Lettuce or peas for goldfish?

November 23, 2004 11:53 AM

Does anyone here feed romaine lettuce or frozen peas to their goldfish?
posted by jeremias to Pets & Animals (9 answers total)

that sounds more expensive than fish food. you must love that fish. I'm no icthyologist, but I think there are maybe nutrients in their natural environment that is in fish food that might not be in peas and lettuce.
posted by cilantro at 12:05 PM on November 23, 2004

No, but I have fed the former to my Boston Terrier
posted by terrapin at 12:10 PM on November 23, 2004

It's been a long time since I had a fish tank, but I'd worry about the rotten stuff clouding the water. Especially the frozen peas. The romaine...that might not be too bad, as long as you didn't put in too much.

Goldfish are garbage-eaters: They'll eat just about anything you throw at them, whether it's healthy for them or not. There were big goldfish in the pond at an amusement park I used to go to sometimes with my XSO; people would hawk loogies into the water just to see the fish gobble them up. They're carp, after all. So the fact that they do eat the stuff shouldn't be taken as evidence that it's not bad for them.

On prev: My mom used to have a mutt dog that would eat literally anything from the hand of a human....
posted by lodurr at 12:12 PM on November 23, 2004

what, peas or goldfish?

//

processed foods have a lot of protein and fat, which in excess can cause the internal organs to grow too quickly and fail.

well, this is the case for my aquatic turtles anyway. as they grow older their diet has less "meats" and more vegetables -- they get romaine lettuce (iceberg has no nutritive value...!) and other greens (but watch out for plants with high oxalic acid level, causes calcium deficiency... well, maybe less important for fish than it is for turtles)

duckweed, cilantro, carrots incl. green leafy tops, etc.
posted by dorian at 12:15 PM on November 23, 2004

It's just fine to feed them that, according to The Krib

Goldfish need mostly carbohydrates, read that as veggies. I cook
up a batch of carrots, string beans, peas, baby lima beans, and
zuchinni(sp). When it is well cooked I run it through the blender
to liquify it. I then reheat it (microwave) and add knox jelitin(sp)
to bind it. This is a good base food but should not be the only food used.
It can be made more nutritious by adding 1/3 part Formula II Ocean
Nutrition frozen food (comerical).

Try feeding earthworms that have been sitting in water over night
(they will not crawl out). These are a mild laxitive and a worm
once a week will keep you fish regular.

Some goldfish like cooked Romaine(sp) lettus. Get one of the plastic
clips with a suction cup and hang the lettus from the tank wall.
He may not take to it at first. If so try fasting him for a day or
two and leave the leaf in over nite. Once he gets the hang of it
you will have fun watching him attack the leaf.
posted by hootch at 1:14 PM on November 23, 2004

a worm once a week will keep you fish regular

I had no idea digestive regularity was an issue for goldfish...?
posted by widdershins at 1:59 PM on November 23, 2004

People care way too much about frickin' goldfish.
posted by xmutex at 2:21 PM on November 23, 2004

I fed peas to my goldfish in desperation in a last ditch attempt to help a bad swim bladder problem. One giant green poo later the fish was pretty much as good as new, and as she (?) seemed to like the peas so I kept feeding them to her, supplemented with a little fish food. That fish lived for years on peas, no apparant ill effects.

A couple of years later I suggested a friend feed peas to her fish. They were all dead within a week.

So who the hell knows. Depending on how amusing you find giant green goldfish poo, it might be worth it.
posted by arha at 2:48 PM on November 23, 2004

(Frozen peas are great to feed to fish when you're snorkeling. Cheaper than fish food too. Probably upsets the balance of nature, but they really love them.)
posted by smackfu at 2:56 PM on November 23, 2004