I started soaking the flakes briefly in tank water before feeding my fish, but now I feel as though I am hardly feeding my fish anything. The flakes seem to disolve into a mush and then when I pop it in the tank there seems to be hardly anything (lots of very small bits the fish don't spot, and a few big bits that they eat in about 10 seconds).

I think I'm finding it hard deciding how much food is too much or too little. I have three 1 inch fish. Any tips?

(I also give them live plants, peas twice a week so I don't think they go too hungry)

Also - Does anyone think it is worth using the coloured flakes to bring out their full colour potential?

And finally - I fed them cucumber the other day. Although I cut it really small and mushed it up a bit, I couldn't help but notice it seemed too big for them to eat whole, but it has now all gone. Is there a danger I could choke the fish? Or are they good at just biting/sucking bits off until the piece of food has all gone?

When you soak the flakes just soak till you see them sink in the bowl. Thats about all the time you want to soak them

Fish do have somewhat of a tooth in their mouth, or rather throat, but its not a chewing as we understand it. They only can mush things smaller. For such little fish, you can also try other things that are easy to come by, and hold forever in the freezer. Try frozen bloodworms, or cooked shrimp from your seafood department in the supermarket. Chopped really small, fish go nuts over those, and, like I mentioned, they are great in the freezer for a while.

What is the best way to feed frozen bloodworms?

Do you rinse them off after they are thawed? Is there a risk of bacteria?

when I feed frozen blood worms I just take a little bit of warm tap water in a dish put the frozen block of bloodworms in and shake it around for a bit. The worms shoud start to seperate and then I dump as much as need in the tank and put the rest that are still frozen in a little baggie and save it for next feeding.

I have tetrafin fancy goldfish growth food : floating pellets. Should I soak these or are they just fine as they are?

I haven't used this product, but if it is a hard, dense pellet, it is a good idea to soak it for a few minutes. It is easier for the fish to digest and could prevent floating problems in the future.

No, it isn't that hard, it crumbles easily, but it doesn't say to pre-soak the food. I think i'm going to ask the pet store people, they seem to know a lot about goldfish. Don't try to convince me they don't because they actually know as much as you and I and we are fancy goldfish carers. They even told me a thing or two that I didn't know before. Heh, that pet store was a lucky find if ever I found one. The fish look healthy happy, no signs of disease. I bought a tank and all for my new orandas moving in, and they seem happy with their new environment, and are as healthy as the next well-cared-for goldfish. They people at the petstore even remembered to put both the fish into a brown paper bag aswell as their individual bags to minimise stress. They never tried to cheat me, either. They gave me the reccomended brands of everything on most goldfish sites, not the most expensive.
Haha, they even took out the packet of fish food that came with the tank saying "You better not let the fish eat this stuff, fish feed that comes free with the tank often is a bit dodgy" And so it is. When I was a beginner with my "tester" fish, I knew no better to feed it the food that came with the tank. The fish died a couple of hours after he ate it. Oh well, sorry for my rambling, but i'll give you the adress of this petstore:

Sam's Pets & Aquarium
United Square
Singapore

Eee, sorry americans, you'll have to take the plane to singapore if you want to buy from here.

Oh and I forgot, the packet says it has 'hydrolized' protein to help with digestion.

If the pellet is a crumbly type, it may not benefit from being soaked. You could try to soak it briefly, and see if it just turns to mush. If it does, then don't soak it.

Some of the pellets are extremely hard, and it is much easier for the fish to digest them if they are soaked.

I agree that many pet stores are extremely good and knowledgeable. I am glad that you have such a good one

Eee, it turned into wet mush.

Well, then that is one that you wouldn't want to soak, not for very long anyway

It was only in for a few seconds, I don't think I will continue soaking it, I haven't had any fish which came out in swim bladder after eating it.