Whenever I put flakes in my tank, they just float at the top and my common goldfish does not seem to ever see them or eat them. However, if I use a stick to push the flake in to the water towards him, he will see it fall down towards him and then he will eat the flake. Is this normal? I always have to "push" the food down towards him in order for him to eat... This is a small common goldfish (2 inches or less) in a 10 gallon tank.

Second question: I feed him about 3 flakes per feeding and do this 2 or three times a day. Is this sufficient?

Hi Silver360, alot of posts on this forum suggest soaking the flakes first so they sink. There is alot of discussion about floating food causing swim bladder disorders too. This seems to happen more in the fancy varieties than the commons or comets. Some fish are used to feeding off the surface but your guy seems to be used to mid or bottom tank feeding.

If you can I would suggest getting some pro-gold, alot of users besides myself swear by it as the best for goldfish along with a varied diet of peas and other foods.

Have a look in the food forum, there is a wealth of info there and don't be afraid to ask questions everyone here is really nice and will give you all sorts of advice.

P.S. Welcome to Kokos

technogold, thanks for the reply. Its good to know my fish is not behaving abnormal! I will continue to soak and sink the flakes for him (it's more fun anyhow).

P.S. Your tank and fish in your signature look beautiful.

Thanks for the compliment, they are alot of fun

Someone once suggester putting the flakes into the stream of water coming out of the filter (to sink them). I started doing theis & it seems to work well (It pushes the flakes right down into the water). I have to say though that mt fishies like the progold much better.

I've never had a prob with my commons finding food (even when they were small). I just made sure not to overfeed & then they would root through the gravel to find the rest.