Feeder Goldfish Nutrition

[aquariumfishguy]

ITA that Comet Goldfish (what non-goldfish keepers call "feeders") are crap as far as nutritional values go...I keep Tropical fish as well as Goldfish. The Goldfish I have are mainly fancy goldfish and ones I purchase at auctions. I dont buy many Comets because they dont sell for much profit and they are usually unhealthy.

Anyway, there have been many threads at AC about goldfish nutritional values and myself, along with several others who actually keep Goldfish would constantly tell people Goldfish aren't nutritious at all, even if they were disease free and our opinions would basically be laughed at. In college we disected "feeders" to come up with the total fat percentage. It was something like 72% fat, 19% bone structure, and 9% protein ("meat", simply put).

Now tell me, does this seem good for your fish?

I'm so glad this has come to light, I almost wish this would be sticky'ed for future reference.

 

[matty150]

ewoks right, we make virtually no money on feeder fish. feeders are mainly carried as a conveience for customers. i could tell a customer a thousand times that feeders are'nt good for aggressive fish but they still buy them regardless. i dont what it is, probably the fascination of seeing something get chased and killed, who knows. fact is, pet stores sell feeders because the public demands them. As far as nutritional value, if i had to guess id say that feeders are a horrible source of nutrition. feeders are kept in gross and stressful conditions so they are usually riddled with disease and parasites. as and alternative i feed my oscar lots of crickets and crayfish, both are high in protein and nutrition. i must admit though i do give him a couple of feeders every once and a while. best thing to give large fish is a nice staple diet of cichlid pellets.

 

[aquariumfishguy]

As far as nutritional value, if i had to guess id say that feeders are a horrible source of nutrition.

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72% fat, 19% bone structure, and 9% protein

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...Yeah, I'd say they lack nutrition.

 

[MeAirlinePilot]

At our PetsMart alone in Southern California, I estimate that we sell 1,500 large feeder goldfish (24 cents each) and 2,500 small feeder goldfish (12 cents each) per week. I know this because this is how much we order per week. That equals approximately $360 made for the large and $300 for the small. Now we purchase the large for 5 cents and the small for 3 cents. That leaves a net profit of $285 for the large and $225 for the small for a total net profit of approximately $510 per week. Some weeks it's more, and some it's less. I'd say that's a pretty nice profit that pays the saleries of two employees per week.

 

[matty150]

yah but how many do you lose, and if you sell that many feeders the store must be pretty busy, i dont think 500 bucks would be a large percentage of your gross weekly profits.

 

[avoxo]

CHAAAAA---CHING

Once again it comes down to the almighty buck. If you ran a business and sold an item that was basiclly worthless for its intended use, but still made a good profit on it. Would you stop selling them or continue making money.

Avoxo

 

[Wippit Guud]

Selling them isn't the issue, if I owned an LFS I'd sell them, but I wouldn't mislead customers into thinking that they are a good source of food.

Could live off just M&M's?

 

[Gulp]

Originally posted by Wippit Guud


Could live off just M&M's?

It's almost funny how picky people are with their fish's nutritional needs.........but I can't help but wonder if ANY of these same people are as die hard about their OWN bodies. It's o.k. to stuff ourselves with junk food because we LIKE it.....but someone dares give their fish "junk food" and they are idiots?

Poor gulp is stuck in a cage his whole life because I wanted something to look at........ If I can give him a few moments of excitement and joy by chasing some comet around the tank, then so be it.

 

[aquariumfishguy]

I'm sorry, but you cannot compare junk food which humans consume with possibly DISEASED fish that the pet stores care nothing about.

Would you eat stale meat which sat out for a few days? Better yet, would you eat meat infected with "Mad Cow Disease"? I highly doubt it but whatever...

The bottom line is, we aren't talking about junk food we are talking about feeding your fish something that we KNOW isn't good for him. If you wish to continue poor dietary habbits, so be it.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Ok then... compare potentially diseased feeders with... smoking crack. Both are not good for the body, but both probably feel good (assumption on my part for both, as I've never eaten a feeder or smoked crack)