Feeder Goldfish

Feeder goldfish is popular among keepers of predatory fishes for several reasons. You should however keep in mind that a diet that consists solely of feeder goldfish can cause some fish species to suffer from malnutrition. Some species also have a tendency to die from “gut blockage” when fed feeder goldfish. The gut blockage is caused by a feeder goldfish cranium that becomes stuck inside the predatory fish and blocks the passage between the stomach and the intestine. It seems as though Lionfish is especially prone to this problem.

One of the reasons why goldfish is popular as feeder fish is the fact that goldfish can produce very large spawns. Comet goldfish is by far the most common type of feeder goldfish and a medium-sized female Comet goldfish will produce up to 1,000 eggs during each spawn. Many aquarists purchase feeder goldfish from pet stores, but you can actually breed your own feeder goldfish at home since Comet goldfish is quite easy to coax into spawning mode.

A problem with feeder goldfish is that they can introduce a wide range of problem causing bacteria, virus and parasites to your aquarium. If you purchase feeder goldfish instead of raising your own, you should therefore ideally quarantine and treat them before you add them to your aquarium. Feeder goldfish are often kept in extremely crowded aquariums or ponds, and this places large amount of stress on the fish. It can also be hard to keep the water quality up during such conditions. The stress and poor water condition means that it will be easier for bacteria, virus and parasites to infect the feeder goldfish. Most predators are quite resilient towards sick feeder goldfish, since the germs will be killed in the stomach of the predator. Problems can however develop if your predatory fish does not consume the feeder goldfish as soon as it is placed in the aquarium. The infection will get a chance to grab hold of the aquarium and the predators can eventually become infected.

As mentioned above, you should ideally quarantine the feeder goldfish. Put the fish in water that is at least two days old and add a water conditioner. You can also perform some basic prophylaxis by adding standard Ich remedy (half of the normal strength is enough) during three days, and one teaspoon of salt for each gallon of water. Quarantining feeder goldfish and performing prophylaxis will of course cost you some time and money, but it will on the other hand significantly lower the risk of introducing harmful organisms to your aquarium.

If you want to breed your own feeder goldfish, you should ideally have a garden pond to it in, but breeding Comet goldfish in aquariums are not impossible. Goldfish kept in ponds will often spawn during spring, since the increased water temperature gets them into spawning mood. This also means that if you bring your pond goldfish indoors, they will often spawn since the temperature is higher indoors.

As mentioned above, a mid-sized female Comet goldfish can release up to 1,000 eggs. When the fry hatch, you can start feeding them small brine shrimp, crushed flake food, or goldfish pellets that have been grounded into a fine powder. You can also purchase special fry food suitable for egg-laying fish species. Getting the fry to eat is usually not hard at all.

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