# How much should I feed my goldfish?



## WillowW0lf (Dec 14, 2015)

I recently hot two goldfish, one black moor and one common I'm not sure how much to feed them I bought love fish cold water pellets the and the pot says feed 2/3 times a day where as the pet shop guide says feed 2 times a day, I don't want to end up feeding them too much/ not enough.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Ignore what it says, they only need feeding once a day, and only a small pinch. You should ideally vary the food by giving them live/frozen food such as daphnia once a week instead of the pellets, and the day after this feed them nothing but a cooked, shelled and crushed pea, as this keeps their digestive systems working effectively.

Out of interest, what size tank are they in? Goldfish, especially commons, can grow huge and produce large amounts of waste, so they need very large tanks with extra filtration. Many pet shops will not tell you this, and many goldfish end up dying due to being kept in too-small tanks


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Also, did you do a full fishless cycle (with an ammonia source) on the tank before adding the fish? If not, you'll need to feed them less (only every other day) and do daily water tests and probably daily water changes until the tank is cycled.


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## WillowW0lf (Dec 14, 2015)

NaomiM said:


> Ignore what it says, they only need feeding once a day, and only a small pinch. You should ideally vary the food by giving them live/frozen food such as daphnia once a week instead of the pellets, and the day after this feed them nothing but a cooked, shelled and crushed pea, as this keeps their digestive systems working effectively.
> 
> Out of interest, what size tank are they in? Goldfish, especially commons, can grow huge and produce large amounts of waste, so they need very large tanks with extra filtration. Many pet shops will not tell you this, and many goldfish end up dying due to being kept in too-small tanks


There in a 19 litre tank for now which is big enough and we will certainly change it if they grow,


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

The shop may tell you a 19L is big enough, but really it's not - please take it from somebody who did exactly the same thing as you and ended up losing both goldfish within a couple of weeks to ammonia poisoning  Due to their body shape, goldfish produce large amounts of waste, which contains harmful ammonia, and the smaller the water volume, the more concentrated this is. This will cause them to die a painful death, causing burning and tissue damage and severely affecting their ability to take in oxygen. The only reason goldfish survived in such conditions in the past is their extreme hardiness, and due to in-breeding and over-breeding they are much less hardy now than they were 20 years ago. Bear in mind a healthy goldfish will live 20-40 years and can grow to over 12 inches long.

Also the idea of them growing to the size of the tank is a myth. What actually happens is that their external growth is stunted while their internal organs continue to grow, which is obviously painful and damaging to them.

Please look into getting the largest tank you can ASAP - it doesn't have to be expensive, second-hand is fine and there are always deals on ebay/gumtree etc - and bear in mind that for the long term, the black moor will need a 100L+ tank, while the common is ideally a pond fish.

Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear, but as I said, I did exactly the same thing as you a few years ago, taking the pet shop's advice, and sadly learnt the hard way.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

As above goldfish need veg in their diet and appreciate foods like peas. Just cook the peas then pop the innards out of the shell.

I second Naomis comments 're the tank size. common goldfish grow to about 30cm (12 inches) and fancies to about 15 cm although they are often deeper bodied. They are poop machines and you need a good filter to deal with their waste. Your inch or two long fish will be 4 or more inches after a year. Take a look at this link to show how big a fancy goldfish can and should get after a couple of years. Note that the tank featured is 50 % larger than your tank.

forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76428

Unfoetunately shops love to tell you that the tank they are selling is fine when in reality it is anything but. The problem with small tanks ( and messy fish) is that it is really hard to keep the water quality stable. Any small change has a much larger effect in a small volume than it does in a large volume. I had a comet goldfish live for 25 years in a 3 ft tank. I know know she was stunted and didn't have the best life she could have. The stunting happened when she was a youngster when I kept her in a 35 litre tank for her first 3 years. She grew to about 5 inches in body length but should have been much bigger.

What filter are you using. I used an oversized external with mine as it managed their waste far better than the small cannister filter that is often as with the starter tanks.

Did you do fishless cycling ? Hopefully if you have a good population of bacteria built up before you added your fish the filter should be able to handle things fine for the time being.

Good luck with your fishies and have fun fish keeping


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## WillowW0lf (Dec 14, 2015)

I am using a good quality filter and change it regularly and also remove there waste by net as well and changing the water which I treat so that it is safe, I know how to look after them and as I said before they will not be staying in that tank we git it to start out with and and the moment it's massive compared to the fish. 

I am an animal lover myself and have done various animal qualifications I also had the tank set up for a while before a while before putting the fish in to let it settle and test the water weekly, I am going to try the pea idea and get some protein based food.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

Hi usually the filter medium isn't changed just rinsed in old tank water to remove the particles and keep the bacteria present.

I am also confused by your comment that you left the tank a while to settle before you put the fish in. To grow sufficient bacteria in the filter you have to feed the filter for 4 to 6 weeks with a source of ammonia ( either liquid ammonia for quickest results) or fish food which works but is slower. One you have seen ammonia levels rise and fall, then nitrite levels rise and then fall and finally both ammonia and nitrite remaining at zero whilst nitrate rises do you know that you have grown sufficient bacteria in your filter to support fish and deal with their wastes. A liquid test kit is needed to measure the changes in all three as the paper test kits aren't sensitive enough. This is called fishless cycling. Just leaving the water to stand for a few days won't do anything more than make it wet. Many shops still give poor advice suggesting you can just add fish and water and go but all this means is that without a healthy population of bacteria in the filter eventually the fish will produce enough ammonia and nitrite to kill them. This is called new tank syndrome.

If you haven't done a fishless cycle before adding the fish then you will need to to daily large water changes (50%) to keep the toxins below toxic levels and also test with a liquid test kit daily to monitor the progress of the ammmonia and nitrite levels. Growing sufficient bacteria in the filter with fish in the tank can take months as it is a balance of keeping ammonia really low to help the fish but having enough in there so the filter bacteria can eat and grow. It can often take several months with daily water changing and testing.

If your filter is not yet cycled I would only feed the fish once every 2 or three days to keep wastes to a minimum.


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## WillowW0lf (Dec 14, 2015)

Thanks for the advice, I had the tank set up before getting my fish and treated the water to make sure it is safe and have tested it, I know there isn't a problem with the tank also found out the food I feed them it a complete balance of protein and veg


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## Burmesemum (Mar 7, 2015)

Hi there. I had the same problem. Four years ago my 8 year old came running towards me with a goldfish bag in each hand he won at the local village fete. I was very angry as I didn't realise they were still allowed to do this and there was no way I would have wanted them but we had no choice! Tried to find the stall holder who had disappeared as it was very close to the end of the day so he was obviously 'giving them away'.

Dh drove around in the car with me holding them in each of my hands to find a pet shop who gave us a tiny 19ltr fish tank telling us they would be fine. Did some research and was horrified at what I found. Felt awful for them.

Nagged dh who gave in and bought me 120ltr tank for my birthday. We use a Fluval filter. Still far too small but they have been happy in there and I can't afford or have the room for a bigger tank.

I never realised how much hard work it was looking after goldfish well. I do a water change once a week vacuuming the gravel and as above posters have suggested they have bloodworms once a week and shelled peas once a week too. I feed them New Life Spectrum Goldfish pellets which I believe are good quality.

After having them for 4 years I'm still not certain if I am feeding them enough but they have 5 pellets in the morning each and 5 in the evening. Now and again I give them a day with no food at all and fingers crossed they have been in good health with no diseases.

One thing I would suggest is that you have various medications on hand should you need them. Should anything nasty happen you will then have it to hand immediately without having to wait for delivery or run out and get them.


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