feeding goldfish?

[greenween]

After a month or more of cycling my 10 gal. we finally got our goldfish. We wanted another bubble eye, but couldn't find one in town so we settled for one that looks sort of like one without the bubbles. And a couple plants. Yay!
Everything is going good, but my boyfriend seems to think we need to feed him more than once a day. It seems to me that I read goldfish only should be fed once a day, however the fish flakes say "several" Even in my limited experience "several" seems way excessive! He's still a little guy. Just hoping someone with more expertise could clear up this discussion for us It has been going on for days

[Durbkat]

I'd return it or get a 30g because a 10g is way to small even for 1 goldfish.

[BIT01]

the rule is all it can eat in 5 min twice a day.

[Durbkat]

I thought it was once a day. I don't believe in feeding a fish more than once a day. But if you really want to feed the fish twice a day only give them a small amount for each feeding.

[flamingo]

Durbkat, feeding fish small amounts 2-3 times a day is better then feeding a lot once a day. If you feed smaller amounts they take in more of the nutrition, if you gutload your fish once a day most of the food won't be fully digested.

If you can't take the goldfish back at least do weekly water changes!

[Scy64]

What I'm about to write is from personal experiance- some people may not agree with me, but it's what I've been through myself:

I have two goldfish (one is a baby), and I personally feed them small amounts twice a day. As for tank size, you'll most likely EVENTUALLY need a larger tank if you see the fish getting bigger, but if you've got a baby goldfish or two in a 10g, I honestly don't see the problem. I've heard that they don't outgrow their enviornment (mine are in a 30g right now), but when I first got them, I had them in a 10g. The other fish I had them with grew larger, and so into the 30g they went.

As for feeding, you may also try offering them a wide variety of food. Flakes are fine, but mine tend to love Goldfish Crumbles (they also sink, which is good becaue goldfish like to dig around in the gravel). Even food made for koi and goldfish has worked for me- pretty much most pondfish food. If you go with some of that though, make sure it's small enough to fit in the fish's mouth- I've had more then one occasion when I've had to break food into smaller bits for my baby goldfish!

[violet]

Mine loved duckweed even when they are little. Once you get a littler starter portion it is pretty much a free food. I always favor fresh whole foods over stuff from a package.

[flamingo]

Originally Posted by violet

Mine loved duckweed even when they are little. Once you get a littler starter portion it is pretty much a free food. I always favor fresh whole foods over stuff from a package.

lol never heard of a fish eating duckweed before. But hey, i've also seen them eat oranges and lemons so they'll probably eat anything .

You could try growing duckweed if they like it, pretty easy to get and grows like mad.


When I had goldfish I would just feed them flakes and earthworms...they always died within like a month from some odd disease so that's about all I had to time to try lol. None of the lfs's around here have good goldfish, I kind of didn't like them but thought i'd try a few times..and it totally turned me off from even thinking about keeping another.

[Durbkat]

Originally Posted by Scy64

What I'm about to write is from personal experiance- some people may not agree with me, but it's what I've been through myself:

I have two goldfish (one is a baby), and I personally feed them small amounts twice a day. As for tank size, you'll most likely EVENTUALLY need a larger tank if you see the fish getting bigger, but if you've got a baby goldfish or two in a 10g, I honestly don't see the problem. I've heard that they don't outgrow their enviornment (mine are in a 30g right now), but when I first got them, I had them in a 10g. The other fish I had them with grew larger, and so into the 30g they went.

As for feeding, you may also try offering them a wide variety of food. Flakes are fine, but mine tend to love Goldfish Crumbles (they also sink, which is good becaue goldfish like to dig around in the gravel). Even food made for koi and goldfish has worked for me- pretty much most pondfish food. If you go with some of that though, make sure it's small enough to fit in the fish's mouth- I've had more then one occasion when I've had to break food into smaller bits for my baby goldfish!

That is called stunting the fish and what happens is the outside of the fish stops growing but the inside keeps growing and they die a slow and painful death.

[flamingo]

Stunting of the fish is usually due to improper diet, water quality, etc. rather then the size of the tank. Even if you keep a goldfish in a 10 gallon it's still going to get too big.

[Puffer Pita]

I feed all of my fish except the DPs and GSP twice a day. The DPs and GSPs get fed once a day. The DPs have shown that they aren't interested in food more than once a day, and the GSP eats so much at one sitting that he doesn't need more than that.

[Durbkat]

Originally Posted by flamingonhot

Stunting of the fish is usually due to improper diet, water quality, etc. rather then the size of the tank. Even if you keep a goldfish in a 10 gallon it's still going to get too big.

I was always told that the inside of the fish kept growing while the outside didn't because the tank size was to small.

[violet]

lol never heard of a fish eating duckweed before.

Duckweed is a staple food of goldfish and koi.

[greenween]

How fast do they grow? I first had a 1 gal.( that our betta- bloo lives in now, for 3 or 4 months.) I change his water every 2-3 days. I made the mistake as a beginner putting a bubble eye in there. (Walmart of course said this would be fine. After finding this site, it was actually recommended to me to get a 10 gal. I have had the goldfish ( scooby) for a week and a half and do plan on changing water every sunday.I could probably buy a bigger tank eventually (a few months.) But he already looks so small in this huge tank. I am not discrediting your advice, however I am just wondering, is this as pressing an issue as a few of you make it seem. My son would be devestated if we had to take him back to the store. All he wanted was a goldfish. I am only trying to make this possible.

[Durbkat]

You could get a 30g and get 1 or two more goldfish if your son really likes goldfish that much.

[hogan7]

if u only have one fish in the 10 gal and that fish is ur goldie than ur fine if ur filtration is a little excessive. and make sure u clean ur tank alot he will be fine. for fancy goldfish ive always gone by 10gals per-fish if u have a little more filtration that normal for tropical fish. as for feeding i feed 3-5 pellets of hikari goldfish food, one lionhead, and the other oranda type food per fish twice aday.

[Durbkat]

Actually with all goldfish the rule is 20g for the first gold fish and 10 additional gallons for each goldfish added.

[hogan7]

untrue, that maybe for a non-fancy type goldfish but if u have 10gals perfish you are fine, trust me ive been keeping fancy types for ages and never seen one get bigger than 8in, that gives me 2 extra inches and i always go extreme on my filtration if i am going 10gals per fish.