What alternate foods can I feed my goldfish?

Question
My sister and I are "8 months old" in the world of aquariums. We set up our 11 gallon aquarium last November and stocked it with 6 goldfish and 10 plattys. We now realize we have way too many goldfish, and we will be taking care of that problem. We change 5 gallons of our water every week. The aquarium has a consistent reading of 0.25ppm ammonia, and its pH hangs around 6.8.
We are interested in learning more about feeding goldfish. Right now we feed our 6 goldfish one half teaspoon of flakes twice a day, and half a teaspoon of Tetra's Color Bits once a day.
We have heard of giving goldfish leaves of lettuce,cooked peas, and even hard boiled egg yolks, but we have a hard time knowing what is best.
We would appreciate your opinion about what we are currently feeding them, and also about some simple alternatives to their regular flakes and bits.

Answer
Good morning Charity,

I'm glad you understand that your tank is overstocked. I would hate to be the one to break it to you, but in the long run 11 gallons (perhaps 12? an Eclipse system, maybe?) is not really suitable for a goldfish long term. They grow large and produce lots of waste. If you do have one of those "all in one" Eclipse systems, the filter will not be able to keep up with the waste from even a couple of goldfish.

A single goldfish should have a 20 gallon tank. This is not much more of an investment and will be the best guarantee towards a long, healthy life. Six goldfish is just too many for the average person to keep! It could be done, but you would need, at the very least, a 75 gallon tank. So consider trading in a few of the goldfish. It's much better to have a few healthy fish than a tank full of sick ones.

The fact that ammonia levels are present even though your tank is mature at 8 months, and your pH is driven down, shows that there is too much organic debris in the system.

Here's my advice. Cut back on feeding to twice a day, for starters (more on what to feed in a second) and change more water. Lots, lots more water! You should be changing about 75% of the water three times a week, ideally. Change as much as you can, as often as you can, but never change more than 90% at a time. 100% change outs are stressful for fish.

Vacuum the gravel once a week. This should help remove the mulm at the bottom. Here a definition:
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/termsandtables/g/mulm.htm
Have a look at that site for even more aquarium info!

As far as feeding goes, goldfish are a prime example of an omnivore. The very best diet for a goldfish is a varied one that is relatively low in protein. Tetra Color Bits are fine for a snack, but if I'm not mistaken, they are made from Cyclop-eeze granules that are high in protein. I wouldn't feed this more than three times a week. If you are feeding flake, the best kind of flake to feed is goldfish flake and spirulina flake. Spirulina is a food that's perfect for primarily vegetarians such as goldfish and livebearers (platys, mollies etc.) and Tetra makes veggie crisps now that are made primarily with Spirulina. They also make Spirulina flake. You might find crisps are neater...

As for alternative foods, this site has an extensive list:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/food.html

Any fruits vegetables your goldfish will eat will be healthy for them. Cleaner than flakes and bits, for sure, because vegetables and fruits are not high in protein and protein is the biggest polluter when it breaks down. Vegetables you offer should be rinsed, and either a) left in the tank for about 24 hours so they can soften up, or b) blanched in the microwave. That is, lightly boiled for about 30 seconds in a bowl of water. Remove it from the tank when it starts to break down. To help it sink, try clipping the slice of veg with a magnetic clip - the kind for potato chips.

There are also a few recipes that your goldfishes will love, if you are inclined to make them:
http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/4468/recipes.html

I actually make what's called "European Shrimp Mix" for my African cichlids, which are similar to goldfish in their dietary needs. They also thrive no a low protein diet. If you are ever curious, type those three words into Google.com for recipes - there are lots of variations out there.

I can tell you from my experience that my African cichlids love: yellow squash, zucchini, cucumber, romaine lettuce or Boston leaf lettuce, spinach, the inside of thawed frozen peas, and nori - the dried seaweed sheets used to make sushi. They will accept, but don't really relish: tomato, banana, and sweet potato. Your goldfishes' tastes may vary. I use those cartons of egg whites in my cooking, so I pour a little in a dish and microwave it, and feed them to my fish. All of them like it - some of them love it! It is a bit messy, so feed it sparingly, maybe twice a week.

One last thing. It might not hurt to add a pinch of aquarium salt, say a 1/2 tablespoon a week, to help deal with the ammonia toxicity. Dissolve it in some warm water and then pour the warm water in the tank.

I hope that helps! Take care, and keep up those water changes. :) If you need any more advice, feel free to write back anytime. I use Google.com more than any other website on the planet, and very often find just what I need using Google. I am happy to offer further clarification.

Have a nice weekend,
Nicole