Feeding Schedule

[Guest mclarenfan1]

OK, my fish have long trails of poo behind them a lot of the time (same colour as their food) and I can never seem to get this to go away for very long. (The water quality is ok though maybe nitrates are a little high, I'm working on that).

I have just been feeding them flake food but have ordered some more varieties.

So I will now have:

Tetrafin flakes

Hikari flakes

Hikari Pellets

Frozen bloodworms

Peas/other vegetables

I have two goldfish, a comet and a black moor both just a few inches long.

At the moment I'm not feeding them at regular intervals and I think I need a better schedule.

Also, how much should I feed them at a time? "What they can eat in two minutes" is too vague for me and seems like too much. A small pinch of flakes each?

Can somebody help me out by suggesting a feeding schedule?

Thankyou.

[Blue]

Long trailing poop is a sign of constipation.I suggest you fast your fish for a min of 24hrs then feed peas for 3 days going on the rule of one pea per fish.I feed my fish once a day in the evening then I feed peas twice a week instead of normal diet to help avoid constipation.

[Guest mclarenfan1]

Long trailing poop is a sign of constipation.I suggest you fast your fish for a min of 24hrs then feed peas for 3 days going on the rule of one pea per fish.I feed my fish once a day in the evening then I feed peas twice a week instead of normal diet to help avoid constipation.

Will do.

The other thing I'm confused about is the fact that my fish constantly nibble on the elodea in my tank, I've seen sites saying that elodea is fine to keep with goldfish and they will eat it...but does that not count as overfeeding? Or defeat the puropose of me fasting them if they eat the plants anyway?

[selythe]

I've heard that part of the theory behind peas is that they have a high fiber content, and help "push" the poo through. From anecdotal accounts, high-protein diets seem to inspire more constipation or SBD, in general. Not that I think they're bad, of course, as every diet has its pros and cons.

If that's the case, then perhaps the elodea wouldn't be so bad for them?

[2601angela]

I've heard that part of the theory behind peas is that they have a high fiber content, and help "push" the poo through. From anecdotal accounts, high-protein diets seem to inspire more constipation or SBD, in general. Not that I think they're bad, of course, as every diet has its pros and cons.

If that's the case, then perhaps the elodea wouldn't be so bad for them?

I disagree on the fasting- although I have heard many suggest just that- I have found that the sooner that I get them back to a schedule and an alteration of diet- the better things become- the fasting can lead to poor health conditions- loss of color quickly, and a venue for parasites that thrive on weakness- especially in the case of protein- in which Goldfish need a higher percentage of the stuff than other fish- do not forget they have been bred for their looks - not their batyhroom rituals- so we get a scrunched up mess - inside that we deal with-0 so much for genetics-

I feel fortunate that I have not been blindsided by constipation problems for the past couple of months- their is one side effect of peas- however- you will notice that peas will sometime give them gas- I hope whatever the mate is can handle the gaseous dischasrge lol

Eric

[2601angela]

I've heard that part of the theory behind peas is that they have a high fiber content, and help "push" the poo through. From anecdotal accounts, high-protein diets seem to inspire more constipation or SBD, in general. Not that I think they're bad, of course, as every diet has its pros and cons.

If that's the case, then perhaps the elodea wouldn't be so bad for them?

The assistance- where needed of a - 1 - creystal of Epsom Salts hidden in a half pea will generate many fdish smiles in the next few hours where constipation seems to be the problem.

Eric