feeding too much??

[GandSBrock]

I've got two fantail goldfish, have had them for about a month. I've always
been a little confused about the feeding thing. I've read many places that you
feed them just as much as they can eat in 3-5 minutes. Well, the flake food
they can scarf down really fast, so I seem to give them a LOT of it. Two big
pinchfuls. I have some granular food too, and one little nugget takes them
forever to eat. They can chew on one piece and spit it out and back in again
for a long time. So I'm not quite sure how much of that to give.

Let me back up a little so I won't confuse you. I feed them the flake in the
am and pm and a little nugget food snack at lunchtime. Yes, my fish are
growing quite a bit. They seem happy but always hungry. Every time they see
me they swim to the front of the tank and to the top, the little pigs. LOL!

I'm afraid of either starving them or feeding them too much, like Dr. Suess's
"A Fish out of Water".

TIA,
Stephanie

[Mel]

I feed my fish as much as they can eat in 3 minutes twice a day. I always
soak my food in a little tank water prior to feeding to avoid future
swimbladder problems so my pellets are easier for them to chew. Perhaps you
could try doing that?
As long as your fish are thriving and your nitrates stay at a good level
then I'd stick with the amount your feeding now.
Mel.

"GandSBrock" > wrote in message
...
> I've got two fantail goldfish, have had them for about a month. I've
always
> been a little confused about the feeding thing. I've read many places
that you
> feed them just as much as they can eat in 3-5 minutes. Well, the flake
food
> they can scarf down really fast, so I seem to give them a LOT of it. Two
big
> pinchfuls. I have some granular food too, and one little nugget takes
them
> forever to eat. They can chew on one piece and spit it out and back in
again
> for a long time. So I'm not quite sure how much of that to give.
>
> Let me back up a little so I won't confuse you. I feed them the flake in
the
> am and pm and a little nugget food snack at lunchtime. Yes, my fish are
> growing quite a bit. They seem happy but always hungry. Every time they
see
> me they swim to the front of the tank and to the top, the little pigs.
LOL!
>
> I'm afraid of either starving them or feeding them too much, like Dr.
Suess's
> "A Fish out of Water".
>
> TIA,
> Stephanie

[[email protected]]

easy to figure out. If your nitrates only require once a week water changes to stay
below 20 ppm, feeding is fine.
if you dont see big trailing poop behind them or floating around, you are feeding
fine.
if they arent floating, you are feeding fine.
if they are healthy and active, you are feeding fine.
however, high quality, high protein food is better, but in MUCH smaller amounts.
Ingrid

(GandSBrock) wrote:

>I've got two fantail goldfish, have had them for about a month. I've always
>been a little confused about the feeding thing. I've read many places that you
>feed them just as much as they can eat in 3-5 minutes. Well, the flake food
>they can scarf down really fast, so I seem to give them a LOT of it. Two big
>pinchfuls. I have some granular food too, and one little nugget takes them
>forever to eat. They can chew on one piece and spit it out and back in again
>for a long time. So I'm not quite sure how much of that to give.
>
>Let me back up a little so I won't confuse you. I feed them the flake in the
>am and pm and a little nugget food snack at lunchtime. Yes, my fish are
>growing quite a bit. They seem happy but always hungry. Every time they see
>me they swim to the front of the tank and to the top, the little pigs. LOL!
>
>I'm afraid of either starving them or feeding them too much, like Dr. Suess's
>"A Fish out of Water".
>
>TIA,
>Stephanie



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[GandSBrock]

dr-solo wrote:
>easy to figure out. If your nitrates only require once a week water changes
>to stay
>below 20 ppm, feeding is fine.
>if you dont see big trailing poop behind them or floating around, you are
>feeding
>fine.
>if they arent floating, you are feeding fine.
>if they are healthy and active, you are feeding fine.
>however, high quality, high protein food is better, but in MUCH smaller
>amounts.
>Ingrid
>
Hmmm. I've only done 1 water change, since I thought you were supposed to do
it once a month. I guess I should do it weekly, because I keep adding
chemicals to bring the ammonia down. According to my test strips, the
nitrates/trites are fine, but the ammonia keeps getting high.

And they do have a bit of poop! I'm probably feeding them too much. They are
healthy and active - and darned friendly and cute.

I've cut down a little bit on the food. I'll do some shopping and compare
food.

I guess another water change is in order...

Thank you.
Stephanie
Jake and Ryan 9/3/99

[[email protected]]

you have never cycled your tank or the cycle has been broken if ammonia is high,
nitrites and nitrates are zero. poor quality food is mostly fillers which are in and
out of the fish and then foul the water. how many fish, how big is the tank, what
kind of filter?
Ingrid

(GandSBrock) wrote:
>Hmmm. I've only done 1 water change, since I thought you were supposed to do
>it once a month. I guess I should do it weekly, because I keep adding
>chemicals to bring the ammonia down. According to my test strips, the
>nitrates/trites are fine, but the ammonia keeps getting high.
>
>And they do have a bit of poop! I'm probably feeding them too much. They are
>healthy and active - and darned friendly and cute.
>
>I've cut down a little bit on the food. I'll do some shopping and compare
>food.
>
>I guess another water change is in order...
>
>Thank you.
>Stephanie
>Jake and Ryan 9/3/99



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Mick Manford]

> Hmmm. I've only done 1 water change, since I thought you were supposed to do
> it once a month. I guess I should do it weekly, because I keep adding
> chemicals to bring the ammonia down. According to my test strips, the
> nitrates/trites are fine, but the ammonia keeps getting high.



Eeek! sounds like your tank is not fully cyled yet. What you should
have is a situation where there is no detectable ammonia or nitrite,
with the nitrate building up continually and being dilluted by water
changes - usually around 25% weekly, although the important thing is
to monitor changes and act accordingly.

I am guessing that you have set up a tank and plonked your fish in?
There has not been a chance for enough bacteria to build up to handle
the wastes from your fish. You may have to do a number of big water
changes (up to 50% every couple of days)to get that ammonia level
down. It would be a good idea to put some bacteria booster in as well
- something like "Cycle" made by Hagen.

Cutting down on feeding for a couple of weeks won't harm the fish but
will reduce the wastes, so whatever you were feeding before, reduce it
temporarily. If you are worried the fish will starve, plant elodea or
hornwort which they can nibble if desperate. Its the protein in
prepared food that really causes waste problems.

It is also critical that you siphon out poop and uneaten food on a
daily basis until you get that ammonia count down.

Its alos important that all water you put in the tank is fully
dechlorinated. If not, that you are killing the bacteria that should
be eating your ammonia.

[BErney1014]

>poor quality food is mostly fillers which are in and
>out of the fish and then foul the water.

You are still ignoring the facts. High protein fouls the water.