What can I feed

Question
Hey there- I have 5 various barbs and was wondering what possibilities I could feed them.  I have some goldfish (tetrafin Goldfish flakes) food leftover and I was wondering if I could use that up on them.  I am currently feeding them Tropical Fish flakes and they are eating that happily.  Also, someone was telling me that you can feed tropical fish canned vegetables? Is that true?  And what kinds and what brands should I look for?  Also- I have some Hikari Cichlid Gold medium sized floating pellets that I could feed them interchangeably if that would work?

Let me know-
Thanks a lot.
Greg

Answer
Hi Greg,
You are doing quite well already with feeding. Feeding your fish as much variety as possible is most important. Its really good to feed different types of flake and pellet foods such as the goldfish flakes and the cichlid pellets for example. These are great to use to vary the diet. Fish also enjoy vegetables and certain species must have lots of vegetable matter in their diet or otherwise they wont be as healthy. Barbs are primarily omnivorous so they do best when fed meat-based foods as well as vegetable based flakes or vegetables themselves.

I like to give my fish green peas from the freezer. Canned peas would work also but I've always just used frozen peas. Make sure to thaw them completely if they are frozen and remove the shell from the pea. Fish enjoy it better if you mash it up for them and give small amounts. Other vegetables like Zucchini is also enjoyed by barbs. I've found that if you freeze a slice and then thaw it out in some hot water this makes the zucchini much more softer and edible. Romain lettuce can be done the same way and a lot of fish also like spinach too.

Frozen fish foods like bloodworms, Brine shrimp, ect.. Are good for providing protein and other nutrients. Feeding these as a treat a few times a week really helps to keep fish healthy and thriving. But remember that variety is most important.

I really hope this helps!
Happy fishkeeping!
Karen~