Have you found a pellet that doesn't cause floatiness?

[cmclien]

I did search the topics before I posted this but didn't see a comparison of just pellets.

Currently am feeding pro gold but I have to say even feeding it with a pea or two I simply can't feed more than 5 or 6 of these in a day or 1 to 2 at a meal or my fish go floaty. Last night I watched my poor oranda try and get to the bottom and the second she stopped swimming she popped up to the top and bobbed around up there until she had the energy to swim down again.

I was going to try Omega One or Hikari. Any luck with these? I do not want to back to gel food at this point.

On a side note, the metro meds I have been giving my fantail for a week has totally alleviated any floatiness issues in him and I'm giving him 25 a day which I thought for sure would cause some major float. He happily is swimming around the bottom not struggling like my Oranda who is still getting the pro gold during this time.

I wish there was a food like metro meds without the medicine because for whatever reason it doesn't cause this.

[Sakura]

I think it really depends on the individual fish. Some fish float on one type of pellet food while other fish do fine on it, and vice versa. I think you'll just have to try a few kinds of pellets and see what works for your fish. Personally I never had a problem with Saki-Hikari. If you can't find any pellets that work, then you might want to try Repashy Soilent Green gel food. Lots of people say their floaty fish stopped floating on that food.

[GreenTea]

I think I read Alex say once that it's exactly the medicine that fixes the floating issues. It removes any intestinal problems and encourages good bacteria or something like that so the floating can seem worse after pellet treatment. Hopefully he will stop by and correct me as I'm sure I got it all wrong.

NLS works well for most of my fish... those prone to swim bladder problems are showing their first issues with it.

[dnalex]

As Sakura and Jennie said, there isn't a single pellet that works for everyone, for some strange reason, and for some fish, any pellet will cause them to float.

I also want to make a point about the MMs. For the duration of the treatment, which is typically 14-30 days, MMs do not seem to cause any fish to have floaty issues. However, if you go past that amount of time, problems eventually will come up.

[tithra]

progold is basically like MMs without the medication, but like has already been said, it is the meds that alleviates the floatiness, not the food. But it might be worth it to try pro gold if you haven't already It's a good food.

[MissColonel]

I think you should give the soilent green another try with the ProGold. You could try to make your own gel food aswell. Clean him out before trying this though. When it comes to floaty issues it is all about finding the right balenced diet for that fish Like Castors main food is soilent green with little progold and we have no floaty issues.

[cmclien]

I think I read Alex say once that it's exactly the medicine that fixes the floating issues. It removes any intestinal problems and encourages good bacteria or something like that so the floating can seem worse after pellet treatment. Hopefully he will stop by and correct me as I'm sure I got it all wrong.

NLS works well for most of my fish... those prone to swim bladder problems are showing their first issues with it.

What is NLS?

[GreenTea]

New Life Spectrum brand. The ingredients are very similar to Hikari and they make goldfish sinking pellets.

[cmclien]

I think you should give the soilent green another try with the ProGold. You could try to make your own gel food aswell. Clean him out before trying this though. When it comes to floaty issues it is all about finding the right balenced diet for that fish Like Castors main food is soilent green with little progold and we have no floaty issues.

I was hesitant to go back to soilent green yet because I thought the oranda had an issue with it a few weeks back. I don't know for sure because at that point I changed to the bigger tank and now am treating that tank for flukes. Maybe its been long enough to try it again though I thought it made my water kinda dirty even though I only gave enough to eat. There weren't any floaty issues with it which was the upside.

New Life Spectrum brand. The ingredients are very similar to Hikari and they make goldfish sinking pellets.

Oh, thanks. Is that something I can get at a store or is it only online?

[GreenTea]

I think you should give the soilent green another try with the ProGold. You could try to make your own gel food aswell. Clean him out before trying this though. When it comes to floaty issues it is all about finding the right balenced diet for that fish Like Castors main food is soilent green with little progold and we have no floaty issues.

I was hesitant to go back to soilent green yet because I thought the oranda had an issue with it a few weeks back. I don't know for sure because at that point I changed to the bigger tank and now am treating that tank for flukes. Maybe its been long enough to try it again though I thought it made my water kinda dirty even though I only gave enough to eat. There weren't any floaty issues with it which was the upside.

New Life Spectrum brand. The ingredients are very similar to Hikari and they make goldfish sinking pellets.

Oh, thanks. Is that something I can get at a store or is it only online?

They have it at petco too Probably other stores as well. I know Petco and my local stores have it. As I learned recently, always presoak them before feeding if you do try them

Edited September 21, 2012 by GreenTea

[MissColonel]

I think you should give the soilent green another try with the ProGold. You could try to make your own gel food aswell. Clean him out before trying this though. When it comes to floaty issues it is all about finding the right balenced diet for that fish Like Castors main food is soilent green with little progold and we have no floaty issues.

I was hesitant to go back to soilent green yet because I thought the oranda had an issue with it a few weeks back. I don't know for sure because at that point I changed to the bigger tank and now am treating that tank for flukes. Maybe its been long enough to try it again though I thought it made my water kinda dirty even though I only gave enough to eat. There weren't any floaty issues with it which was the upside.

New Life Spectrum brand. The ingredients are very similar to Hikari and they make goldfish sinking pellets.

Oh, thanks. Is that something I can get at a store or is it only online?

