Best Goldfish Food

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Best Goldfish Food

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How to Choose Goldfish Food

Finding the best goldfish food isn’t as simple as buying whatever’s next to the goldfish bowls at the pet store. There are many different types out there, and choosing the right food matters. Feeding your fish the wrong food could cause problems like floating bladder disease, which can kill your fish. Choosing the right food leads to healthy, happy fish – and a cleaner tank, too! Here are a few things to look for when shopping for new goldfish food.

Best Goldfish Food

Type: Goldfish food typically comes in a few different types: flakes, granules, pellets, and sticks. They also vary depending on if they float or sink. Choosing the right food comes down to your fish’s size and where they prefer to eat.

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Clear Water Formula: Clear water is important to not only the aesthetics of your tank or pond – it’s also important for your fish’s health! Pellets with clear water formulas won’t cloud up the water, or leave the tank floor murky or slimy.

How to Choose Goldfish Food

Omega Acids: Omega acid is an important ingredient in goldfish food. It provides your fish with energy to stay active and helps keep its immune system healthy. For cold water fish, it will also act like antifreeze to prevent freezing or sluggishness!

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Fish Size: Goldfish pellets and granules can vary greatly in size, so pay attention to what size fish they are made for to make sure your fish can handle them. Your fish may reject larger pellets or even choke on them!

Best Goldfish Food

Made In: The country your fish food is from will determine the quality of the food. Pet food from the U.S.A. is highly regulated, so you can trust that it’s safe. If the food is from another country, research their safety guidelines.

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Size: The container size is important for two reasons: budget and freshness. Buy the size container you know you’ll use before it goes bad. A larger container isn’t always the best value if you keep throwing it out before it turns!

Top 10 Products

Okay – now that you know more about what to look for in goldfish food, let’s get into our goldfish food review! We found 10 foods that cover a wide range of needs. There are flakes and granules for smaller fish, sinking pellets to prevent floating bladder disease, and floating pellets for koi ponds. Short on time? Check out our Top Pick and Budget Pick to get started, and come back to read about our other options when you have time!

TetraFin Goldfish Flake

TetraFin Goldfish Flake
Tetra is considered one of the best goldfish food brands out there, and it’s easy to see why! Their flakes are packed with all of the essential nutrients to keep your goldfish healthy and happy. Omega-3 gives them energy, biotin helps keep a healthy metabolism, and vitamin C helps their immune systems. Healthy fish are also prettier fish – the nutrients and minerals help keep their color vibrant and clear too! Unlike many flake fish foods, this version will stay firm when fish strike, instead of breaking apart and spreading all over the tank. This reduces excess waste and prevents cloudiness in the water, which means you can get away with fewer cleanings! We also found that this makes a great goldfish food for both indoor aquariums and outdoor ponds. Goldfish of all sizes can handle the small flakes, so if you have fish of varying sizes in the same space, you only need to buy one food to feed them!
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Aqueon Goldfish Granules

Aqueon Goldfish Granules
Our Budget Pick comes from Aqueon, another popular brand in fish food because it’s a great product at a great value! These are slow-sinking granules, which are perfect for fish that need to stay toward the bottom of the tank to feed. Some goldfish struggle to feed at the top of the tank, and will even go belly-up if they get too tired while trying to float! This can turn into what’s called “swim bladder disease.” These granules ensure that your floaters can eat, and your bottom feeders will also be able to eat safely. The granules are packed with all the nutrients and vitamins goldfish need to stay healthy, including Omega-3, vitamin C, and things like spirulina, which help bring out their vibrant colors. We also like that these granules work perfectly in an aquarium or pond, and are great for all sizes of goldfish! The best part? You can get all of this from an inexpensive brand!
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HARTZ Wardley Goldfish Food

HARTZ Wardley Goldfish Food
If you have a pond and need a lot of fish food for the money, HARTZ makes a good goldfish food pellet that will keep your fish healthy and your pond or aquarium sparkling clean! This large size is a great value to feed several fish in your pond without having to repurchase new food constantly. They chose to keep the protein content lower, which reduces waste and keeps the water cleaner. It’s still incredibly nutritious, with all the vitamins and things fish need to be healthy, active, and beautiful. There are also no artificial colors or dyes in the food, which also keeps the water clearer for longer. These come in different size pellets to properly feed all sizes of fish – the one we reviewed happens to be a medium pellet, which is good for medium and large fish. If you have small fish, consider buying their small pellets to ensure your fish can eat without wasting food!
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Tetra Floating Variety Pellets

Tetra Floating Variety Pellets
Looking for the best fish food for goldfish that are larger top feeders? We suggest checking out these pellets from Tetra, the same brand that makes our Top Pick goldfish food! These are packed with all the essential goodies, including plenty of Omega-3 to keep your fish healthy and happy. If you have a pond, these are great for feeding large pond fish and easy to skim off the surface if they’re not eaten right away. This means less waste and much cleaner water! These really do float well, so they work best for your floaters, these are great! In addition to feeding your goldfish, you can also use these pellets to feed other small animals in your tank or pond, like frogs or turtles. If you use these in an aquarium, make sure to only feed fish what they can handle to keep the water clean. Such a versatile food at a great price!
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Omega One Goldfish Pellets

