What Does Goldfish Eat?
To keep your pet happy, healthy and give them proper care you must know what you feed your goldfish so that they get sufficient nutrition.
While feeding goldfish you have to be very conscious as they are opportunist feeders that they won’t stop eating as long as the food is available. Otherwise, they may suffer from digestive problems and even death upon overfeeding. Overfeeding of goldfish can also result in an increased amount of waste produces by them, thus increasing the amount of toxin in the tank which contributes to the goldfish diseases.
What Do Goldfish Eat in Wild?
You must take into account the natural diet of goldfish when you want to feed them in captivity.
In wild goldfish eat aquatic plants, aquatic insects, smaller fish, crustaceans, and algae.
In wild goldfish constantly adapt to the changing environment thus the goldfish’s natural habit of always rustle is helpful to provide enough energy for an active lifestyle.
What Does Goldfish Eat in Captivity?
In captivity, Goldfish is required to feed very carefully. First of all, you must imitate their wildlife food while you ensure that you do not overfeed the goldfish.
Goldfish need a varied diet that includes minerals that is a mixture of vitamins and many other fibers. The absence of fiber can lead to the constipation problem in goldfish.
You should know all the ways food is offered for goldfish in captivity. Food for captive goldfish is offered as
- Flakes
- Sinking pellets
- Floating pellets
- Gel Food
Among these foods, flakes are the most favored option. But it is difficult for goldfish to eat from the surface as flakes float on the surface.
- Top Fin Goldfish Flakes
The sinking pellet must be soaked a few seconds before you feed your fish so that it will sink. It is quite difficult to remove leftover of this type of food from the tank and they more likely decompose inside the tank making tank dirty.
- Goldfish Supreme Sinking Pellet 1.5mm Bulk Aquarium Fish Food 1 lbs.
The floating pellet is the foods which can be brought out back from the tank easily when your fish had enough of food. But it is not good for the fish to eat from the surface as they ingest a lot of air as they eat food which can cause different problems like digestive discomfort or swim bladder problem.
- Blue Ridge Fish Food Pellets
Gel food is considered as the best food for your goldfish as they contain more optimal nutrients than other types of foods and it is the easiest for your goldfish to digest this food.
Additional Food Goldfish Can Eat
Additional food which can be given to the goldfish to eat may include Bloodworms, Cooked rice, Broccoli, Corn, Cucumber slices, Orange slices, Watermelon slices, Fresh fruits and Vegetables, Mosquito larvae, live Daphnia, Duckweed, small invertebrates, Brine shrimp and Peas with removed skin.
Ensure that all hard vegetable and fruits such as rice, carrots, and beans are finely chopped and well-cooked before they are given to the fish to eat.
It is better to feed your fish freeze-dried food rather than live as feeding live food to your fish comes with a slight risk of transferring diseases. Freeze food is not as good as live food but they offer many benefits without the same risk of disease.
Times of Feeding Goldfish
You must feed your Goldfish daily 1-2 times at the same time and at the same spot in the fish. They are intelligent enough to know who is feeding them and even they can learn to take food from your fingertips.
Additional food should be given 1-2 times per week. Goldfish have different tastes so try to accommodate their preferences with a variety of food.
Quantity of Food for Goldfish
Remember to feed your goldfish what they can eat within a minute only. After 15 minutes remove the excess food as if u left the uneaten food in the tank it will get stuck in the filter, rot and will produce the water.
The important thing to remember is that it is very unlikely that you will ever harm a goldfish by feeding it too little but you could harm very easily by feeding it too much.
Causes of Goldfish Illness
Goldfish may be hardy, but they are not invulnerable. In poor water conditions, goldfish may become victim to parasites, bacterial infections, and fungal diseases. These diseases need to be treated at the right time otherwise it may take over your fish until it exhausted them. Dirty water in the tank lowers the filtration, water and oxygen level which causes the change in the tank’s temperature either too warm or too cold and made it difficult for fish to breathe.
If you are able to diagnose the goldfish diseases early and treat them timely, your goldfish can live for years happily and healthy.
You have to stay observant as it is very important to diagnose goldfish with the right disease. Medicating your goldfish with the treatment they don’t need can be more stressful as it can make your goldfish actually developing goldfish diseases.
Common Goldfish Diseases:
Some of the common goldfish diseases are as under:
- Ich:
Causes:
- Ich parasite
Symptom:
- Clamped fins
- White spots from nose to tail
- Flashing
- Maybe hard breathing.
Treatment:
- Raise the temperature
- Salt the tank
- Keep the water pristine for 7 to 10 days
- API Super Ich Cure
- Malachite Green treatment.
- Flukes:
Causes:
- Body flukes.
- Gill flukes.
Symptoms:
- Flashing.
- Irritation.
- Difficulty in breathing.
- Lethargy.
Treatment:
- Prazi pro
- Praziquantel
- Tail or Fin Rot
Causes:
- Stress and poor environmental conditions.
Symptoms:
- Ragged Fins.
- Hole appearing in the middle of the edge of the fin.
Treatment:
- Melafix.
- Using salt and hydrogen peroxide bath.
- Anchor Worms:
Causes:
- Anchor Worms
Symptoms:
- Whitish green hair-like creatures hanging from the bodies of goldfish
- Itching
- Scratching
- Place of worm attachment is red and bloody
Treatment:
- Potassium permanganate.
- Dimilin.
- Microbe-Lift Lice and Anchor Worm Treatment.
- Dropsy:
Causes:
- Bad water
- Improper diet
- Parasite
Symptom:
- Swelling in the belly
- Swelling in the eyes
- Scales that protrude
Treatment:
- Antibiotic May prove useful if caused by bacteria.Epsom salts help to ease the pressure from fluid buildup.
- Flex:
Cause:
- Bacteria
Symptom:
- Cotton-like growth
Treatment:
- Spectrogram
- Maracyn or salt