I deffinately think you should give it a go again

[cmclien]

I also want to make a point about the MMs. For the duration of the treatment, which is typically 14-30 days, MMs do not seem to cause any fish to have floaty issues. However, if you go past that amount of time, problems eventually will come up.

Thanks. He seems much better now, (no more stringy poo all over the tank and sitting on the floor of the tank on and off like he had a belly ache). How is the duration decided? Should I post to my d&d thread after the two weeks is up to get advice on discontinuation?

[tithra]

I also want to make a point about the MMs. For the duration of the treatment, which is typically 14-30 days, MMs do not seem to cause any fish to have floaty issues. However, if you go past that amount of time, problems eventually will come up.

Thanks. He seems much better now, (no more stringy poo all over the tank and sitting on the floor of the tank on and off like he had a belly ache). How is the duration decided? Should I post to my d&d thread after the two weeks is up to get advice on discontinuation?

yes, post an update in your thread around 2 week mark so we can assess the situation and decide whether to continue or stop One possible situation in which you might feed a full 30 day course is if the fish just began to recover at 2 weeks, then continuing would make sense, but it's all case by case. Most fish don't need more than 2 weeks on meds

[Pearlscaleperfect]

Honestly there is no substitute for fresh foods. I would incorporate more greens and frozen foods into their diet so you don't have to rely as heavily on pellets which will help with buoyancy issues.

[cmclien]

Honestly there is no substitute for fresh foods. I would incorporate more greens and frozen foods into their diet so you don't have to rely as heavily on pellets which will help with buoyancy issues.

I try, they love peas so they get those every time I feed them. They also like zucchini and I just picked up another one this week. They can't seem to eat beans, they spit them out. I worry I may feed too many greens and they will be lacking the protein they need in their diet.

[MissColonel]

Honestly there is no substitute for fresh foods. I would incorporate more greens and frozen foods into their diet so you don't have to rely as heavily on pellets which will help with buoyancy issues.

I try, they love peas so they get those every time I feed them. They also like zucchini and I just picked up another one this week. They can't seem to eat beans, they spit them out. I worry I may feed too many greens and they will be lacking the protein they need in their diet.

You can feed them frozen bloodworms then along with the veggies everyonce and a while too

[Pearlscaleperfect]

Honestly there is no substitute for fresh foods. I would incorporate more greens and frozen foods into their diet so you don't have to rely as heavily on pellets which will help with buoyancy issues.

I try, they love peas so they get those every time I feed them. They also like zucchini and I just picked up another one this week. They can't seem to eat beans, they spit them out. I worry I may feed too many greens and they will be lacking the protein they need in their diet.

Have you tried leafy greens like Kale? Peas can still cause floatiness and really aren't good for the fish other than to clean them out. I also feed nori (seaweed) on occasion as a treat and they love that. You can buy it plain and dehydrated at any asian market and then you just rehydrate it and feed it to them!

[cmclien]

Honestly there is no substitute for fresh foods. I would incorporate more greens and frozen foods into their diet so you don't have to rely as heavily on pellets which will help with buoyancy issues.

I try, they love peas so they get those every time I feed them. They also like zucchini and I just picked up another one this week. They can't seem to eat beans, they spit them out. I worry I may feed too many greens and they will be lacking the protein they need in their diet.

Have you tried leafy greens like Kale? Peas can still cause floatiness and really aren't good for the fish other than to clean them out. I also feed nori (seaweed) on occasion as a treat and they love that. You can buy it plain and dehydrated at any asian market and then you just rehydrate it and feed it to them!

I will try and find the seaweed. How do you prepare the Kale?

[cmclien]

I picked up some Omega One for goldfish yesterday when I was out and since they had it at the LPS. I fed it to her all day yesterday and there was zero floatiness. I also gave her a little zucchini and a pea but this is promising to me

The first 5 ingredients are whole salmon, whole herring, whole shrimp, wheat flour, wheat gluten and fresh kelp. Here is a link to the ingredients: http://www.omegasea.net/small_goldfish_pellets.html

[TheseGoldiesStoleMyHeart]

I picked up some Omega One for goldfish yesterday when I was out and since they had it at the LPS. I fed it to her all day yesterday and there was zero floatiness. I also gave her a little zucchini and a pea but this is promising to me

The first 5 ingredients are whole salmon, whole herring, whole shrimp, wheat flour, wheat gluten and fresh kelp. Here is a link to the ingredients: http://www.omegasea....sh_pellets.html

I LOVE omega one.

I've used it for the whole time ive had fish almost.

It causes no floatiness at all!

[tithra]

Honestly there is no substitute for fresh foods. I would incorporate more greens and frozen foods into their diet so you don't have to rely as heavily on pellets which will help with buoyancy issues.

I try, they love peas so they get those every time I feed them. They also like zucchini and I just picked up another one this week. They can't seem to eat beans, they spit them out. I worry I may feed too many greens and they will be lacking the protein they need in their diet.

Have you tried leafy greens like Kale? Peas can still cause floatiness and really aren't good for the fish other than to clean them out. I also feed nori (seaweed) on occasion as a treat and they love that. You can buy it plain and dehydrated at any asian market and then you just rehydrate it and feed it to them!

I will try and find the seaweed. How do you prepare the Kale?

Just boil the kale (either stove top or microwave) to soften in, then put it on a veggie clip in the tank

[Pearlscaleperfect]

I normally put kale in the microwave in some water for about 5 minutes. It's pretty tough so it has to cook longer than other greens in order for goldies to eat it.