Omega One Goldfish Pellets
In addition to finding a nutritious goldfish food, we also wanted to find the best food for goldfish color – and we found it! Omega One created a goldfish pellet that’s formulated to bring out the most color in your fish. They use salmon skins for the beta-carotene, which naturally enhances the color of your beautiful fish. In addition to keeping your fish pretty, this also has plenty of fats to keep your fish living longer. We like that this fish food not only has Omega-3, it also has 6 different HUFAs, or highly unsaturated fatty acids. HUFAs can prolong your fish’s life and promotes activity and healthy growth. The pellets sink quickly, giving your fish plenty of opportunities to feed on the ground, which is great for larger or heavier fish. It also helps to prevent floating bladder disease, which is great for all goldfish. Even though it sinks fast, it still keeps your tank or pond super clean.
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New Life Spectrum Sinking Food

New Life Spectrum Sinking Food
All the pellet food we’ve looked at so far is mainly for medium to large fish – so what about the little guys? Thankfully, New Life Spectrum makes a small pellet food that’s perfect for your smaller, bottom-feeding goldfish! It contains lots of beta-carotene and spirulina to bring out the most vibrant color in your fish. They also have everything your growing fish need to stay healthy, energetic, and clean. These pellets are very tiny – about the size of a large grain of salt – so they’re perfect for even tiny goldfish. They do sink, but because they’re so small, they do sink slowly. If you’re worried about your fish trying to float up to eat them, you can easily push them down with your fingers to help the sinking process. If you’re looking for the best goldfish food for your smaller fish and bottom feeders, it’s worth the extra cost!
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Saki-Hikari Goldfish Food

Saki-Hikari Goldfish Food
In addition to finding a small pellet for little fish, we also wanted to find the best food for goldfish growth. It had to be small – really small – and have what baby fish need to grow. Saki-Hikari is a great food for both baby goldfish and larger fish! It’s a “baby stick” pellet that’s small enough for babies to eat without choking. The formula is also easy to digest, making it great for fish that are growing or sensitive to other foods. The higher protein content, at around 45%, promotes steady growth. This is a great food if you have both baby fish and small fish eating the same food!
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API Goldfish Pellets

API Goldfish Pellets
Another great goldfish food for growing goldfish comes from API, a company that has been around for over 50 years. They created a tiny pellet that is easy to digest for growing baby goldfish, small tank fish, and algae eaters. We also thought it was great that their formula also reduces the amount of ammonia the fish give off by up to 30%. Less ammonia in the water means clearer, cleaner water and fewer tank cleanups! Lots of ammonia is also very bad for fish’s health – it can cause damage to their gills, and the extra stress can actually kill them! To help combat these potential problems, API’s pellets also have lots of garlic, vitamin C, and vitamin E to boost their immune systems. There are also ingredients like spirulina and carrot to help enhance your goldfish’s beautiful colors. We like that this food is great for all types of goldfish, and it will keep your tank sparkling clean too!
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Laguna All Season Goldfish Food

Looking for a lot of food for your cold-water pond? Laguna created a 2.2 lb. bag of floating pellets that will feed all of your pond fish, including goldfish and koi! It’s a pretty good value for how much you get – and it will last a long time! This goldfish food has all the protein, vitamins, and nutrients your fish need to stay healthy. What we liked most about this pond fish food is the size of the pellets. They are large enough for big koi to find but small enough for your smaller pond fish to eat too. The pellets also fit in a feeder without clogging it up, which is nice! These are definitely not for an aquarium, so keep them for your cold-water pond friends!
Looking for a lot of food for your cold-water pond? Laguna created a 2.2 lb. bag of floating pellets that will feed all of your pond fish, including goldfish and koi! It’s a pretty good value for how much you get – and it will last a long time! This goldfish food has all the protein, vitamins, and nutrients your fish need to stay healthy. What we liked most about this pond fish food is the size of the pellets. They are large enough for big koi to find but small enough for your smaller pond fish to eat too. The pellets also fit in a feeder without clogging it up, which is nice! These are definitely not for an aquarium, so keep them for your cold-water pond friends!
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Fluval Bug Bites Goldfish Food

Let’s end our goldfish food-buying guide with some bugs! Fluval has created a fish food that’s main ingredient is something fish love to eat – larvae. They are high in protein and easy to digest because it’s what fish eat naturally in the wild! If you like to live an environmentally friendly, sustainable life – your fish can too. These granules are packed with black soldier fly larvae, whole salmon for Omega-3s, and tons of other vitamins and minerals to keep your fish healthy. Fluval also harvests their own ingredients and makes the food in small batches to ensure peak quality and a low carbon footprint. If you invest in eating sustainably-sourced, organic food, why not do the same for your fish? Feel better knowing your fish are getting the very best, and they will enjoy eating the best!
Let’s end our goldfish food-buying guide with some bugs! Fluval has created a fish food that’s main ingredient is something fish love to eat – larvae. They are high in protein and easy to digest because it’s what fish eat naturally in the wild! If you like to live an environmentally friendly, sustainable life – your fish can too. These granules are packed with black soldier fly larvae, whole salmon for Omega-3s, and tons of other vitamins and minerals to keep your fish healthy. Fluval also harvests their own ingredients and makes the food in small batches to ensure peak quality and a low carbon footprint. If you invest in eating sustainably-sourced, organic food, why not do the same for your fish? Feel better knowing your fish are getting the very best, and they will enjoy eating the best!
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About the Author

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Kimberly Graf

Expert Researcher and Writer

Kimberly Graf is a researcher and writer for GeekWrapped.com. She covers kitchen, cooking, and home products.

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Article last updated on:

September 30, 2019

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TOP PICK

TetraFin Goldfish Flake

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