Scared to feed, afraid of floating fish.

[goldfishrgreat 0]

I just recently got back into goldfish and I'm afraid of feeding my goldfish something that will cause them to float. I have never had the best of luck with goldfish because they either float eventually or get dropsy after a year or so. Not all of my goldfish have ended up sickely in the end, however, I am super paranoid about every food item. I am considering buying Hikari Lionhead, Hikari Koi and Pondfish Pellet, or Progold. I think I'm going to go with Hikari Lionhead? Is there anyone on here who keeps goldfish and has never had a problem with this? I'm considering trying to make gel food from scratch for my fish if I knew it would be balanced and prevent them from floating. I've been looking at some recipes mentioned on here. Any ideas much appreciated. In my tank I have a panda telescope, a calico fantail, and a lionhead if that helps and they are all 3-4 inches.

[Pearlscaleperfect 3,561]

While pellets are normally eaten without issue in younger fish I've found it best to switch to a diet of repashy gel food as they become adult fish. It really helped a lot with reducing floating and such in my more sensitive fish.

[nicoleauryn 46]

Lots of people here like ProGold, Saki-Hikari, and Rapashy Soilent Green as a nice premade gel mix.

[Narny105 1,992]

There are many gel food recipes on the forum that you can use, however for gel foods, repashy has become a very popular brand of food used by a lot of people here It's pretty much as close to a perfectly balanced diet for goldfish, and when fed correctly, shouldn't cause floaty issues at all.

Pellets should always be soaked in tank water before feeding otherwise pellets will expand in the goldfish which can cause floating issues. Another thing to make sure of is that your tank size and filtration are good enough for the amount of fish you have, and that the tank is fully cycled

[Kiara1125 78]

Hello; I have Hikari Lionhead pellets and I love them. I never have any problems with this brand of food. I hope you will like it as much as I do. I hope everything goes well for your goldfish.

[ShawneeRiver 2,720]

It really depends on the fish. I recently tried ProGold after a long time of believing that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and of course, it made my fish floaty. So I will be going back to Omega One and lots of veggies.

However, as Narny said, other factors can affect floatiness, such as water quality. Make sure you have an adequate setup for your fish.

[horserider36 508]

I have *major* problems with floatiness in my ranchus especially. I have not found a pellet that doesn't make them floaty, actually. It doesn't matter if I soak them or add them to gel food.... it just doesn't matter. I tried feeding very little only once a day but my non-floaters became thin and everyone's color dulled.

I am a huge fan of Soilent Green. I believe our sponsor, Tastyworms sells it. It's slightly expensive but it's definitely worth a shot. It's helped my little bobbers tremendously and their colors have come back Best of luck to you!

[scrappinjaime 86]

I agree with the rest, Repashy soilent green is wonderful food for your goldies.

[Ms.Jenny 555]

Repashy and frozen bloodworms shouldn't cause any floaty issues. Bloodworms are great for goldies and very easy to digest.

[cmclien 655]

Agree with the rest and I too have noticed when they are younger pellet food doesn't seem to cause issues much. Both progold and saki hikari and omega 1 all make my 6 to 12 mo olds floaty. These days I mostly feed repashy, veggies and bloodworms. I am playing with how much saki hikari to feed if any at all to not cause floatiness.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

[goldfishrgreat 0]

So I searched all over town and decided that spectrum large fish formula small sinking pellet looked the most promising for an immediate choice although not specifically for goldfish but any fish. I also ordered that soilent green gel stuff. I've never done anything quite like this but it doesn't sound hard to do. Hopefully it turns out ok. It's too bad around here nobody keeps older fancy goldfish so finding quality food must be all online. Thanks for all the great recommendations!

[Pearlscaleperfect 3,561]

Hopefully as Repashy becomes more popular more LFS will start to carry it! I know a few already do but none near me sadly.

[dnalex 13,633]

Hopefully as Repashy becomes more popular more LFS will start to carry it! I know a few already do but none near me sadly.

Wherever there are people, there will be soylent green.

[Pearlscaleperfect 3,561]

^my bf makes that joke EVERY TIME I make it.

he just looks at me in disgust and yells "IT'S PEOPLE"

[dnalex 13,633]

Your BF clearly has a good sense of humor! :rofl