What is your opinion on goldfish breed specific foods ?

Question

When purchasing a bottle of my regular goldfish food I noticed that ther were quite a few breed specific foods for goldfish. Do these provide any benifits to my goldfish or is it just a scam. (They were more expnsive)

Answer 1

Goldfish do have some different nutritional needs because they are a coldwater omnivore, so they should have a different food than tropicals. But the best thing to give them is a variety of foods so they have a better balance of vitamins and minerals from the food they eat.

A good flake or pellet food makes a good staple for their diet (soak flakes and pellets in a little tank water before putting them in the tank). But you can add "treats" like frozen bloodworms, enriched brine shrimp, cooked green peas with the skins removed, dark leafy lettuce, shredded carrots, slices of zucchini and cucumber, and orange slices. It helps if you blanch or freeze the veggies first to help break down the cell walls, so the fish has an easier time biting off pieces, and this makes them more digestable (the fish can extract more nutrition from them).

This link has more on goldfish nutrition, plus a recipe for a fish food you can make yourself: http://thegab.org/Articles/GoldfishNutrition2.html

Since the needs of fish are different than warm-blooded animals, it's best to stay with foods that come from an aquatic environment, so don't use chicken, beef, or pork products as these contain a different mix of amino acids and contain a different type of fat.

Answer 2

You typically get what you pay for, especially if it is from a reputable company. The better brands use less fillers and better methods for preserving the nutrients. Many vitamins will quickly fade away from fish food, and properly preserving them ensures that the vitamins and nutrients are still in the food when your fish eats it. With good food, there will be less waste because there won't be as much filler, the fish's color will be brighter and more vibrant, finnage will be improved, growth, and just about everything else. The sources of protein and fish meal will be much better. Fish food manufacturers buy different grades of materials to produce their foods. Companies like New Life Spectrum uses grade A fish meal. Cheaper companies might use grade C or lower. In other words, you get what you pay for.

Answer 3

I fed my 1 inch Comet Goldfish on cheap pond fish pellets and he grew slowly. Then I changed his diet to more expensive tropical fish flake that wasnt even intended for goldfish........ he ate like a pig and grew 6 inches in 3 months! He refused to go back to the pellets and insisted on flake. Then i tried an even more expensive flake for color enhancement and his golds shown brilliantly and his whites looked like mother of pearl. So, I think it doesnt really matter what breed, just more on what your fish prefers and what has more fat content. Mine grew out of his ten gallon.

Answer 4

These food generally contain ingredients designed to enhance the color in your goldfish.

Answer 5

There really is only two things you need to worry about. Well, three. One food is for growth, which most of us really don't need to encourage, one is for color and the other concern we should have is the size of the pellet matching the size of the fish's mouth. Short of that, really, nothing else matters.