Goldfish make the easiest and most beautiful fish to keep in your aquarium, especially for beginners. If it is your first experience with goldfish, you must do adequate research on what your goldfish can eat, its living conditions, and growth requirements.
If you are thinking of feeding live food to your goldie, brine shrimp might pop up in your mind. And as far as we guess, that’s exactly how you ended up here.
So, to keep it quick and clear:
Goldfish can eat brine shrimp. Goldfish have teeth in their throat, so they’re able to consume live food even though they’re small. Goldfish are omnivores so they’ll feast on any meal whenever an opportunity arises.
Do Goldfish Have Teeth?
Did you know that?
No, we are not kidding! Goldfish actually have teeth in their throat. That’s how they are able to chew and eat live food despite being so small in size. Your goldish, just about six inches in size, is ready to consume live food.
Here’s even a video explaining that goldfish have teeth!
Do Goldfish Not Have Stomachs?
You didn’t know that either, right?
Keeping this in mind, you need to make sure that you offer the right live food to your goldie to prevent any digestion problems. This is especially the case with fancy goldfish. Given the unique shape of their bodies, they often have trouble digesting food properly.
Taking the absence of stomach into consideration, make sure you are giving the right brine shrimps, the ones that have just hatched.
Adult brine shrimps are bigger and can be really difficult for your fancy goldie to eat. They are more suitable for relatively grown goldfish in your aquarium.
Brine Shrimps – Nutritional Value
When it comes to the nutritional value, brine shrimps are rich in protein, which significantly adds to the growth and development of your goldfish. Providing the right amount of protein is essential, especially if you want to breed your goldfish.
Dried brine shrimps contain a mix of up to 70% protein, up to 30% lipid, 12% – 23% carbohydrate, and 4% – 21% ash.
You can offer brine shrimps to your goldfish in two ways:
Live Brine Shrimps
Live brine shrimps make a popular option. You can cultivate them yourself, too. All you need to have is the right equipment and provide the right conditions, and you can hatch brine shrimps in less than a day.
You might have heard that live food often carries diseases that can be deadly for your goldfish. Well, you can rest assured as brine shrimps are 100% safe to feed.
If you do not want to prepare a brine shrimp batch yourself, you can simply get it from the pet store.
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Freeze-Dried Brine Shrimps
If you are not into live brine shrimps, you can go for frozen or freeze-dried ones readily available at stores. They carry equal nutritional value, and your goldfish will definitely love it.
Freeze-dried food often comes in chunks. For goldfish fry, you can break them into further smaller pieces. For adult goldfish, they are just fine like that!
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Can Goldfish Eat Brine Shrimp: FAQ
Here you will find frequently asked questions related to goldfish eating brine shrimps.
Is brine shrimp good for fish?
While you should be feeding normal goldfish food to your goldfish for the proper nutrients, feeding brine shrimps to your fish can be good as well. Feeding brine shrimp to your fish can provide them with a good amount of protein.
What can your goldfish eat at home?
You can feed many things to your goldfish from home but you shouldn’t be overdoing it. You can feed them various human food such as:
- pease
- lettuce
- spinach
- grapes
- orange
- watermelon
Keep in mind if you’re feeding your goldfish human food, some food should be boiled first to soften the food.
We even created a chart to help you out!
Vegetables Fruits Peas Grapes Lettuce Orange Spinach Watermelon Kale Corn Chard Apple Cucumber Slices Banana Sweet Potatoes Raspberries Potatoes Strawberries Zucchini Pears Carrots Mangoes Cauliflower Broccoli Pumpkin Cabbage Lima Beans Carrots
Can goldfish eat oatmeal?
Yes, your goldfish can eat oatmeal. In fact, your goldfish will love it. It’s recommended that you shouldn’t make this a common thing. You can feed it to your goldfish as a treat but also feed them proper goldfish food.
From VivariumTips,
Brine shrimps make an excellent supplement for commercial food like pellets. With incredibly great nutritional content, they play a crucial role in the nourishment and active lifestyle of your goldfish. Another great thing about brine shrimps is that unlike commercial food, they do not break in the tank, dissolving into the water and deteriorating its quality.
However, something you need to worry about is how expensive live food can get, especially when you buy it from the store every week. As it does not last long, you cannot buy it just once. Therefore, cultivating your own live food is the most suitable and cost-effective option. Your goldfish enjoys rich nutrition while being easy on your pocket.
If you’re interested in more goldfish-related topics, check out: