Here are easy methods to feed apples to goldfish. In this article, we have added benefits, the nutritional value of apples for goldfish.
Can Goldfish Eat Apples? Yes, goldfish can eat apples but you have to select good quality apples, peel off their skin, cut it into small slices, boil in hot water to make it soft for the fish.
Besides fish food, goldfish can eat a variety of human food that includes fruits and vegetables. The aquarium goldfish feel bore while eating freeze-dried food such as flakes daily, contrary to diet in their natural habitat. They can eat a small slice of apples daily.
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Can Goldfish Eat Apples?
Apple is a good feast for your goldfish if you present it in a proper form and proper dosage along with other vegetables and fruits. Apple is rich in sugar and calories. Therefore its quantity and frequency should be kept low compared to other vegetables and fruits like pears, oranges, and leafy plants.
We will discuss different aspects and all the pros and cons of feeding apples to the popular aquarium pet known as goldfish.
How to feed apples to goldfish?
Goldfish cannot eat and digest hard-skinned foods easily. Therefore, you should cook or boil, peel, and chop these apples before feeding them.
Selection of Apples: Select fully ripe apples for presenting them to your fish. Avoid the apples with any pests or diseases and have blemish marks on their skin.
Wash these apples thoroughly with fresh water. Rinse the surface of apples with your fingers to remove any dirt on them. Use soap to wash your hands to remove any dirt or germs.
Peel the Apples: Peel these apples to remove their skin as they are hard for the fish to eat. They have a delicate digestive system and cannot process the hard stuff like fruit skin and may cause constipation in fish. The skin of apples can stick in the throat or intestine tract of the fish and causes them to choke to death.
Soften the Apples: It is a good practice that feeds soft food to goldfish to facilitate their digestive system. Apply small amounts of heat to soften the apples. You can use boiling water and put the apples in it for 60 minutes to smooth it.
You can microwave the peeled apples with a half cup of water in a bowl for a few seconds to remove their hardness and soften the apples. You can feed your fish without boiling apples if you think they are soft enough for the fish.
Chopping the apples: The fish has a small mouth and no stomach. To make the digestion process of apples easier for your fish, give them in the form of small pieces of size 1 to 2 millimeters.
You chop the apple into fine bits that can fit in the mouth of the fish. Always remember to remove apple seeds as they are indigestible for the fish.
Feeding the Apples to Goldfish: Feed these finely chopped pieces to your fish by placing them into its water tank. Few tiny chops of apples per fish will be sufficient to meet its nutritional requirements.
How much and how often to feed apples to goldfish?
Goldfish is a freshwater creature and have omnivores eating habits. It can eat a variety of vegetables, plants, and fruits in its habitat.
Mimic the natural food of goldfish, use the blend of fruit and vegetables with the other useful diet. Goldfish do not have a large stomach. They have intestines to do the digestive work while food passes through them.
Do not feed more than two to three slices of apples to the fish. Moreover, keep the frequency of an apple feast for them twice a week to ensure a balanced and nutritional diet for your fish. Therefore its excess can be harmful to your fish.
It is always a recommendation by the aquatic life experts to feed the amount of food that the fish can consume in about 3 to 4 minutes. You can remember the same rule of thumb while feeding apples to these goldies.
Some Pro Tips for feeding Apples to your pet fish
- Always select fresh and ripe apples to feed your pet fish.
- Apple must be softened by boiling them or placing them in the microwave for a few seconds.
- Remove seeds from apples as fish cannot digest the apple seeds.
- Present them in fine slices that are suitable to fit into the mouth of the goldfish.
- It is important to peel the apple before giving it to your friend in the aquarium that can cause them indigestion and choking problem.
- Carefully clean the apples thoroughly to remove any pesticides or chemicals on the surface apple.
- Always be very careful to avoid overfeeding the apples to the fish. Goldfish can die due to overfeeding if their intestines become full of food.
- Remove the leftover apple slices from the water tank as they can spoil the water if they remain there for a longer duration and become rotten.
- Avoid seasoning apples before feeding them to the fish.
Can we Feed Apple Slices to Baby Goldfish?
As already discussed, apple is a healthy diet for adult goldfish if you use it in moderation and follow the proper instructions before feeding it to them. You can feed it to baby goldfish or its fry.
Fish fry cannot eat hard foods like fruits and vegetables up to its first four months of growth and rely on soft foods like shrimp nauplii and algae or a few micro worms.
After four to six months, these goldfish babies start to accept diverse foods or regular fish foods. You can add apples to their diet in limited quantities. Two to three small pieces of apple chops once a week will be enough for these baby goldfish depending on their growth and size.
Nutritional Value of Apple for Fish
Apple is a fruit rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are beneficial for fish health. The anti-oxidant presence like vitamin C in an apple helps the fish body against many infectious germs and wear and tear in its body. Vitamin C also helps in bone development, healing, and the digestive system of the fish.
Apple also contains vitamin B2 and B6, which help enzymes used for the digestion of food. The presence of vitamin B1 is useful in the breakdown of carbohydrates in omnivore’s goldfish body.
Are apples harmful to goldfish?
Apple is a food rich in sugar content. It is beneficial for the fish body if used in the right quantities and as per prescribed frequency. The presence of fibers in apples also helps in digestive disorders like diarrhea and constipation.
Excessive feeding of apples to them is prone to digestive problems like indigestion and bloating in them. Apple fruit is also full of sugar that is important as an energy source for animals like fish, especially for their body growth and development.
The high sugar content can also cause bacterial growth in your water tank if you leave excessive food in it for a time greater than eight hours.
Conclusion
Apple is a good diet for the fish if you feed them in moderation and as per experts’ prescription. You need to put apples on a diet plan to fulfill their nutritional requirements that add colors to goldfish life.
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