# Goldfish constantly demanding food



## greedygoldie

Hi folks, thanks in advance for any help you can offer! 

As a bit of background, I am very far from a fish expert - we are just animal-lovers and we also have one cat, two dogs and three mice 

I have a 200 litre tank with four goldfish, one zebra (used to be two until the other day) and two guppies. We've had one of the goldfish, the zebra and one of the guppies for about three years. Two of the goldfish arrived just before Christmas courtesy of a neighbour who was going overseas, and we added the last big bloke (or girl) two weeks ago.

Oh, and lots of bristle-nose catfish, which are fantastic. Well, they are all lovely, but ... the new big guy (or girl) has kind of destabilised the situation. My daughter has decided it's a boy and has named him Scotty. Don't ask!

Scotty is incessantly asking for food, and when I scatter some (which I do twice a day), he almost leaps out of the water, gulping it in like he's starving, and he takes most of the share while the other fish are lucky to get much. He also scares them by leaping up at the food they're trying to eat.

After feeding has finished, I often hear and see him picking up mouthfuls of gravel from the bottom of the tank, then spitting them out.

The catfish get pellets that sink to the bottom of the tank, but at least once I've seen Scotty intercept one and gulp it down whole.

I usually sit with my laptop right next to the tank and I can often see Scotty yelling "FEED ME, YOU HEARTLESS WOMAN!" through the tank wall at me.

I'm not good on goldfish types but he looks like a small koi (I know he isn't, it's just the colouring) - predominantly white body and tail, with a big orange blotch on the top of its head and smaller orange spots on tail and one fin.

He's about 8 or 9 cm long from head to tip of tail.

Is he really hungry, or are goldfish like dogs - they'll just eat until they explode, if you let them? 

Can I somehow feed him separately - I can't really take him out of the tank every feeding time, but is there another way of doing this?

Thanks again for sharing your expertise!

Claire
Canberra, Australia


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## emc7

yes, goldfish will eat until they explode. Too much food at once will get stuck in gut and they swell up. 

But it is possible he is really starving if he has internal parasites in his gut eating all his food. Infected fish will have weird or no poo (normal is kinda food-colored), get sunken-bellied or not grow despite eating well or eat food and then spit it out. 

If he's just a pig he will get round-bellied and grow faster than the other fish.

Its really hard to feed one fish separately without dividing the tank.

Do you know anyone with a goldfish pond?


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## phlyergirl

Oh yes, goldfish are convinced they are constantly starving to death and will beg incessantly. It's better to feed them smaller meals 2-3 times a day. If he is hogging all the food from the other fish, it might be best to separate him for feeding. You can do this by scooping him into a floating colander, giving him some food and feeding the rest. Leave him in there until everyone else gets some food. I'm not really a fan of plecos being housed with goldfish because the goldfish tend to monopolize the food and the plecos get hungry and decide goldfish slime coat is tasty. For the pleco food you give, try waiting until night time when Scotty is sleeping and drop it in, maybe he won't notice. :lol:

On his type, does he have a long tail with a deep V split and pointier lobes or shorter tail with with smaller rounded lobes? Longer = comet. Shorter = common.

emc7 brings up a good point. What does his poop look like?


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## bmlbytes

The goldfish's stomach is very small, almost non-existent. This is due to their habit of grazing on food the entire day (they eat very small amounts all day long). Because of this, the fish will feel hungry between meals, and it will beg. However, it is not healthy to feed it more than a few times a day, as it will make the water bad.


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## greedygoldie

Thanks for the "feed"back, guys (geddit?) Phylergirl, Scotty has a shallow v-split in his tail and rounder lobes. emc7, I haven't seen him poo but I don't watch them all that much - I'll try to keep more of an eye on him between feeds. Can you "worm" fish like dogs?

By plecos, phylergirl, do you mean the catfish? We got two of them about two years ago (after all our snails died) and when I put them into a 50 litre tank, they started breeding and carried on until I gave away about 15 of their "litters" plus one of the parents about a month ago. We still have about 12 of the younger ones. They have a piece of lignum which they seem to like, plenty of places to hide and they seem to be thriving. I occasionally given them a piece of cucumber but it never gets finished and I don't leave it in there for more than a day. But yes, I will try waiting until later to feed them (although Scotty never seems to sleep!)

Thanks for the colander idea too, phylergirl - I will certainly try that as well.


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## bmlbytes

These are the fish I could assume you call "feeder catfish".

Pleco:









Corydora catfish:









Oto catfish:


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## emc7

Yes, you can worm fish. You used to be able to use the same drug, too. But now it is very hard to get. Look for "dewormer" flake food or anti-parasite food on the web is you suspect parasites. They are most common in wild-caught fish but can show up anywhere.


