At the moment they're getting a total combination of Tetra Goldfish flakes, cucumber, zuchini, romaine hearts, bananas, night crawlers and dried seaweed. It never really occured to me that there are MANY different brands providing MANY different qualities of flake untill now. I've read the backs of Wardleys and O.S.I. flakes and am still stumped as to what has better nutrition. Then I've heard so much about Pro-gold here at Kokos but never seen it around except the internet. Can anyone clarify what should be in flake food, what makes up good flake food, and which brand provides quality flakes please?

I'll handle this BUM BUM BUM

bascily ingredients are labled from the greatest amounts to lowest, like buying chocolate the way you choose the richer one is by the ingredients saying cocoa butter THEN sugar, so we need to do the same here...

1st look at the first ingredient it's usually fish meal which is okay but not great
2nd look for the ash contents, the higher the amount the less nutrients a goldfish can get (IE empty calories. fish or smrimp meal includes bones of the fish and shells of the shrimp which are completly useless so they add on to the ash contents)
3rd try to look for things that are less artificial (artificial coloring, vitamin supplements, etc) you can tell that they're less if they're listed at the bottom of the label
4th when comparing two label brands look to see when they start using fillers and find the one that has a filler listed further down in the end of the igredients (fillers are useless pieces of food with low nutritional value they come in the form of yeast, flour, and things like that so if one has corn meal in the 5th position after the first ingredient and another has it at the 8th, then the one at the eigth are a better bet fillers may also add to the ash content)
5th if the ingredients has 3 or less fillers that is a high quality food
6th although it's rare the best food for any fish will list "whole fish meat" or "whole shrimp meat" as the number 1 or 2 ingredient
7th which I don't think I should mention is look for something high in protein (that's a basic)

and the one that fits this description is omega one which has whole salmon meat as the first ingredient and does not have much fillers
another one would be hikari's label
dynaflyx(forgot name) is better then hikari's label but it is rather hard to find (new word aquarium at 38th street between 2nd and 3rd ave in NY has it.)
pro-gold starts out with fish meal within the first 3 ingredients but they are high in protein although not as high as hikari's label

this rating here was based on ingredients and analysis charts the preference amongst users on this board is rather from experience which is not a bad thing

can we pin this?

I also think this should be a pinned topic with the helpful info because I'm sure there are lots of members who will ask or are interested in finding this information again.

Thanks a bunch maniacholic, I'll be getting the Hikari from here on out then.

No Problem, If I forgot anything I would correct it though so don't mind me if I forget a bit of info here and there

oh... I just remembered you said Ideal flake brand I think hikari's flakes are wheat germ based, that may not be enough for a goldfish...

One other, very good, brand of flake food is Seafood flakes and spirulina flakes, both from Goldfishconnection.com. Rick has more flake food around, but those two are the only ones I have tried so far.

What I like about the seafood flakes is that it has whole fish as main ingredients, not meal or powdered garbage, and once I put it down into the water, it sinks pretty good, not all that much floating is involved.

The spirulina flakes are somewhat harder than other flakes, which makes them also ideal sinking foods. They don't really float at all, just a few seconds, which I find perfect for goldies.
Most other flakes foods I have tried over the years, you usually have to smack them with a very heavy object to get them to stop floating.

And, Maniacholic, a very helpful post in regards to what to look for in the ingredients lists of food. I'll pin it on top for everybody....

Don't worry maniacholic I haven't gotten them yet, gotta finish off the Tetra first.

Ranchugirl, is there anyway people who can't access buying Seafood flakes or Spirulina flakes online to find them in stores? (Aquabid has cut my wallet well into July!)

Thanks for the comment, most of the info I got for ingredients on labels were from health class in high school! I guess it was good that I stayed awake



If you can find a store that has dynaflex (still can't remember the name) you can get spirulina in the same disk form, and the store that sells dynaflex (no comment) in NY let's you purchase the amount in ounces, so you can get a bit even if you're low on cash. I'm not sure if the other stores sells in the same habit.

Thanks maniacholic, I've now got an excuse to go back to the pet store!

good luck, but try to switch to pellets

I alternate pelets with flakes. thatway, if theres something in one thats not in the other, they still get it.

I do alternate, just not with pellets. Flakes aren't their staple diet, just mixed into it as a whole three times a week along with fresh vegtables, fruit, seaweed and live worms.

But if pellets are recomended over flakes I'll look into what is for sale using the ingrdient guide maniacholic posted.

It's a good idea to alternate foods for that specific reason, even if you have the best protein source from one type of food you'll need fiber to remove anything that's blocking the GFs villa(place of nutrient absorbtion in the intestines) or almost any other place in the intestinal tract, sometimes the blockage can even start pushing the area near the swim bladder causing SBD or swim bladder disorder here's a new guide about alternating food.

When you eat a slice of pizza, sometimes the the cheese and other parts of the pizza is so thick that your body has a hard time digesting it, thus causing blockage in parts of the large intestines causing your body to not absorb the moisture that well from food, we experience this as diarhea, the solution for this is to eat lotsa vegies because they have fiber to literally push the blockage out.

When a fish starts having problem digesting their food the blockage can push the swim bladder out of position causing your fish to be topsy turny, so a goldfish will also need fiber(in the form of vegies peas, spirulina, spinach, etc) to push the stuff out, but because a goldfish has such a weak digestive system the fiber that's pushing out the blockage may also push out much needed nutrients from the food consumed before so there must be a eating habit put into place for your goldfish to consume fiber sparingly to the point of having food nutrients maximized but enough fiber to push out the waste.

Here's a few tips about how to schedule your goldfish's diet

When the staple diet you have chosen has a high amount of ash it is easier for your goldfish to have it stuck in it's digestive track being as it's not absorbed by the goldfish so you must give fiber to the fish more periodically.

It's a good idea to have your goldfish fasted for a day before giving fiber to the goldfish, this way the nutrients in the food from the previous feeding can be absorbed completly.

Feed fiber associated food on a different day from where you have fed a goldfish staple food

Feed treats before a day of a fast as treats require more time to digest

fiber based gel food is a better choice of fiber sources as it is almost ash free

Change the water after a day of feeding fiber associated food

try to squeeze fiber into the diet once a week

vegies and fruits are high in fiber so feed them on the days after you fasted a GF

If there's anything that seems wrong please don't be shy in commenting

Hikari make an excellent quality flake! great as a treat in edition to pellets and greens

I absolutely love omega one flakes. My goldies inhale it they love it so much. And like mentioned above it contains really quality ingredients. I love giving it to them because I know it is good for them and they enjoy it as well.

Try Bloodworm!! It got the highest protein than all other pellet or flake!should be fed with peas and some fruits. ex:banana or orange.If u go with pellet, I prefer Hikari label.They been doing research on Goldfish for years!!!

it should be noted that when you feed flakes to a goldfish or any other wide mouthed fish that you should never float the flakes.

i would suggest putting the flakes in a bowl with water then using a turkey baster (or something similar) to release the flakes under water.

however there are debates to this idea which concerns portein being dissolved away when soaking fish food in water in order to make them sink.

If it was true that proteins can dissolve in water at a rapid rate especially with flakes since they have a large surface area it should be suggested that paper-like flakes should not be used at all since they can either:
A) lose much of it's nutritional content and polute the water
B) retain air if it is not soaked.

Thank you so much maniacholic!

I've been using the goldfish food that came with my first fish as part of a starter kit, and oh man, no wonder sushi hasn't grown!

The ingredients start with fish meal and then starts with the fillers on the SECOND ingredient! Then there is a rapid fire list of fillers (corn flour, wheat flour, soy flour, oat meal, wheat gluten meal) and THEN comes the meat.

I had no idea : (

Today I went out and bought Omega One Pellets and frozen brine shrimp. Yummmy.

I personally use aqueon flakes and they start with whole fish meal as the first ingredient and have krill and spirulina and spinach in the ingredients as well.

I just bought Nutrafin Max. Has anyone tried it?

Nutrafin max is good, my fishies like it