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Given a good pellet, additional things aren't necessary - but of course they're a good idea!

I'm not big on lettuce or cabbage for goldies, as they mostly lack the ability to "scrape" leaves the way an SAE or pleco might. Better choices include zucchini (blanched), small pieces of tomato, spinach (canned), green beans (canned), peas on a semi-regular basis (allow me to clear up a misconception: I'm never, ever seen a goldfish in a large tank with a good diet get swimbladder. If you're having swimbladder, there's an underlying cause - the pea is just a temporary cure. Therefore, don't feel you have to plan for it - it shouldn't happen), celery (boiled), and most green, fleshy veggies. If it's too "tough" boil it or buy canned. Spinach is my personal favorite, they love it!

-Molly
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The canned spinach was a HIT. Man he looooooves it. That and a bitty bit of blood worms and he's in hog heaven.

What a cute little piggie he is. LOLOL

Yep, all you gotta do is thaw it. I feed mine thawed frozen spinach :%) lol occasionally, and they love it. You can feed goldies a ton of things, from bits of rice (occasionally) to pieces of orange! They are little piggies

Frozen should work fine, I'd think - just thaw it out better than you would peas since the goldies are more likely to choke down half-frozen spinach and that can't be good.

-Molly
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Canned spinich was mentioned, but will frozen work as well I'd assume so but just wanted to check....I do the peas, but ...well figure they'd love something else to play with ... I mean eat .

^_^

I know Cory Di feeds her guys seaweed strips occasionally, but it's not really necessary. Just give 'em lots of veggies (peas, spinach...) and a treat of blood worms or brine shrimp along with their staple, and they'll thrive

What do you think about the seaweed or algae strips or squares you can buy at the LFS? Is something like spinach comparable?? Or is the store bought stuff necessary as well?

Sorry for all the questions... I'm going to drive you guys nuts!! LOLOL

No veggie clip required for things like spinach that sink - indeed, the fish seem to prefer digging about in the substrate for it. That part's definitely up there on the list of natural behaviors.
I just use a local brand, you can try different ones to find the ones your fish like best, the softest ones, etc.

-Molly
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So... with the canned spinich (for example)... you just put a pinch in there, and see if they eat it? Do you need a veggie clip?? Any particular brand that they seem to like??

I'm tackling this Oranda seriously. LOL I want him to live 10 years or more!

Okay... I'm sitting down to place an order from Drs Foster & Smith for fish food etc.

What do you recommend I buy for my Oranda? Types of food? Your favorite brands too if you know 'em... I won't start ordering until I hear from some of you!

Thanks.

I read somewhere that you need to feed them lettuce or fresh veggies of some kind. Not including peas for swim bladder, of course.

If that's the case... what kinds of veggies, fresh or cooked? Big pieces or cut up in small pieces?? I've seen people just stick whole lettuce or cabbage leaves in thier goldie tanks... but I wasn't sure if they knew what they were doing or if they were nuts.

Soooo... besides the processed food, what else do I need to give him? Frozen blood worms... brine shrimp... etc etc. Ugh!! So many questions... so little time.

Eh, you don't need it usually. I just added it to ward off people getting offended about my cynical view of the world. Mostly people assume it's your opinion, unless you're saying "Aquarian is the best food! No other food is acceptable!"

To get back on topic : Keep in mind, in the future you'll probably have to switch to some koi food or other - watching a big goldie try and chase a million tiny pellets is frustrating on both ends!

[span class="edited"][Edited by LittleMousling 2004-09-03 17:51][/span]

-Molly
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true, true Little Mousling. I forgot to add the "in my opinion" to my post

This is mostly an IMO, but Hikari Oranda and Lionhead are just marketing schemes. Is hikari goldfish food good? Sure, but I'm not paying the extra for "oranda" food.
OSI is very good. Personally I feed NewLife Spectrum.

-Molly
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it's pricey, but the BEST food for your goldie is:

ProGold!

I also really like Hikari Lionhead as it's another nutritious sinking pellet that also promotes beautiful head growth on your oranda. You can buy Hikari Lionhead at your LfS most of the time as well you don't have to mail order it like ProGold, but the progold is a superior product, and the bag will last you a long time

This is what I feed my Koi/GoldFish:
http://www.888beckett.com/Index.cfm?FuseAction=StoreFront&CommerceCategoryID=3&CommerceSubCategoryID=16&CommerceSubSubCategoryID=30

I would go with the Hikari pellets, I have never personlley kept orandas, but Hikari always puts out a good food.