Hi I feed my goldfish pretty much exclusively daphnia or shelled peas. One of my goldfish has become sluggish, resting on the bottom. Do they also need flake food to ensure a balanced diet? c u Paul

Yes they should get flakes or pellets ,daphinas and peas are good for them but they should also get flakes or pellets for a balanced diet.You can add other treats like shrimp pellets,earth/blood worms,and brine shrimp, some fruits and veggies too.

Variety is the key.....by feeding exclusively daphnia and peas, they are missing essential nutrients. the flake foods (or the gel food recipes you find on this site), ensure that they are getting everything they need. I try to feed flake/pellet/gel foods about 3-4 days a week and then give brine shrimp/plankton etc 1 day a week as a treat and give peas/veggies/spirolina 1-2 days a week. That way I know if one food is missing something, another food will give that missing item!

Yes, essential vitamins and all the good stuff goldies need are in the flakes/pellets. I feed my goldies, two pellets each every day and a couple of flakes if I feel sorry for them .
Then once a week I feed them exclusively peas, as a treat, and too help their digestive track. Then as an extra treat, I tend to experiment with food one day, and give them banana, or lettuce, or salmon, or spinach, and see what they like. That way they are getting a varied diet. I should really feed them live food once in a while, but I cannot bring myself to get it for them eww...
Hope this helped! Basically to sum up they need :
1) a varied diet
2) a good supply of essential food from either pellets or flakes