# Feeding Goldfish Questions



## Skepsis_DK (Aug 15, 2011)

ive been feeding my 4 red bellies only blood worms and pellets and went to my lfs to pick up some live food. they recommend gold fish because they're the cheapest, but as he was putting them in the bag for me, he said they might contain diseases... so i said thanks and left without any fish. i didnt want to risk anything and was wondering what the safest way is to buy live food for future reference. thanks


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2011)

Goldfish and minnows are not the best live food source to feed your fish. They can carry harmful disease and parasites plus they contain Thiaminase which has been linked to affecting the growth of your fish.

If you wish to feed live foods, I would set up a smaller 10G tank and breed swordtails or guppies. Some people even breed convicts as a food source. I have personally done both convicts and swordtails and prefer the swordtails since they are livebearers the fry come out larger than the egg laying convicts. I also found they grew faster than convicts.


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## bamffish (Jan 24, 2011)

gold fish are poor in nutrients as far as fish go. but if you want to use them as feeders,first make sure they are not carying anything you could set up a small quarantine tank. this way you can treat the fish with meds to kill off any thing and watch for a couple of weeks to see if any of the fish look sickly. if after this time all fish look healthy then i would consider them safe, or at least you took proper precautions.


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## Skepsis_DK (Aug 15, 2011)

i dont know the first thing about breeding guppies though. how ever, i am interested


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## Nzac (Oct 13, 2010)

pick up a dozen feeder guppies, place them in tank, feed and wait. usually with a dozen you will have both male and female.


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## Skepsis_DK (Aug 15, 2011)

but how do i breed them?


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## Guest (Oct 25, 2011)

The will do the deed themselves. You can tell a female is carrying because you will see a dark black triangle on her stomach as the babies grow. There isnt much meat to guppies, lol thats why I suggested swordtails


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## Skepsis_DK (Aug 15, 2011)

so all i do is buy a bunch of guppies and shoot em in a 10 gallon tank? and then over time they will just keep reproducing, just like that? how long approx does it take for them to lay an egg?


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## PsychoPygo85 (Jul 15, 2011)

they dont lay eggs. they pop out live fry.


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## addicted216 (Sep 30, 2011)

Skepsis_DK said:


> but how do i breed them?


lol funny


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## ACrowe25 (Sep 23, 2011)

I feel the price you save with these he heap feeders will no where near pay for the price of anew shoal of ps if a death results.

However, someone experienced should link a thread on breeding guppies, tank reqs (heater,filter,etc)? How long would it take to breed a nice sized one which is eatable for my 3" RBP.


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