How Often Are You Supposed To Feed Goldfish? Answers Here!

Last Updated on September 8, 2024 by Sara Rose

Many people ask: how often are you supposed to feed goldfish?  This article will tell you all you need to know about goldfish and their eating habits.

Every fish needs food and it is up to the owner to provide it.  It is important to know which types of food your fish can eat and how often to feed them.  Overfeeding causes a lot of problems in a fish tank.

All the extra food that is not eaten ends up breaking down in the water and creates ammonia and nitrites.  When there is too much ammonia in the water, your fish can die.  This is why you should never overfeed your fish. It is better to err on the side of caution and underfeed your fish. 

In order to understand how much your fish can eat, you need to pay careful attention to them.

Over time, you will be able to accurately assess their feeding habits.  A good starting point is to understand your particular fish’s eating habits.  This is why it is a good question to ask: how often are you supposed to feed goldfish?  

Use this article as a base guideline for your feeding schedules.  Of course, every fish is different so you need to still pay attention to how your specific goldfish eats.  But this article will give you a great starting point.  Keep reading now! 

How Much Food Should I Give My Goldfish Daily? 

The amount of food you give to your goldfish depends on a few things.  First off, the age of the fish.  Older fish are bigger, so they require more food.  

If you have baby goldfish you need to feed them less.  The other thing to consider is how many goldfish are in your tank.  Obviously, the more fish in the tank, the more food you need.

Also, you need to consider the food source.  If your food source is not high in nutritional content, you may need to feed more.  Keep in mind that goldfish are omnivorous.

This means that they eat both plants and animals.  In nature, goldfish will feed on small insects and organisms like brine shrimp.  Lucky for us, you can purchase brine shrimp at most pet stores.

Learn more about: How Long Does It Take For Brine Shrimp To Hatch? All Your Answers Now!

While you can use manufactured, flake food, it is good to supplement with some more natural things.  Use the flake food on a daily basis, but also give them brine shrimp every few days.  Brine shrimp is packed with protein and minerals that will help your goldfish develop in a healthy way.  

They sell special flake food for goldfish.  Read the label to make sure you are buying the right one.  If you want to be very particular, you can look at the ingredients in the food to make sure it has a good enough balance of protein and vegetables.  

Sometimes fish food has a lot of filler which is not beneficial for your fish.

You can buy frozen brine shrimp but you need to make sure you defrost everything before giving it to the fish.  Goldfish can also eat veggies like peas.  But they need to be lightly boiled first.

How Many Times Should I Feed My Goldfish Per Day?

Generally, goldfish can eat 2-3 times per day.  In order to assess how much food your fish can eat, you need to watch them.    A good rule of thumb is to let them eat as much as they can for 2 minutes.  

At that point, you can look to see if they are slowing down or still hungry.  You can keep adding small pinches of food until they are no longer interested in eating.  They will swim away and no longer consume anything. 

Remember, overfeeding your fish will only cause you more headaches.  All that extra food will make your tank water dirty.  This means you will have to clean it, which is a lot of work.

Another thing to pay attention to is the temperature of your water. According to the University of Washington, “goldfish have faster metabolic processes in warmer waters and slower metabolic processes in cooler waters.”  This means that the warmer the water, the more the goldfish will want to eat.  

Avoid letting your water get too cold.  At under 8 degrees celsius, goldfish will have almost no appetite. 

Overall, goldfish are not picky eaters.  Be sure to pay attention to any food aggression in your tank.  Sometimes the larger fish eat all the food, leaving only a little for the weaker fish to eat.  

Feeding fish is not a very difficult thing.  It just takes some patience, good observation, and attention. Hopefully, now you know the answer to the question: how often are you supposed to feed goldfish?

Stick to the rules in this article and you should have no problem.  Feel free to comment and ask questions below.

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