Im afraid somebody is ging to get hurt!

This is when i was using goldfish pellets. I ran out of them the other day and iv since been using the flakes that were for my gups.

But yeah, they seem to always be crowding around in the feeding corner trying to get my attention, even after iv fed them ALOT!

How do i get them to stop trying to eat and to swim around the tank more?

And their healthy feeder fish, 2 comets, and two ordinary.

Matt.

Thats a good question I'd like to know too . My older goldfish (almost 3 years old now!) dont' seem to care that much, they swim around and then grab the food when I drop it in. My new goldfish immediately swim to the top whem I'm around them and circle around the top and front of the tank, waiting for me to drop some food! They don't swim around when I'm nearby..

GF are designed by nature to be constantly on the lookout for food because in the wild they don't have helpful humans delivering it twice a day! They have to hunt and pick all day to get enough to eat. Therefore domestic goldfish will keep begging and searching for food even when they don't need it and aren't very hungry. They also quickly learn to associate food arriving with their owner so most fish crowd anxiously at the surface when you approach the tank just in case this is the magical moment!

There isn't much you can do to stop this behaviour because it's instinctive, but it helps if you only feed them at set times of the day - say only at 8.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. - so they learn when they can actually expect food and when it's unlikely to appear. They'll still come and hover hopefully when you approach the tank outside of these times but not for very long because they don't really expect food to arrive.

It's also helpful to vary the areas of the tank where you drop food in so they don't learn to associate just one place with food and constantly stay there waiting for it.

Hope this helps.

It's funny you mentioned that emmahj, because I just got a new 30 gallon aquarium about a week and a half ago and my 2 goldies will not move from the one side that I have been feeding them. Guess I have to start mixing it up some. LOL Or they will never see the other side!

Everbody's advice here is great, I just read through your post, Matt, and noticed you said you feed them flakes now that are intended for your guppies?
If that is so, you feed them the wrong food. Goldfish food and tropicals food has different components, just like the two kind of fish have different food requirements. Its much better for your goldies if you switch back to goldfish food....