Goldfish & Pellet Food - How much is enough?

[jessfish]

Hi everyone

I have a goldfish tank that has 5 goldfish that range in size from a baby who is about an inch long to a larger fantail whos body is about 2 1/2 inches long.

I recently started feeding them pellets at night (they get flake & bloodworm mix in the morning)

I have been putting a 'pinch' of pellet food for each fish, let it soak then feed them, however i am not sure if they are getting enough & the food is gone in under a min.

Does the 'as much food as they will eat in 2-3min' rule apply when it come to feeding pellets?

I want to make sure I don't over feed them, but also want to make sure they are getting enough.

by the way - the pellets are the small ones (omega one)

thanks!!!

[mermaidwannabe]

If the fish are eating them, they're benefitting from them. Just feeding a pinch is a good idea, because to do more may result in some falling to the substrate and if you don't have scavangers that snap them up, they can foul the water.

I don't put much faith in the "as much as they can eat (in so many minutes) rule", because it's hard to tell how much that really is, and it usually ends up being more than they will eat, anyway. I think that's largely a marketing ploy, because they know you have to guess at it, and usually end up using more food than needed at any one feeding. You run out of it faster and have to buy more.

It's almost impossible to tell in advance how hungry each individual fish is at feeding time. Some might be hungrier than others.

I thinks it's best to offer less food and ensure it all gets eaten than to offer more and have it not all consumed.

Since you are offering other foods in the morning, I'm sure the fish are getting plenty.

Also, observe your fish. If they are growing and filled out nicely, they're being fed adequately. If they appear emaciated, then you need to first determine they're not diseased, then step up the feeding a bit to see if they fill out.

I'm finally learning to cut back on my own feeding, realizing that as long as food is being offered on a regular basis, there's really little chance any fish will starve, unless a particular species is a very specialized eater and is not being offered what it typically eats.

-- mermaidwannabe

[vegas2k]

I only give my goldfish each 3 pellets of Omega 2x a day. but I also give them other foods throughout the week such as hikari brine shrimp and bloodworms(don't have to do that I think..I just do it to give them variety)

[jessfish]

awesome thanks for the advice!
i do have a pleco who seems to love the pellets as much as the goldies do so im not too worried about food being left behind & im pretty good with checking & making sure there's not a lot floating around.

I agree that less is more & my fish do seem healthy & content & i do give them variety in their diet

its just hard to tell sometimes if they are all getting enough to eat - i worry most about the baby ranchu who doesnt seem to have grown at all since i got him a month ago...but he doesnt look like hes starving either & i do see him eat at every meal - maybe he just grows slowly?

thanks for the advice i appreciate it!!