Goldfish munchies

[Fish Kate]

I have kept freshwater tropical fish and snails for years; now my daughter has informed me she's bringing home a goldfish tomorrow...I have quickly set up a (very) temporary home in an old 10 gal (while I ponder where to put a 55 gal!)

I will of course feed him "regular" food but have read that goldfish also like plants. Do they only eat growing aquatic plants, or could I feed the goldfish lettuce and Chinese cabbage and such, as I've been feeding my snails over the years? Any suggestions for plants they like to eat?

Thnx

 

[Lupin]

What strain is this goldfish? If this is one of the fancy types, I would not advise doing flakes which can expand and quickly cause the goldfish digestive issues if it clogs inside the system. Goldfish will like vegetable matter in their diet. A lot of plants are often consumed. You could also try frozen bloodworms, mosquito larva and make gel foods in addition. If at all possible, go with Hikari Lionhead. It's a sinking pellet and work well for those that get "floaty" just from consuming floating foods (although it is not all the time the floating foods are the issue). You might want to check the labels and avoid foods with too much starch-based ingredients. Of course, this applies more to round bodied variants. If they were comets, common goldfish and shubunkins, they are unlikely to have such issues and will take anything readily.

 

[furfinsfeathers]

Peas are a big favorite and help with floaty/balance problems. Thaw frozen peas and pop them out of the skins.

 

[THE V]

If you feed the plant to your snails your goldfish will munch on them. I've found that my goldfish will eat any type of aquatic plant, peas, lettuce, oranges, moths, spiders, flies, ants, freshwater shrimp, guppies, white cloud mountain minnows, and small rosy reds. They are classified as omnivores for good reasons.

For my goldfish I buy the higher quality koi food. Koi and goldfish have the same nutritional needs so it works really well. Not only do flakes lead to buoyancy issues, it is also very difficult to get the fish enough food without destroying the water quality. Goldfish are large fish that require a lot of food. It's really hard to get them filled up with flakes unless you feed them 4-5 times a day.

 

[Flaringshutter]

Plants are excellent for goldfish! They add roughage to the diet and help clear out the digestive system, as well as helping fill in the nutritional gaps left by pelleted/flake food. If you're feeding leafy veggies to a very young or fancy type goldfish, I recommend blanching the veggies first or microwaving for a 5 seconds to soften the leaves. If this is a standard, longbodied, singletail fish of 6 months or more, there's no need to do anything special, just toss the veggies in.
My goldfish absolutely adore parsley and especially romaine lettuce. They will also devour the soft inner fruit of cucumbers if I tie the slices to a rock so they don't float.

 

[LeahK]

And, keep in mind, goldies like friends
They're pretty social fish that benefit from interacting with others of their own kind. If you're getting a shorter, fancy type, I do believe that you can comfortably house at least 2, maybe 3, in a 55.