# Goldfish and duckweed



## macKRAZY (Feb 15, 2012)

hey guys i didnt know whether to post this here or in the plant section but anyway, im hoping you guys can help me out...

can goldfish(orandas/telescope) live on duckweed as a main source of food and give them flakes and pellets as treats?
or should it be the other way around?

flakes/pellets as main source and duckweed as treats?

most of the sites i've been too say the same thing and don't answer my question...

ALSO, an additional question.. 

i have a 2 FULL containers of New Life Spectrum 
- Cichlid Formula 1mm sinking pellets 
- Medium fish sinking pellets
i sold off all my african cichlids and my angels/rams will take forever to finish this container. And all my other fish dont like the pellets for medium fish

saying that, do you guys think i could crush them into powder and add ingredients to MAKE flake food/frozen blocks the fish(not only my goldfish) will eat and enjoy?

ive looked over all the ingredients and they are pretty much the same...


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I suspect duckweed has better nutrition value than your average flake.

http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd7/1/3.htm

Scroll down to "Use of duckweed in fish nutrition". Goldfish = carp.


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## macKRAZY (Feb 15, 2012)

ah! exactly what i was looking for... thank u!


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

You better have a huge stock of duckweed, my goldfish decimated my duckweed quickly.


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## macKRAZY (Feb 15, 2012)

LOL tell me about it... thats the exact reason why the question came about!
i put in a handful in from my other tanks and over night it was all gone... 3 nights in a row!


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

i use them more as a "treat" for my goldfish since i dont have enough, and they absolutely LOVE them !


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## AquaticPulse (Jun 19, 2011)

i wouldn't use them as the only source of food. they need a more variety. I recommend hikari lionhead sinking pellets. They're high in protein to better their chances of getting a large wen.


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## macKRAZY (Feb 15, 2012)

thinkshane said:


> i wouldn't use them as the only source of food. they need a more variety. I recommend hikari lionhead sinking pellets. They're high in protein to better their chances of getting a large wen.


oh i know, i never use just one source of food for any of my fish... 
just wanted to know if it would be okay on a regular basis


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## macKRAZY (Feb 15, 2012)

heres an additional question.. ill also update the 1st post...

i have a 2 FULL containers of New Life Spectrum 
- Cichlid Formula 1mm sinking pellets 
- Medium fish sinking pellets
i sold off all my african cichlids and my angels/rams will take forever to finish this container. And all my other fish dont like the pellets for medium fish

saying that, do you guys think i could crush them into powder and add ingredients to MAKE flake food/frozen blocks the fish(not only my goldfish) will eat and enjoy?

ive looked over all the ingredients and they are pretty much the same...


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

You could, but I think it might be messy.


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

First the quick answer: 
You can feed the pellets as is, or crush them and make a gel food if you want, and i am not sure about the frozen cubes, it would work in my aquarium i am sure, dont know the details of yours. The pellets should be superior to the flakes for reasons mentioned lower. 

Now, the boring long answer, in case you got nothing better to do:

I handfeed my goldfish homemade gel food. My gel food contains different vegetables, such as Kale, Brocoli, Green Peas, Zuchini, Wheat Germs, Spirulina, Garlic, etc... No matter what you feed them, once they finish eating it, and then they will eat your duckweed too during the day. People will normally tell you duckweed is more a treat than main, but it depends on the quality of the main food. I grow my duckweed in my 10gallon shrimp tank, and not purposefully for the goldfish, but it turns out well actually, as i would have too much otherwise. Wont give enough for all my fish for the whole week.

You can probably start feeding those other fish food you mentioned as is, and the goldfish should eat it and be "happy". If they get picky with the food and start flipping over, you can put them on a more vegetarian diet (or completely). Just remember that hand feeding and sinking food is better, so they dont get too much air while eating, and thus stomach problems. Thus your existing sinking pellets is in my opinion better than the flakes. If you train your goldfish to hand feed, you can feed them on green peas one of the days. Some goldfish will eat right away though, mine were picky untill hand fed. you put the green pea in a jar with water for 10 minutes to soften them, peal off the skin, and hand feed each goldfish. Some people will fast their goldfish for one day each week after the green pea day to get their stomach cleaned up. Personnaly i think the less commercial food the better, but some are higher quality than others, such as you new life spectrum, which i used to feed the goldfish specific type untill i started making my own gel food. As my aquarium is heavilly planted, the mess doesnt stay for very long, specially as goldfish are vacuum cleaners anyways. 

But each fish is different, and system as well. Planted tank with sand substrate helps with the "mess"... But you got to be carefull not to overfeed too much and get carried away, and check the water quality every so often.

Good luck


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