Feeding Goldfish

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Goldfish are classified as cold water fish and do not need to eat a diet that is high in protein; however, they will do better with a diet high in carbohydrates. Goldfish are not picky eaters; however, the greater the variety they are offered the more active and colorful they will become. You should feed your fish once each day. Do not overfeed...

Foods

Live foods

Daphnia, Brine Shrimp, Tubiflex worms, Meal worms, Wax worms, Blood worms (I recommend using bloodworms cautiously as they will burrow into the gravel).

Staple foods

Shrimp pellets, flakes in a variety of types, algae wafers, etc.

Freeze dried foods

Krill, Pacific plankton, brine shrimp, blood worms, etc.

Frozen foods

Brine shrimp, blood worms, etc.

Greens and Plants

There are many different types of plants to feed your fish. Mine have just loved Anacharis. Romaine lettuce is good too.

The best way to see what is available is look on the shelves and in the freezers (for frozen food) at the local pet stores.

Now these are only a suggestion. I have given my fish pieces of cucumber and zucchini on a suction cup clip for years, and they absolutely love it. (If you have snails, they will find it through smelling and sit on it until it is gone--kinda a neat sight to see)

Brine Shrimp

This is the write up that I suggested on hatching brine shrimp. Some of the measurements may look a little "seat of the pants" but when you are trying to keep four 4Ft. tanks of goldfish fry going, plus working full time and writing society newsletters time to mess around with weights is scarce.

First you need three containers to actually hatch the brine shrimp eggs in; I use old plastic sweet jars. These are approximately 4 inches x 6 inches x 12 inches high. You now require a larger container to sit these jars in. A plastic toy box or an old fish tank basically any handy box that will hold water.

Fill the sweet jars up to their shoulders or ¾s the way up if they are straight, with cold water. My jars contain 4ltrs or 6 pints.

Put the jars in the box and fill up with water until the levels match up.

Set up an aquarium heater put in the box and brings the temperature up until the jar water is at 80 deg. C.

Set up an air pump and using open air lines with no airstones (it is important not to use air stones as they will soon clog up and the air produced from them is not vigorous enough to keep the eggs moving through the water.)

Aerate the water so that it appears to be boiling, add the salt into one jar. I use 3 Dessertspoons of sea salt, any salt will do except table salt because of the flow free additives put into it.

Dissolve the salt and add the brine shrimp eggs, up to three teaspoons. Do not add more than this for a jar of this size; adjust the air so that you make sure the eggs are not settling on the bottom, any that do will not hatch.

After 24 hours the shrimps can now be harvested. I use an old 2-pint pot and a plastic funnel. Place the funnel into the top of the pot and using a clean cotton cloth (handkerchief) line the funnel. Take the jar from the container removing the air line and let the mixture settle for 5 minutes or so, you should see egg casings from the hatching rise to the top of the jar and the live shrimps on the bottom above any unhatched ones.

Move the jar into a position so that you can, using a length of airline, siphon the live shrimps into the cloth.

You should end up with a red mass of shrimps in the cloth. Feed these to the fry, they should live in a tank at 65 deg F. up to 12 hours. I find that if you experiment you can feed the fry small amounts at a time so as not to pollute the tank. Any uneaten is best siphoned out. Obviously put the jar back in the container if you do not use all the shrimps at one time.

Once emptied the jar is washed out and refilled to start again. If you add eggs to the second jar as you use the first you can have an endless supply. I would recommend not feeding goldfish fry brine shrimps after 12 days off the glass (free swimming) but to wean them on to a high protein fry food.

Yours Sincerely.

Paul Winters. BAS = WWW.BRISTOL-AQUARISTS.ORG.UK

Failure to Eat

Failure to eat can be a sign of disease or water quality problems. It could possibly show that the current food needs to be changed. Lack of feeding can be a sign of stress. Make sure to check on the fish from time to time...

Overfeeding

Overfeeding will cause unwanted food to spoil in the tank and cause water quality problems. It will raise the ammonia and other products of decay and encourage disease. You will want to monitor your fish eating and see that you are not overfeeding.

Problems associated with overfeeding can be helped with routine water changes, and regular aquarium care.

Storing Food

Sunlight, heat and moisture can speed up nutritional breakdown in dry fish foods.

You should not keep the fish food in the refrigerator as the food could become damp from the condensation. Dry fish food that becomes wet should be thrown out immediately. The reason is bacteria and fungus can grow rapidly and may cause food poisoning.

You should use the opened containers of fish food within 2 to 3 months.

Please email me with comments or questions.

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