What Is the Feeding Amount for an Oranda Goldfish?

Flakes and Pellets

• Flake and pellet foods can form the basis of an oranda goldfish's diet. When keeping one or two goldfish on their own, a pinch of flake or pellet food should be given once a day. If there are other fish in the tank, consider the appetites of these fish when determining how much to feed.

  As a general rule, only give flake or pellet foods once a day. If you give any more than this a large amount of uneaten food will begin to collect in the bottom of the tank. If you notice food beginning to collect or go uneaten, cut back on the amount of flake you feed. It is possible you are feeding too much, or that the goldfish are preferring to get the majority of their food elsewhere.

Fresh Vegetables and Live Plants

• Oranda goldfish are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and meat. Supply the required plant material by putting some fresh vegetables in the tank every day. Add a piece of lettuce or spinach along with a sprinkling of peas to the tank in an amount suitable for the day's grazing, but remove any uneaten food the next morning. When setting up the aquarium, include some live plants. The oranda goldfish will graze on these plants, and having living organisms in the tank will help keep a constant supply of food available.

  The large, decorative hood on the head of the oranda goldfish can make it difficult for the fish to swim fast. Because of this difficulty, the goldfish may find it easiest to graze off living plants rather than chase food dropped into the water.

Meat and Protein

• The majority of the oranda goldfish's diet will be flake food and vegetable matter, but augment these dietary requirements with some meat. The oranda goldfish will nibble on meaty aquarium additions like plankton, blood worms, brine shrimp and other types of small aquarium feeder worms. Choose the freeze-dried varieties of these foods in order to ensure there is no bacteria introduced into the tank when feeding, and add a couple pieces of the meat of choice every day when feeding flake food.

Scavenging Behaviors

• The oranda goldfish scavenge throughout the day as well as graze. This means they will clean up some of the food that has been left behind by tankmates; when they are seen skimming along the bottom of the tank, they are picking up this leftover food. Because they are such slow swimmers, this is one of the ways they feed themselves without having to compete with other fish in the tank for food. To keep the right amount of leftover food in the tank for the oranda to scavenge, do not include other bottom-feeding fish or tank cleaners in the environment.