Over-feeding goldfish?

Factual Questions
1

Okay, I’m taking care of my mom’s outdoor goldfish (two fantails, and one japanese one whose breed I don’t recall, but not Koi). They live in one of those cute ‘deck ponds’, complete with fountain and a few plants (oxygenator, plus water hyacinth and something else), plus a thin coat of algae on the sides. The ‘instructions’ say feed twice a day, three pellets per fish per feed, and scoop out anything they don’t eat in 5 minutes.

I only get over there once a day (long commute, 2 1/2 year old child, life), and so when I get there, the critters are hungry. I give them all 6 pellets at once (softened slightly in water, since the pellets sit out in the sun and are now hard as little rocks), and they cram their little faces, then sit there looking a little stunned, perhaps by having suddenly distended their stomachs about double the usual holding level. A few minutes pass, and they start chasing each other around, bumping each other, etc. They eat every bit, so I don’t have to scoop anything at all.

So, am I going to kill them this way? Are they still hungry? Am I giving them too much? Do I really really have to feed them twice a day? AARRGH. Of course, my son and niece have named the two fantails, so killing them (uh, the fish) would be BAD, either by starvation or over-feeding. Oh, and I can’t ask my mom, because she got the things very shortly before going on vacation, and knows about as much about them as I do (though she can feed them 2x/day when she’s home).

2

Relax.

Fish can go literally weeks without being fed. Goldfish are especially good at this.

Go ahead and just feed them whenever you get over there–there’s nothing magical about their time schedule. It’s not like a dog or cat, that really will experience physical discomfort if not fed more or less on time.

It doesn’t matter one little bit how much food you give them, whether 3 pieces or 6 pieces or the whole can. But I don’t see why you need to soak the food in water before you feed it to them. Goldfish (carp) have one of the most efficient digestive tracts known among fish. Why is the food kept in the sun? Just because it’s next to the pond? It doesn’t hurt them to wolf down 6 pieces once a day, instead of snacking more daintily on 3 pieces twice a day.

The most important thing to do is to scoop out any extra food before you go. Extra food left in there is what will kill the fish faster than starvation. I won’t go into all the chemistry, but the spoiled food produces nitrates and nitrites and ammonia, which will wreck the water quality and kill the fish within a surprisingly short period of time, like a day or two.

Also, after fish eat, they poop. (Duh.) The poop also contributes what’s called “waste load”, ruining the water quality. The food pellets will continue to float around for a long time, and the fish will continue to snack on them, contributing even more “waste load”, hence the instructions to scoop them out after 5 minutes.

Your mom had some good advice from somebody who, probably after killing many, many goldfish, figured out exactly how much to feed so as to be able to keep up with the filtration system’s ability to cope with the waste load. She just happens to enjoy fussing over them, hence the “twice a day” instructions. But once a day is fine. Even, considering your circumstances, just go over there every other day and feed them. I promise it won’t hurt them at all.

Just remember to scoop out the extra food before you go. And keep your eye on the 2 1/2 year old–there’s nothing they like better than to “help” feed the fish by dumping the entire can in there when you’re not looking. I’m here to tell you. (sigh)