Feeding Goldfish. 



WM. T. INNES, Jr., Philadelphia. 



A GREAT number of good and kind 

 people are very much worried as 

 to what they should feed goldfish. This 

 really is a subject of some importance, 

 but not as important as many imagine it 

 to be. Considerations of how much to 

 feed, and the conditions surrounding the 

 goldfish — plants, light, temperature, air 

 surface of water, etc., — are tremendous- 

 ly more important to the health of the 

 inhabitants of the aquarium. Having 

 a rather large aqua-terrarium at my 

 place of business I naturally get on the 

 aquarium subject with persons of all 

 degrees of ignorance on fish-keeping 

 lore. Scarcely a day passes that some- 

 one does not ask "What shall I feed my 

 goldfish?" My stock answer is "Any- 

 thing they will eat." Of course, this 

 answer requires an explanation, but in 

 itself is intended to convey two facts; 

 that the range of acceptable food tor 

 goldfish is very large; that the subject is 

 not of as much importance as supposed. 

 A gentleman who has been a practical 

 aquarist and a leading authority for a 

 quarter of a century told me that he 

 feeds his fish almost anything from the 

 kitchen or table which is not too greasy, 

 including cake! His fish are in large, 

 shallow indoor tanks in which there is 

 a profusion of healthy plant life, and an 

 abundance of water. In a household 

 aquarium of the ordinary type this 

 haphazard method would not do, but 

 nevertheless it is still true that if an 

 aquarium is right, the fish may be fed 

 on anyone or all of a score of foods, 

 particularly if they are not given too 

 much. Nobody would think of feeding 

 goldfish on pears. In the summer, I 

 place my goldfish in an outdoor concrete 

 pool which is partially shaded by a pear 

 tree. Some of the pears drop in, and 

 when they soften sufficiently, the fish 

 nibble at them until they entirely dis- 



appear. The pears and the insects which 

 fall into the water are the only foods 

 they get during the summer. When they 

 are taken in in October they are in per- 

 fect health. 



Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, vermicelli, 

 soft parts of boiled fish, or any other 

 cereal composed of small grains are 

 good foods exactly as taken from the 

 table. They may also be used uncooked, 

 taking care not to feed heavily. Some 

 of these cereals swell to eight times 

 their dry bulk. We would not want the 

 fish to meet the fate of the boy who ate 

 dried apples and then drank water! 

 Scraped beef (once a week), bread 

 thoroughly dried and crushed, earth- 

 worms, meal worms finely chopped, 

 crushed dog biscuit and water crackers 

 are a few of the easily obtained items 

 which would be acceptable on a goldfish 

 bill-of-fare. The white wafer food 

 usually sold in pet and drug stores is 

 only of fair value. Most pet stores sell 

 a granular food composed of a number 

 of ingredients which is better. 



The subject of fish food has been gone 

 into very carefully by a number of our 

 semi-amateurs. Several of them now 

 market prepared foods composed largely 

 of the dried form of the insects which 

 as living food is generally recognized as 

 the very best of all foods. Dried fish 

 roe, shredded codfish, pulverized ant 

 eggs, dog biscuit, chopped liver, rice 

 flour, bran meal, and a small quantity 

 of pulverized cuttle-bone are some of 

 the ingredients mixed with the dried 

 insects and entomostraca. The mixture 

 has a certain amount of salt added, and 

 in some cases Epsom salts. The whole 

 is then cooked, dried and granulated 

 into different sizes. Unless one intends 

 using a large quantity, it pays much 

 better to purchase this kind of food than 

 to make it, and if the aquarium keeper 

 wishes to adopt one kind of food, this is 

 perhaps the best as it contains all the 

 necessary elements. 



