Goldfish Food

[sketchy]

hi all. firstly i would like to say thankyou for all the help i have recieved in the past through this forum!

secondly - i baught myself a little 5g tank, heater and bodged a pump from an air filter (as described in the DIY section of this forum - i figured it would b better than a new propper filter as i could use gravel from the tank with some of the 'magic' bacteria already growing on it) to use as a hospital tank (on of my guppies got fin-rot ). but anyway, it came with some bits and pieces including 'goldfish' water conditioner and 'goldfish' food. i was wondering if it would be ok to use the conditioner (i cant see how that would be any different really, but figured i'd ask while i'm here) and the 'goldfish' food. again, i'm not sure if its much if any different, but is it safe to feed it to them. they seem to like it, i have mixed with a little of their 'propper' flakes.

cheers guys

sam

 

[AndreaC]

The conditioner should be ok.

TBH i havent a clue on the food but im one that says if its for goldfish its meant for them and vise versa or I assume they wouldnt make different tropical and goldfish foods.

Out of interest, have you read the ingredients on both tubs to compare any difference. Just a curious thought *heads off to compare who to types of foods* lol.

Oh if you hadnt of opened it you could of exchanged it at a shop

 

[sketchy]

well, i used the goldfish food tub to make my makeshift filter...didnt think of reading it at the time! lol. they seem to be enjoying it though, and as i said its mixed with normal stuff. hmm...

 

[Torrean]

probably has different quantities of protein fiber etc... Even if the difference is great (I'm not sure about the dietary needs of goldfish) it should be fine to feed to other tropicals in small amounts. If it's high in protein and you feed it to a herbivore you risk the fish getting bloat but as said before in small amounts accompanying a normal diet it should be ok.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it can't imagine it doing them any harm..... if the tropicals require a specialist diet then no, but just for 'regular' community fish it'd be fine as part of a balanced varied diet. might not be absolute optimum food for them but i wouldn't worry about it hurting them

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I would imagine that goldfish flakes are more fatty than tropical ones since goldfish need to put on a lot of body fats when kept in ponds so they can survive the winter hibernation. But comparing my goldfish and tropical fish flakes though, the ingredients are very similar as well as in the exact quantities of the ingredients too- personally though i'd rather feed tropical fish tropical flakes and goldfish with goldfish flakes.
Flakes aren't nesarsarily that fantastic though and are certainly not suited to all fishes diets, so you should make sure that you are feeding the foods for the right sorts of fish, the more variety in diet the better too.

How old are these flakes though- are they past their best before or sell by date? Flakes go stale over time which is not good as their nutritional content goes down, mold on the flakes can also cause digestive problems in fish.

What does the goldfish water condition treat in the water exactly?

 

[Gazoo]

I believe goldfish food has less protein and more vegetable matter than tropical food.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I got some goldfish food from PFK once, obviously I don't keep goldfish, but I had a skim over the nutritional information and I think protein was the only difference by a couple of percent.

 

[sketchy]

How old are these flakes though

the flakes were baught about a week ago and so they are fine

What does the goldfish water condition treat in the water exactly?

it says on the bottle it does chlorine and the other one! (i cant remember what is is, chlorsomething!!) but i was just wondering why they would package it as specifically 'goldfish' conditioner

 

[ITHURTZ]

Nutrafin Golfish pellet mix
Min. Crude protein 33%
crude fat 5%
crude fiber 3%

Tetra color tropical flakes
Min crude protein 49%
crude fat 9%
crude fiber 2%

I feed both to my fish, they all eat both, but theres the "techincal" difference

 

[paul_219]

I feed my goldfish some cichild sticks, like pellets and they are blight brown in color. Will it be fine for them.

 

[ITHURTZ]

are your fish alive? theres your answer

In the wild there is no balanced flake diet, you eat what you can get

 

[sketchy]

are your fish alive?

hold on a minute...i'll go check..!

 

[Zeoth]

I've been feeding my tropical fish some of the leftover goldfish flakes for months and thier active and fine. Only my Boliv doesn't eat the flakes.

 

[Tessla]

I feed my goldfish some cichild sticks, like pellets and they are blight brown in color. Will it be fine for them.

are your fish alive? theres your answer

In the wild there is no balanced flake diet, you eat what you can get

Sorry, but very misleading incorrect answer there. For starters, goldfish are extremely hardy and also extremely long lived, they will often survive things like goldfish bowls or improper diets for a while but will ultimately suffer shorter lives among other things.

Most goldfish if not practically all goldfish kept in aquaria are by no means fish found in the wild. As for fish in general eating what they can get, what they can get in the wild is much more varied than what we can provide in aquaria, and many fish are primarily carnivores or herbivores and need to be fed diets approximating the nutrients they'd recieve in the wild. One flake or another won't harm any fish unless that's all you're feeding without any supplements whatsoever.

On the subject of feeding goldfish food to goldfish, you can actually have issues with most commercial flakes and pellets if they are fed as the only diet without any preparation beforehand. I lost my tank of fancy goldfish to swimbladder problems caused by long term feeding of "goldfish pellets" back before I had access to all of the information now available on the web. Commons and comets don't have quite the trouble as fancies, but they'll be better off as well if fed properly.

Floating pellets and flake food cause the goldfish to go up to the surface to eat and gulp air, which causes swim bladder issues over the long term. Sinking pellets make a good staple, but since goldfish are such greedy eaters, the pellets should be soaked for a minute before being fed so that they won't expand after the goldfish eats them. Combined with a varied diet of vegetables (peas are especially good) and meaty treats (again, anything dried should be soaked before feeding) sinking pellets make a better diet for the long term health of the goldfish.

Nutritionally speaking, they should be fed a staple diet formulated for goldfish as they need less protein than tropicals and more carbohydrates. Diets formulated for carnivores like cichlids won't be good for the goldfish as a staple, but also won't hurt as a treat in addition to a staple diet formulated for goldfish.