feeding your goldfish lemon?

Question

My fish always want to eat! I feed them three or four times aday. Fish flakes
At the fishstore I saw in the tanks slices of lemon for the the fish to eat? Anyone else do this? They are silver & orange 3 inch long fish. I have them in a 15 gallon tank how big should it be?

Answer 1

Goldfish will eat as much as you feed them, however, this is not good for them. They can get constipated very easily. I know we feel bad if we don't pamper our pets and feed them treats and goodies like we think we would like, but we need to remember that this isn't good for them. You only need to feed goldfish once a day and only what they can eat in 3-4 minutes. It's far better to underfeed than to overfeed. You should also remove all uneaten food after that time. Also, because of the way goldfish organs are structured, you should pre-soak their food, yes, even flakes, before feeding so that the food doesn't swell up inside their stomachs and bloat them. Goldfish are omnivores and, as such, need a variety of veggies and fruits fed in addition to the regular pellets or flakes. Lemons, however, are not one of those foods. Lemons are far too acidic for them. I'm sure these pet stores thought that, as goldfish love oranges, lemons would do just as well, but that's wrong. Also, while goldfish do love and need fruits, they can't metabolize large quantities of sugar, so we should keep the amount of sugar we feed them to a minimum. You can give them all the veggies you want though. You can also feed your goldfish things like dark green lettuces (not iceberg), spinach, blanched broccoli or cauliflower, zucchini, cucumbers, thawed frozen peas with the skins removed, oranges, peeled grapes, kiwis, melons, strawberries. Try anything. You never know what they might like, but just be sure to remove what they don't eat. Food left in the tank will rot and foul the water. Btw.... you don't say how many fish you have, but with several 3 inch goldfish, your 15 gallon tank is too small. You say "long," so it sounds like you have slim-bodied goldfish which can grow to 12 inches and at that length, will need about 60 gallons of water per fish. For now, you can go with 15-20 gallons of water for each fish you have until they get to around 6 inches in length. Good luck and give your goldies some yummy treats!

Answer 2

Fish flakes are actually the worst kind of fish food to feed your fish. They are cheapest made and often are mostly filled with corn meal! Keep feeding your fish out of the same jar for months and you WILL get intestinal problems. Opt for more nutritious food something who's first ingredient is fish meal, squid, salmon, spirolina and has a long list that sounds like a good seafood buffet. 15 gallons is suitable to hold one 3 inch GF, not a dozen. They need a larger home. The lemon (or orange) can be fed to GF to boost vitamin C and it is an excellent idea to do at least once a week.

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
feeding your goldfish lemon?
My fish always want to eat! I feed them three or four times aday. Fish flakes
At the fishstore I saw in the tanks slices of lemon for the the fish to eat? Anyone else do this? They are silver & orange 3 inch long fish. I have them in a 15 gallon tank how big should it be?

Answer 4

Gold fish eat almost anything they're fed. I don't think that they will eat lemon pieces,nor do I think the acid is good for them or the water. It is quite possible the fish store owner put some in his tank to hide the foul odor of the old water instead of doing routine maintenance. Never put a lot of anything (food) in at one time. If the food is still there after 10 minutes,take it out before it rots and spoils the water.
How big should WHAT be (your question?)

Answer 5

You didn't say how many goldfish you have and what breed they are.

You'll need a tank larger than 15 gallons pretty quickly. I've kept goldfish for 30 years, and now I keep them in a backyard water garden where they thrive and breed like crazy.

Check this out: http://www.fish-school.com/ There are videos on that page of training fish to do stuff. Pretty neat. I'm an animal trainer and I've trained fish in years past. Goldfish are really easy and fun to train.

Answer 6

You should probably only feed your fish twice a day. Feeding them too much is not good for them at all. I wouldn't feed them lemon either. I don't know if its good for the goldfish or not but a lemon will definitely change the pH of your water and make it acidic. pH changes are a real strain on fish.

Answer 7

The rule is 1gallon per fish or something like that.
Do NOT overfeed. Most fish die because of overfeeding. They cannot control their habits and will always act hungry. So you have to control it for them.
Feed only once a day, the amount which they can eat within 5mins.
I wouldn't try the lemons.

Answer 8

not lemon slices...but I've fed goldfish orange slices. they like it.

goldfish can get big, they should be kept in a large tank - 2 gallons per 1 inch of fish for them, because they are such high producers of waste and ammonia.

Answer 9

fish will eat as much as you feed them, you shouldn't feed them more than twice a day. I don't know aobut lemons, but slices of orange are great for them, just tie it to somethng and float it on the top.

as for the size of the tank, are they slim bodied or fancy (round)? if they are slim bodied then you'll need a much larger tank, 50 or 60 gallon minimum. they can get up to 18inches. fancies however should only need about a 30 or 40gallon tank for two.

here's a great site aobut goldfish:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/
and one with lists of food suitable for goldfish:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/Goldfishs%20Diet.html
and one with goldifhs types so you can find out more aobut the type of goldfish you have:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/ftypes.html

Answer 10

Fish always want to eat regardless and it's a bad habit to keep feeding them.

Why?

Overeating is bad and also causes the water to be dirtier which requires more frequent cleaning and is a danger to your fish's health. Even though your fish is at the surface begging for food, it doesn't mean you need to feed it.

I've seen people putting thin slices of cucumber in their aquariums for the fish to nibble on. That seems to work.