Goldfish poop?

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Kittiee Katt

Potamotrygon
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Aug 1, 2015
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I did post this in another section of the forum, but I think it may have been in the wrong area (I consider it a potential health issue). I've noticed more goldfish posts in this section than any other, so here it goes.

The other day one of my friends pointed out to me that my goldfish's poop is green, I asked him what about it and he told me his goldfish's poop is red. After a (very) brief google search most of what I could find said that a healthy goldfish's poop should be a reddish colour, but none of the sites include their fish's diet along with their info.

I feed my goldfish green veg (lettuce, peas, broccoli etc) twice a day and the odd bit of apple, zucchini (and anything else I have in the fridge/fruit bowl) twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays and Hikari Goldfish Staple and Hikari Algae Wafers once a week on Saturday. About the only thing they DON'T get fed are citrus fruits, tubers (carrots, potatoes etc) and corn. Otherwise, if I've got it, in the goldfish salad it goes! :D

Their diet is obviously the reason for their poop being green but I'm wondering if I'm hurting them by feeding them this way, and if I'd be better off feeding them their salad as a treat and the pellets as a staple, instead of giving them pellets as a treat only?

Also I TRY to keep the tank very heavily planted with ambulia (sp?) for them to graze on.. This would no doubt add to the green poop. I've had the older ones for about 4 years now and their poop has always been green, and they're really healthy.


P.s how do I delete the thread I made in the other section? I don't want to clog the forum up with the same post. :)
 
I'm no goldfish expert but feeding any fish a varied diet can't possibly hurt them, unless you were feeding a carnivore all greens or vice versa. But goldfish are omnivores and what you're feeding them seems like a pretty good diet to me.
 
If your fish are healthy and doing well, then there is no reason to change your routine. Like divemaster said, goldfish are omnivores so adding more pellets to their diet might not be a bad idea.
 
Would it be a bad idea to give them bloodworms here and there? Because I've always been told that to much protein is bad for them, and that when trying to get protein into their diet to try to make at least 80% of it plant based protein. I feed all my other fish bloodworms and always wonder if I could throw some in for the goldfish.. Would a block a week between 10 goldfish hurt them? There's 8 little (under 2inches) and 2 med (4-5inches)
 
Would it be a bad idea to give them bloodworms here and there? Because I've always been told that to much protein is bad for them, and that when trying to get protein into their diet to try to make at least 80% of it plant based protein. I feed all my other fish bloodworms and always wonder if I could throw some in for the goldfish.. Would a block a week between 10 goldfish hurt them? There's 8 little (under 2inches) and 2 med (4-5inches)
They should be fine.
 
Awesome. I might just give them a quarter of a block to begin with, and watch to see what happens. If it doesn't make any of them sick then next week I'll give them half a block etc etc.. :) also thanks for the replies. :)
 
The issue with too much protein is that it can cause intestinal blockage. One block shouldn't be enough to cause trouble for all those fish, and their plant-heavy diet is already enough to prevent that. Good luck and glad I could help.
 
Awesome. Thank you heaps for the input. :)
 
Thanks. The people here are so nice. Everyone not only puts up with my questions, but they answer them in a way that doesn't make me feel stupid. :)
 
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