My goldie Feather is a year old now, but only about two inches long (w/o tail). True, he is a little bigger now than when I first got him, but only by about a 1/4 of an inch. I see all the other goldies of all kinds here, and the majority seem to grow fast and big. By all accounts Feather has a nice, clean, well cycled tank which until recently was all his own. He now has a tank mate, Firefly, who is just a little smaller.

I have been feeding a diet of Wardley Premium Goldfish Slow Sinking Crumbles once daily. On occasion I will feed them cooked and mashed peas or bloodworms, but these are pretty rare treats. But could this limited diet be hindering their growth? Or would an otherwise healthy fish grow no matter what he was fed?

I will always love my little fish, no matter what size he is, but I just want to know why he doesn't grow, and what, if anything, I can do to induce some growth.

Feather may have a nutritional deficiency, but it could just be genetics also. Have you tried feeding him fresh veggies (I know you said peas) - all you have to do is put a small piece in a little cup of tank water and microwave it for a bit to soften. Chop into small pieces. They love fresh foods! It may also help to get a high protein food, like Omega One (they sell this most places and it is inexpensive), and alternate this with the food you already give. Variety is a very good thing - think about people, you would not do well on just one food each and every day. I would recommend some fresh foods and then another staple food to alternate, preferably one with higher protein content to encourage some growth. Firefly would certainly benefit from the variety as well. Good luck, hope he grows for ya

Good post.

Fish, like every other living thing, will benefit from variety.

There is also a HUGE environmental/genetic involvement in the growth, too. A fish that is started out with as much high quality, protien rich food it could possibly need from the day it is hatched, will grow faster than a fish that is hatched in an environment where it has to compete to get a mouthful. A fish that has never known the stress of less than perfect water conditions will not have spent life energy dealing with ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. A fish that is grown in sufficiant water volume will not have exposure to the growth inhibitors that other fish release.

So, your fish may have been pre-conditioned towards slow growth from the day of hatching - long before you got it. It also may be genetically, simply not as big as other fish. Within a single spawning, you will find many fish that, for one reason or another (perhaps the digestion system is not as efficient or the visual accuity does not allow it to compete as well for food, or the body conformation is such that it cannot swim as fast or well as others) some of the fish are tiny and some are huge.

Fish will keep growing their entire lives. They grow the quickest when they are young, and slow down substantially as they age. You can encourage growth by keeping the water on the warmer side (not too warm), and feeding more often with a variety of foods - protien heavy.

Some breeders are known to feed VERY heavily to produce a large fish in as short a possible time - even, it is told, to the point of having 24 hours light, and up to 10 feedings a day. This can and will grow a fish very large in a very short time. But the fish that is produced is also said to be less that capable of breeding well, and is more than normally sensitive to many common problems.

Get a different food and try offering a second small meal each day for your fish. Keep the water squeaky clean and give in time. Fish have a way of growing when you are not looking - you may just walk in one day and go "WHOA!" The fish will have grown.

Well the first thing I'd do if I were you would be to check out the ingredient list on your goldfish food. I used to feed my goldies some crap flake food where the number one ingredient was like, wheat germ or something. Goldies need protein, not carbs! If your food has good proteins as the first ingredients (ie: salmon, halibut, shrimp, krill, etc) then you know your food isn't the problem.

If your food is good there's not a whole lot you can do. One of my fish is definetly growing and I've only had him for four months, the other one I've had for a year and to me, he looks the same, maybe a TEENY bit bigger. Comparison pictures show that he's pretty much the same. Nothing you can do.

Some people are short, some are tall

Food plays a factor in the fish's growth. However, in addition to diet, there's also genetics and another important aspect which is tank size and water quality.

If you feed your fish high quality food, they can only grow so much physically and psychologically if the tank is undersized or puny. Move them into a bigger tank and watch them flourish freely. Of course keeping your water clear and clean also helps a lot, as opposed to toxic stressful water.

I had this question too. What types/brand of food do you feed to make your fish big and fat? I've had my 3 for almost a year and they haven't seemed to grow at all. I looked at the labelon my fish food and the top 4 ingredients are: wheat flour, fish meal, corn gluten meal, and whaet germ meal.

Yeah, that food isn't very good. Lots of fillers that won't do your fish much good. I feed Omega One, the first four ingredients on that are whole salmon, whole herring, whole shrimp and wheat flour. Around me Omega one is the best you can but. Hikari is good to but not quite as good.

I would try switching foods and feeding twice daily, that might help the growth a bit.

Lots of people on this forum feed ProGold from www.goldfishconnection.com - it costs a bit more but is worth it when you see how much your goldies love it! Lots also make their own gel food - there are recipes pinned at the top of this board. It really made my goldies' color stand out! Plus they eat out of my hand now, which I take to mean that they think the food is ok

I do Omega One as well because it's got so much good fish action. When it runs out I might try the ProGold, though, as I've heard so many good things about it!

where can i get omega one and progold

in the UK

thanks

ProGold is only found at www.goldfishconnection.com -not sure if Rick ships internationally? I'm sure he would be willing to help you get some, but it would cost you some shipping. It would be worth the extra money in my opinion! I think there is one other place that sells it, but can't think of it right now - maybe someone else knows? Not sure if they ship internationally either. If you're looking for a high protein food, just check the ingredients list on the back of what you have in your stores. First few ingredients at least should be REAL food, not flour, corn, etc. Should be something like fish meal, krill, etc. Then, on the back of the package should be an analysis that says "crude protein" and a percentage. You can compare several brands/types and see which has a higher protein content and choose a higher one. I say that you usually get what you pay for - you will pay a bit more for a better food. Hope you find something good!

www.mops.ca also carries Pro-Gold. I believe they ship internationally.

Thanks for all the help! I checked my regular fish food, adn wouldn't you know it? It was all CARBS! I think "fish meal" was on eof hte ingredients, but more twoards hte middle of the list. It's like I've been feedint them nothing but bread all this time So, I went off to my LFS, and after carefully scruteninzing every goldfish food htey carried, I selected one that has Krill and Herring listed as the first two ingredients. It smells really fishy, too, LOL. ANyway, the fish LOVE it, they gobble it up super fast! AND, this could be just my imagination, but I think Feather has gone on a little grwoth spurt since I switched foods. He looks visibly bigger, and his tail is longer and more feathery. Needless to say, I have two very happy goldies

Congrats I'm sure your fish will be very happy with the change!