Feeding Goldfish - Super Tips on Everything You Need To Know
Do you think goldfish can thrive only by eating goldfish flakes and pellets? Let me teach you how your goldfish can have bright colors, be very active and stay healthy. By the time you finish reading this article you will know everything about feeding goldfish.
An important factor of keeping goldfish healthy and disease free is a varied tasty diet. I've done a lot of research on goldfish feeding and the conclusion is that a large number of people are actually inadvertently harming their goldfish.
Goldfish are natural omnivores and in the wild they eat algae, plants, leaves, plant roots, insects, larvae, worms, snails, and even small fish. It's best to try to mimic what goldfish would eat in the wild.
However, most aquarium goldfish do not have a varied diet. It's normal for the owners to feed them man-made fish-flakes. These contain varied dry foods, bulking agents, minerals and a mixture of vitamins. This is not a balanced enough diet and goldfish are not getting enough fiber.

If you exclusively feed dried-food to your goldfish, you can expect to see constipation type problems. The Swimbladder disorder is when the goldfish swims upside-down at the surface and hang there.
When this happens it's hard for goldfish to feed breathe or eat. By reading this you already know more about feeding than many other goldfish owners.
You can start feeding goldfish healthy food today!
Your goldfish have high need for fresh vegetables, fruit and live food like daphnia or freshwater shrimp. You can feed your goldfish flakes but not as a main source of food. To keep their digestive tract clear you need to give them extra vegetables. Of course humans need fruits and vegetables to stay healthy too. No matter how much we may want to have a diet full of chocolate and Mexican candy, we know how important it is to get the necessary nutrients from healthy foods.
You are probably very excited about your new goldfish and you want to feed them as much as you love them. Overfeeding is the most common mistake goldfish owners do. Did you ever overfeed your goldfish?
Follow these tips and I promise your goldfish will have bright colors, be very active, happy and stay healthy for a long time.
Tips for a healthy goldfish diet:
- Feed your goldfish once a day. Don't worry about starving your fish. All he needs is what it can eat in 2 minutes
- Feed your goldfish fruit and veggies regularly (every 2 days)
- Make sure that all hard vegetables like carrots, beans, rice are cooked, pealed and finely chopped up
- Goldfish have their favorites just like you do, so keep a note of what foods they enjoy
- Feed larvae, shrimp or daphnia only as occasional treats, they are protein rich and can cause constipation
- Keep an eye on your goldfish and notice how healthy they are. If they are floating at the top of the tank, you need to take steps and deal with the Swimbladder
- If your goldfish is gasping at the top of the tank for too much time this doesn't mean it's asking for food. Healthy fish spend little or no time at the surface. Your goldfish may not have enough oxygen
List of household foods:
- Peas - helps at digestion
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Zucchini
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Apples
- Grapes
- Garlic
- Pieces of Orange (for vitamin C)
- Rice
- Broccoli
- Corn
- Beans
* Remember to cook and chop all hard vegetables
Isn't goldfish feeding becoming fun and easy?
Please check out this video by AquaViva and learn how to grow your own food for your goldfish. Note that "FREE" means you can grow food without paying for it. In case you have a very reliable source of light that you can obtain healthy food without paying for it, then it would be almost free. There is also the cost of having water and a bowl where to grow your goldfish food :)
Gel Food and Recipes
Feeding goldfish your own tasty and nutritious well-balanced food is healthy and fun. Useful for making recipes is gelatin. It is high in protein and excellent for growing fish. With the gelatin you can bind the foods you make and set. Powder gelatin is best and keep in mind that is has to be pure with no additives, colorings or flavorings.
For the gelatin you need about 1 cup of water that you need to boil. When the water is boiling and your gelatin powder and mix until it hardens. Then you can add all of the other ingredients in the recipe.
Recipe #1
You need:
- Small Pack Gelatin
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- ¼ Cup Rice
- ½ Cup Green Beans
- 1 cup Sardines
Cook the beans and rice. Remove the shells of the beans. Mash the beans with the rice and sardines. Stir in gelatin till it is completely mixed. Place in a 1 cm thick tray. Place in fridge overnight till it sets. Cut into squares. When feeding, get one square out and break it into smaller pieces with your fingers and place the pieces in the water.
Recipe #2
You need:
- 4 Packs Gelatin
- 2 Cups Water
- 4 Broccoli Florets
- 1 Tsp Paprika
- ¼ Cup Parsley
- ½ Cup Peas
- 1 Small Carrot
- 1 Sweet Red/Orange/Yellow Peppe
- 1 Zucchini/Courgette
- 1 Small Trout (2 Mackerel or 2 Sardines)
- ¼ Small Butternut Squash
Steam squash, carrot, broccoli, courgette and peas till soft. Remove shells from peas. Mash vegetables, parsley, paprika and fish together by hand or in a blender. Mix gelatin in water. Stir in gelatin till it is completely mixed. Place in a 1cm thick tray. Cut into squares. When feeding, get one square out and break it into smaller pieces with your fingers and place the pieces in the water.
This recipe will help to keep color in your fish and is high in vitamins and minerals.
You can create any type of healthy, nutritious and tasty recipe you desire, using gelatin to bind the ingredients. Use your imagination and what veggies and fruit you have. Your goldfish love you!
Taking care of goldfish requires patience and attention to detail. These beautiful and healthy little creatures are worth celebrating achievements. GS-JJ.com offers Custom Enamel Pins for every goldfish lover. You can design your own pattern and choose the colors to get a unique goldfish pin.

Useful Articles
Goldfish Flakes | The Harsh Reality Of Goldfish Food
Goldfish Water | Quality and Maintenance
Love to you,
Flo
Image credits to: James Delaney @ Flickr.com