afloat and are easy to see, be aware of the fact that pellets sink to the bottom of the tank faster than flakes.
Sinking pellets offer the most natural way for goldfish to feed, although uneaten pellets are more difficult to retrieve. This means they are more likely to break down inside the tank, causing cloudy, dirty water and creating unwanted bacteria that could be harmful to your goldfish.
Therefore, this type of feed could cause more contamination of the tank water and thus require a greater number of water changes than if you were using goldfish flakes.
On the other hand, using pellets makes it much easier to determine how much food is needed to adequately feed your goldfish.
You can also find some goldfish food in floating pellet format. These are easier to retrieve once your goldfish has had enough time to eat. The downside is that eating pellets from the surface of the water can cause your goldfish to take in a lot of air when they eat, causing digestive upset and problems with their swim bladder.
Goldfish Feeding Tips
It should be noted that they are warm water fish that do not need a diet rich in protein. Goldfish are the most popular coldwater aquarium fish, and these types of fish need a diet rich in carbohydrates and vitamins.
Be careful, goldfish eat everything
One tip to keep in mind is that goldfish cannot tell food apart from objects or debris that are not meant to be eaten. Goldfish eat almost anything that looks like food.
That means you have to be careful not to accidentally throw anything other than food into your goldfish ‘s tank. If it happens to you by accident, remove it immediately.
One of the most common accidents is when feeding your goldfish, some kind of food remains inevitably falls into the water when the scales or pellets are placed.
This can have devastating consequences. As you may already know, goldfish are prone to a number of diseases such as dropsy and all it takes is a foreign bacteria to come into contact with in the water. Before you know it, you’ll have your goldfish upside down in the aquarium.
Make sure you always sanitize your hands before mealtime. This will prevent any unwanted bacteria from entering your goldfish’s environment.
How often do goldfish feed
For those wondering how often to feed goldfish or how many times goldfish feed per day, you may be in for a surprise when you find out that these types of freshwater aquarium fish eat very little.
In fact, you can go on vacation for up to two weeks without feeding your goldfish, and they’ll be fine. This does not mean that you do not get an automatic fish feeder to help you in your responsibility.
Goldfish don’t have a stomach, so feeding them too much in one sitting can cause a lot of digestive problems. Generally, it is more than enough to feed your goldfish for 30-60 seconds, two or three times a day.
Because they don’t have a stomach, goldfish never feel full. They are scavengers, so their instinct is to spend all day looking for food. They may act as if they are starving, but since they are cold-blooded, they do not need to consume additional calories to burn and keep their bodies warm.
Having live plants or leafy greens in a vegetable clip can provide your goldfish with something healthy to eat throughout the day, which can help make your goldfish healthier, happier, and less bored.
What is the best time to feed goldfish?
Many aquarists use to feed goldfish late at night, early in the morning and at midday.
Whatever schedule you choose, make sure you can stick to it, so your goldfish know when to expect their next meal. Since they have no stomach, they are used to rummaging all the time, they are constantly hungry.
How many flakes do I put to feed the goldfish?
Ideally, you should keep careful track of how many scales you feed your goldfish until you have an idea of how much food they need per meal.
As a general rule of thumb, you should only feed your goldfish as much as they can eat in 60 seconds or less, and only two or three times a day.
- If your goldfish eats all the flakes within 60 seconds the first time you feed them, then you know to add more flakes at the next feeding.
- If you find that you have to take a lot of flakes out of the tank after 60 seconds, then you know you need to put less flakes next time.
How much pellets do I use to feed my goldfish?
With pellets, you should soak them in some tank water before feeding them to your goldfish, as dry pellets can upset your pets digestive system.
The first time, you will have to guess how many pellets you need. Put them in the tank for the recommended 30-60 seconds and see how many pellets they eat in that time.
If all the pellets are eaten in less than 60 seconds, then you know to put more pellets during the next feed. If there are any pellets left after 60 seconds, then you will need to add less during the next feed.
It can take some time to figure out the optimal amount of pellets to feed your goldfish. But if you keep careful track of how many pellets you use during each meal, and how quickly they consume the pellets, you can adjust until you have a good idea of exactly how many pellets they need.
What can goldfish eat if I don’t have goldfish food?
In fact, putting green leaves in the tank in a vegetable tong will give your goldfish something to eat when they think they are starving between meals.
My goldfish does not eat
There are several reasons why your goldfish might not be eating.
The first thing to consider is your pet’s environment. Haven’t you cleaned the tank in a long time? Is there rotten food in the aquarium? Did you fill the tank with untreated tap water? Maybe the water filter is dirty?
Any change in your goldfish’s environment could cause it to stop eating, so the first thing you should do is at least check, if not clean, your tank from top to bottom, including the filter.
It would also be worth getting some pH strips to check the acidity level of the water.
If your goldfish’s tank appears to be in good shape, check the expiration date and information on your goldfish’s food. Goldfish food can go bad after its expiration date, obviously, but it can also go bad sooner if improperly stored.
For example, if it needs to be kept in a cool, dry place, then placing it near an open window in a humid environment could spoil the food before the expiration date.
If the tank is clean and the food is fine… then what?
The fish get sick. If your goldfish hasn’t eaten in a while and is also showing other signs of illness such as white spots, raised scales, swelling, unnatural growths… talk to your vet for advice.
Goldfish are very sensitive to the transition from one environment to another. If you recently changed your goldfish, perhaps to clean the tank, then it’s natural that your goldfish will react to the stress by not eating. Give it a day or two to acclimate to the new environment before you worry too much.
Conclusions about feeding goldfish
While goldfish are often listed as pets for children, their dietary needs are more complicated than most might expect.
Goldfish make wonderful pets when a little effort is put into finding the best food for them.
A final review of the recommendations regarding the feeding of goldfish:
- Be careful not to overfeed your goldfish. They probably need less food than manufacturers recommend to stay healthy and reduce the amount of waste they produce. Feed your goldfish two to three times a day for 60 seconds per feed, which is usually less than what goldfish food manufacturers recommend.
- Leafy green vegetables in a vegetable clip or skinless peas can be a good way to add nutrients to your goldfish’s diet without overfeeding them.
- Bloodworms and brine shrimp, whether live, frozen, or freeze-dried, can be a great supplement to your goldfish’s diet.
- Consistency is the key. Since goldfish are always hungry from having no stomach, they will appreciate evenly spaced meals so they know when they will be fed each day.
- Keep your tank and filter clean to keep your goldfish happy and healthy.
Don’t forget that their diet determines the quality of their lives in the same way that your diet determines your overall health and well-being. If you feed your goldfish the food suggested in this article, you will be giving it a better chance to thrive.