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## bmlbytes

Oh I missed that question.

Praziquantel is the drug you want to use to deworm fish.


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## greedygoldie

Thanks, I will look for it - I'll try the aquarium where we bought Scotty first.


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## greedygoldie

Thanks again for the info!


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## greedygoldie

bmlbytes said:


> These are the fish I could assume you call "feeder catfish".
> 
> Pleco:
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> Corydora catfish:
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> Oto catfish:


Wow, those are lovely pics - especially the first where you can see right into the little treasure's mouth! They really are beautiful fish and I think highly underrated because they don't swim around looking pwetty.


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## bmlbytes

Are none of those fish the "feeder catfish" you referred to?


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## greedygoldie

bmlbytes said:


> Are none of those fish the "feeder catfish" you referred to?


Oh, sorry, yes, the top one looks like ours. Leopard-spotted body, stripy, translucent fins.


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## greedygoldie

Would one of you mind checking out this link to see if it looks like the right stuff? I've been watching Scotty all day and haven't seen any poo, and what's more only one of the three other goldfish is producing any (but at least that is dark brown).

http://www.aquariumsupermarket.com.au/218-aqua-master-fluke-and-tapeworm-tablets-25-tablets.html


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## phlyergirl

I think if he had internal parasites you would see poop but it would be long and stringy and white. I wouldn't rush to medicate just because your goldfish is acting like a greedy gus. That is kind of what they do.


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## Obsidian

The first thing I would do is feed peas, that will help with any constipation issues. You might want to add garlic to the antiparasite meds as those tend to taste bad and the fish can get picky.

And for those who are talking about the "catfish" she said in her very first post that it is a bristlenosed catfish


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## greedygoldie

phlyergirl said:


> I think if he had internal parasites you would see poop but it would be long and stringy and white. I wouldn't rush to medicate just because your goldfish is acting like a greedy gus. That is kind of what they do.


Okay, but I'm more worried this morning because the remaining zebra suddenly went sort of crazy last night, swimming madly and crashing into the tank wall like a maniac, then it went to hide in one of the ornaments, and this morning it has disappeared altogether. I don't know if this is connected (bearing in mind it was one of the "original" tank gang - so would now be at least three years old, possibly 3 and a half). 

And the other three goldfish have copied Scotty's bad example and are now begging with him, trying to eat gravel etc!!!


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## greedygoldie

Obsidian said:


> The first thing I would do is feed peas, that will help with any constipation issues. You might want to add garlic to the antiparasite meds as those tend to taste bad and the fish can get picky.
> 
> And for those who are talking about the "catfish" she said in her very first post that it is a bristlenosed catfish


Thanks Obsidian - I would never have thought of peas. Sorry to be so thick, but do I cook them first?


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## bmlbytes

The best way to cook peas for your fish is to blanch them. 

Skin the frozen peas. When they are frozen, it is real easy to remove the skin from them. Boil some water. Drop the peas in the water after it is boiling. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove the peas and run under cold water.

This will soften the peas so it is easier for your fish to eat.


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## emc7

More than likely he is just greedy. You would see signs of illness like hiding, clamped fins, shimmering or swimming funny or a sinking belly if it were sick. But it is something to watch for.


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## phlyergirl

On the zebra, I assume you mean zebra danio? One, three years old is pretty old for one of those. Second, his behavior might be because he's stressed out by being without a school. Third, depending how big your goldfish are, they might be trying to eat him. 

Picking at the gravel, sucking up a piece and spitting it out is normal goldfish behavior.


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## Obsidian

I've even smashed the peas up once cooked so that it's even easier to eat, but you don't want them squishy, just firm but soft.


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## greedygoldie

Phew! Danni the zebra fish (yes, zebra danio) has reappeared. I can imagine it might be stressed as the two of them were inseparable. I'll buy another one as soon as I can.

I put some peas into the tank - the goldfish just ignored them initially but I see they are all gone now. However, it's possible the catfish have eaten them. I'll put some more in tonight instead of their usual flaked food and see what transpires 

I have just taken some pics of our tank gang - apologies for being a really bad photographer - first one is Scotty, second is Big Daddy (one of our original catfish - you don't often see him out of that tunnel!) and third is Scotty with two of the other goldfish. Hope the attachments worked ...


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## greedygoldie

Thanks again for all your help from me  and the :fish:


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## PostShawn

Peas usually help cure my goldfish when similar problems occur. It's not a cure for everything but it's good to feed them peas every once in a while. 

They will always be begging for food. They are scavengers and will scavenge the bottom and anywhere they think food comes from all day long. I just feed mine 1-2 times a day and they still will look at you saying feed me. Some great info in this thread about goldfish so just follow what people are saying and your fish should be fine. 

Good luck.


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