Goldfish food..for tropical fish?

[Grape]

So my father-in-law asked me to feed his fish for him while I'm gone. Now he's a newbie to aquariums like me. I worked in a pet store before so it's not AS new to me. I've been feeding them with the food he has in the drawer. This is the second day, and I just now noticed the label. It's Goldfish chips. They're small fish, and they I noticed yesterday, they seem to not care for it, but try to eat it anyway.

Well, when I noticed the label today, I figured they probably weren't getting enough nutrients. I didn't put any in. Instead, I gave them some from some sample tropical flakes I had. They went completely bonkers for it. I was glad to make them happy.

Is it ok for them to have goldfish chips? I have no clue why he bought them. Knowing him, he may not even realize himself, but if he does know, and just got them because they happen to be cheaper...what can I tell him to convince him otherwise?

 

[jlk]

I would just go buy him some decent tropical fish flakes & point out to him when he returns that he was actually feeding goldfish food. It sounds like the goldfish 'chips' may be too big for these guys & they obviously do not care that much for them. Nutrionally speaking, there is some differences between goldfish foods & tropical foods in respect to protien levels, veggie matter, fat content, etc. Its always best to feed species-appropriate foods.

 

[Grape]

Thanks. Just making sure it wasn't harmful or anything.

 

[jlk]

Nothing harmful but the cheap goldfish foods arent even healthy for goldfish. Not ideal nutrition for tropicals either.