Last Updated on February 9, 2021 by Pauline G. Carter
Goldfish is one of the most popular pet fish. Many people love it because of its beautiful color, and it needs less attention, and it is one of the easiest to maintain compared to other fish species.
Providing your goldfish with the right nutrition and understanding what they eat is the key to giving them a long healthy life.
Goldfish are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders. They feed on almost everything you throw to them. They produce a lot of waste too.
While it is exciting to feed the goldfish, the last thing you should think of to feed the goldfish is bread. Read on to understand why bread can be harmful to your goldfish.
Why You Shouldn’t Feed Goldfish with Bread
Bread Contains wheat and Yeast
Bread contains wheat ad yeast, and when consumed by goldfish, it tends to expand in their stomach, and their belly swells. This is also the same thing that happens when humans or other animals eat bread.
Any food that contains yeast is known to cause bloating. This, in turn, can lead to constipation in your goldfish, which can lead to its death.
In as much as a goldfish seems to be enjoying bread every time you feed them, you might be causing more harm to your pet that can lead to its death.
Bread Contains Gluten
Apart from having yeast that is harmful to your goldfish, bread contains gluten too. The goldfish’ digestive system is very delicate, and it is unable to break down the gluten found in bread flour.
Thus, when goldfish eat bread, it develops digestive problems, and it suffers severe pain and discomfort. This can hurt the overall health of the goldfish once it fails to breakdown the gluten completely. Here is the details guide – Can Gold Fish Eat bread?
Swim Bladder Disorder
Bread can also result in more severe issues known as swim bladder disorder. This is a severe problem that needs to be sorted right away. Signs of this problem include difficulty in swimming, lethargy, and bloating.
Other symptoms include behavior change, where the goldfish will spend most of the time submerged at the tank’s bottom. To treat such a disorder, increase the fiber diet on your goldfish or adding Epsom salt to their water.
Bread can Overfeed Goldfish
Bread is not directly poisonous to the goldfish. The problem arises when it overfeeds the bread, and it is unable to digest it. Goldfish will not stop eating bread even when it is full. It will only stop after all the bread thrown in the water is gone.
The problem is that the more the goldfish eat, the more waste they produce. This can lead to having excess toxins in the tank that can slowly poison the fish and lead to other diseases.
Bread Does Not Have Nutritional Value
Besides being harmful to your goldfish, bread does not have the required nutritional value recommended to feed the goldfish. Goldfish should be fed with fish food that meets their dietary needs and other foods like vegetables.
From the above points, it clear that bread is very harmful to your goldfish. Even though you want to treat the goldfish, bread should not be on your list of treats.
About Author (Pauline G. Carter)
Pauline G. Carter is a well-known pet blogger who has written about the world of pets for several years. She is passionate about pets, from cats and dogs to birds, reptiles, and poultry. Her blog, which is updated regularly, is filled with articles and guides on pet care, nutrition, and training. She also shares her experiences and observations on pet ownership, making her blog relatable and informative for pet lovers. She is a true animal advocate and is dedicated to promoting responsible pet ownership. Let’s Go …
