How much to feed to my goldfish? ( Flakes and pellets)

[jas077]

I have got one goldfish which is 15cm big and other goldfish is 10cm big.

So, how much to feed these babies??
I have got goldfish flakes and floating pellets.

- for the flakes it says to feed them several times daily in small portion.
- for the pellets it says to feed 2or 3 pellets per fish two or three times daily.

This amount of feeding is overfeeding or not overfeeding?

Can someone please let me know their thoughts?

 

[Aiken Drum]

For goldfish, as much as they eat in 2 or 3 minutes, 2 or 3 times a day. If there is any food left over after 3 minutes, you are feeding too much and reduce for subsequent feedings. If its all gone in a minute, feed a little bit more.

To give you an idea, a fishes stomach is about the size of one of its eyes. This should give you a visual guide of how much food to add. And, a slightly hungry fish is a healthy fish.

 

[jas077]

Thank you!!

Its really interesting to know that their eyes size would be their stomach size.

I would switch between pellets day and flakes to give various type of food.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you!!

Its really interesting to know that their eyes size would be their stomach size.

I would switch between pellets day and flakes to give various type of food.

Yes, that's a good estimate but in the case of goldfish, they don't actually have a "stomach" per say to store food in or fill up so they are constantly processing the food from mouth to butt. You can feed them even more than 3 times a day as long as you don't overfeed at each feeding. ( In other words, if your fish stops eating during feeding time, you've over fed. ) A small bit of food throughout the day will make your fish happy campers. And as Aiken said, multiple types of food is a better diet than just 1 or 2 foods. Make sure one of those foods is an algae flake or pellet to help aid in the digestive "flow".

 

[jas077]

Yes, that's a good estimate but in the case of goldfish, they don't actually have a "stomach" per say to store food in or fill up so they are constantly processing the food from mouth to butt. You can feed them even more than 3 times a day as long as you don't overfeed at each feeding. ( In other words, if your fish stops eating during feeding time, you've over fed. ) A small bit of food throughout the day will make your fish happy campers. And as Aiken said, multiple types of food is a better diet than just 1 or 2 foods. Make sure one of those foods is an algae flake or pellet to help aid in the digestive "flow".

Ah I got it now thank you!! I have heard once a week I could include green peas which I can feed my goldfish and cucumber to pelco fish which I have got in one tank. Is this really safe for the fish?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Boil the pea for 30 seconds and remove the shell. Do the same for cucumber, and if you cut the cucumber into small enough pieces goldfish will eat that too.

Do you know what type of pleco you have? Some of them get really big and can outgrow most aquariums. A common pleco can get to 60cm/ 24" and needs at least 400 litres/ 100 gallons. What size is your aquarium?

Plecos and goldfish arent a very good mix. For a start they have different temperature requirements. Most plecos are tropical water fish and should be in heated aquariums, whereas goldfish are temperate water fish and shouldn't be in heated aquariums (or at least not heated to a tropical water temperature). Goldfish really should be outside in a pond.

Also some plecos diets change as they get older, especially the types of pleco that get bigger. They stop being algae/ vegetable eaters and need more protein. Goldfish have a healthy amount of slimecoat and are often slow moving fish, and make an easy target and tempting source of protein. Its not uncommon to see plecos attach themselves to goldfish and make a meal from the slimecoat.

 

[jas077]

Thank you for the pea and cucumber (do I need to boil the cucumber?)

Ohh I will attach a pic here of Pleco fish I have.
My tank is 64 litre. I actually found these fish with tank on facebook from someone who didn't wanted them. I didnt know Pleco needed different needs thank you. I will need to find home for the pleco fish then :/

 

[Aiken Drum]

Boiling the cucumber will make it easier for the fish to eat, but ive fed raw cucumber before no problems.

64 litres isnt big enough for goldfish. These fish get big, are very messy, need big aquariums and bigger filtration systems.

If they are kept in too small a space, it stunts their growth, which in turn leads to other health issues, a poor quality of life, and shortened life spans.

2 goldfish really need 120 litres at a minimum. 150 litres would be better. And filtration rated for at least 200 litres. As said before, ideally outside in a pond. But 64 litres really isnt going to give them much quality of life.

Id probably look at rehoming the goldfish, leaving the pleco, and finding some better fish for the 64 litre aquarium to go with the pleco.

 

[jas077]

Thank you! I will rehome my Pleco fish and hopefully he will find his new home, until then I will search with my local aquarium shop if they could give him a home.

I will eventually get a bigger tank for the goldies too. Thank you!