Who is the misinformant? goldfish and brine shrimp...

[JaneR]

So after we lost one of our goldfish we went to the petstore (they specialize in fish) and they told us to put some aquarium salt in the water and give the goldies some brine shrimp to eat in case they have parasites or something.
Today (three days later) I went to a different store to get my snail a veggie holder (cause I want to give it something yummy even if they said I dont need to feed it). It came our in conversation with the fish manager that I was giving my fish brine shrimp and he said to stop immidiately cause they cant digest the protein and it will eventually kill them.
Who do I believe? I will go back to the goldfish flakes anyway, but its really frustrating to get such conflicting advice!!

 

[peaceablegarden]

It's just like car mechanics. There always seems to be varying opinons about just about everything. My approach is listen to what everyone says, do some research, and then make my own best judgement based on the information I gather. Sometimes it's gut and sometimes based on majority opinion or where I get the information from. Today a guy at a local pet store, working in the fish section, had no idea that velvet was caused by a parasite and he was still trying to give me advice. Wish I knew more about goldfish to help. Try also looking on the web for a goldfish specific forum.

 

[jsoong]

Goldfish can eat brine shrimp, but in moderation. <They eat bugs in ponds all the time, and they don't die!> It is actually better (& cheaper) to get some cooked cocktail shrimps, chop it up & feed it to the fish. <And you can have the leftovers in your salad!>

Goldfish, however, don't do well with flakes. The do get gut problems which can lead to swimbladder dysfunction. You are better feeding pellets - sinking pellets are best, or soak the floating ones before feeding. You should still feed some veggies every few days, esp. with the fancies. Their gut functions much better with veggies in their diet. <Goldfish can & do digest proteins .... they just can't take a large amount without also getting some veggies. Goldfish pellets have lower protein content & more fiber compared to tropical food.>

As to parasites - I don't think feeding brine shrimps will cure parasites .... Salt is fine if you are treating external parasites, but you need to get the levels up to 0.3% or more. Personally, I don't think you need to use salt routinely. When you are getting a new fish, however, you can clear the fish of parasites with salt & praziquental while it is in QT (for external & internal parasites respectively). Some recommend this, esp. if you didn't get the fish from a specialist breeder. <Note that this is a one month QT regime.>

 

[JaneR]

we have both floating and sinking pellets. They struggle to find the sinking ones and they end up getting lost in the stones. I will keep trying though, Im sure they will get used to their food being on the ground instead of on the surface!!!
Thank you very much for the advice. What veggies would you suggest for them? I bought a zuccini today for the snail but havent figured out how to keep it from floating to the surface!!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Yes, many times when you get advice from others, their advice is based on incomplete information.

I can recall years ago a lady had written an editorial in the local new paper warning everyone NOT to set up those humming bird feeders because it would kill them. It seems this woman came across an injured bird and placed it in a cage. The ONLY thing she feed the poor thing was nectar for these feeders. So when the bird died, and apparently not from the injuries, she was trying to tell the world the birds would die from feeding at these humming bird feeders.

It required a follow up by a local birder who just happen to be an expert on humming birds to let everyone know that in the wild, the humming birds feed on insects as well as nectar.

I'm sure the thing about the goldfish is sort of similar... that goldfish can not properly survive on a diet ONLY of shrimp (perhaps not even mostly).

 

[jsoong]

... Im sure they will get used to their food being on the ground instead of on the surface!!!
...What veggies would you suggest for them?

I let the pellets sink to the bottom. Mine get about 1/2 while it is sinking. Then they spend the rest of the day rooting in the gravel for the rest. This is normal behavior .... in the wild, goldies are supposed to root around the bottom for food. <That is assuming you don't have gravel so big then can't root around in.>

For veggies: their favorite are peas - shelled, blanched & chopped. They will also eat all kinds of greens (spinach, lettuce, etc). <Mine had recently gotten a taste for my green Hygro .. > They also like cucumber, zucchini, & various summer squashes.

For the veggies, it is best to cut off thin slices & blanch it. <I microwave with a bit of water for 30sec to 1 min.> Also, cut the rounds in half so they can get at the "inside" part .... they don't like the skin. Once blanched, the slices sink easily. You can also use a veggie clip. I usu. leave the veggies overnight & fish out leftovers the next day. <Pigs that they are, my goldies never have leftovers unless I really overfeed!>

 

[HooKooDooKu]

I let the pellets sink to the bottom. Mine get about 1/2 while it is sinking. Then they spend the rest of the day rooting in the gravel for the rest. This is normal behavior ...

ditto

I have sand for a substrait, and my gold fish gets it on everything in the tank. Even though I had washed my sand EXTREAMLY well, such that it quickly settles if it gets stirred up, the goldfish was sucking it up and spitting it out everywhere such that I had to change substraits from playsand to pool filter sand. Too much playsand was getting into the in-tank filter (FluVal2) making it near impossible to service the filter.