bloodworm

Question
QUESTION: I was just wondering how often you should feed a fish bloodworm, my pet shop owner suggests it as a treat, but I still don't understand how much this is. Also I have shrimps and I have the same question of how much and how often? They are both (bloodworm and shrimps) in frozen cubes.

I also think you were quite mean by saying that all goldfish are ill when they were given to you anyway. Well isn't that a bit upsetting, especially when they can be better treated. Also why does it just have to be goldfish, if you don't know much about goldfish, how do you know that about how badly treated they are when they are sold?

ANSWER: Hi Elinor,
  You can feed bloodworms as often as you can afford them.  Same with shrimp.

  The sad reality about goldfish is what you don't see before they get to the fish store.  Feeder goldfish (which is what most goldfish that are sold start out as) are shipped in very large quantities in very crowded conditions (I know this from first hand knowledge).  Think hundreds and hundreds of fish in a bag. Lots die. Those that don't die go to pet stores to be sold as feeders.  Because each fish has very little economic value (a few cents to the wholesaler), the wholesaler and retailers can't put much investment into keeping them happy and healthy.  Goldfish are a little more finicky than many tropical fishes in that they don't do well in warm water, they actually need cool water to do well.  They are very prone to get and carry ick -- a parasitic disease.  Unfortunately, when someone buys a goldfish it often already has this and the diesase only shows up a few days later, when you have the goldfish at home and all of a sudden it appears sick.  Worse yet, lots of people buy these "feeders" to feed to fish-eating fishes, such as large cichlids.  The ick readily transmits from the feeders to the predatory fish and ultimately kills the large fish, which is very sad.  Every week I get emails from people who have had a fish like an oscar for ten years or more only to have it suddenly die from ick because of feeder goldfish.

  I also find it very sad that for many people, their first introduction to fish keeping is a negative one, because they start out with a 10 cent goldfish.  Because the fish is actually a feeder goldfish in most cases, it is typically already infected with ick and/or other diseases and soon dies, leaving the potential new aquarist depressed about the possibility of keeping fish. It would have been much better if they started out with a healthy fish of a species that is much easier to keep alive.

  Furthermore, if the goldfish do survive, all too often they are "let go" into the wild when they get too big for home aquariums and this creates all sorts of ecological disasters wherever they go (again I have witnessed this first hand).  

  Finally, goldfish are a manmade creation, the result of 2000 years of people imposing their will on animals, not for any practical purpose like food, but in many cases, just because we could.  I find this highly objectionable.  All these reasons are why I think the aquarium hobby would be a lot better off without goldfish and why I strongly urge aquarists to keep other species instead of goldfish.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thankyou, I have a goldfish and you have actually made me want to buy other fish than goldfish when this one passes away. However I am helping my fish as much as possible and I think that if people stopped buying them altogether, it may do more harm to them, than if people did look after them properly.

I do agree with that though and if you have seen it first hand then I definately believe you. I think though that people can do something about it.

Answer
Hi Elinor,
 If people were willing to pay the $6 or $10 for a goldfish that has been well maintained, then they would likely get a healthy fish. The reality is that most people see the feeder goldfish at 10 cents a piece and buy those.  Basically, you get what you pay for, i.e., there is a reason that feeder goldfish are 10 cents a piece and not $10.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>