My goldfish won't eat his food from the top of the tank

Question

When I drop the flakes into the tank my fishy won't swim to the top and grab the food like all the other fishes I've seen. Instead he waits until the food sinks, or I push it down to swim over to it and eat it befor it hits the bottom. Is this abnormal or a bad sign or something? Is there any way I can "train"/get him to eat his food like other fishes? (that is, only if it's a bad thing....)

Answer 1

Why does it matter if he eats it in a different way. He's still eating it

Answer 2

first of all... its other fish not other fishes. and second who cares when it eats it if it is still alive

oh, and good luck "training" ur fish

Answer 3

its not bad it good every fish is differnt and it will help its swim blader

Answer 4

your gold fish is a fish and they eat things that looks like its swimming

they work by instinct and they think that the falling flacks are swimming little fishes  not only that but they cant see what is on the top of the water

so once the flakes starts to drop they can see it and eat it up

YUM!

and did you know that if you leave a gold fish in the dark for 2 months it will loose it color and turn completely white?

now you do!

I hope that this helps

From Toxicink

Answer 5

fish are scared of the light . Maybe you have to change the food that you are feeding them ,something that they like to eat .

Answer 6

Go to your aquarium dealer and pick up frozen bloodworms. Fish go crazy over them! Plus it keeps them nourished.

Answer 7

It's not a bad thing.  Your goldfish is an individual and likes to eat food HIS way.

All the best.

Answer 8

Live food.

He's bored with the flakes!

But some people like to eat with spoons, some with forks, some with their hands. All fish and people eat differently.

I would get him some live food though, I bet he'd chase that down!

Answer 9

maybe your just over-feeding it; a lot of fishes die when there owner over-feeds them. but you probably gotta feed it a lil less; i dont mean starve it but dont always give it food like how you do now. It could be full and doesnt wanna eat but dont worry you dont need to train it eather its just its eating habbit. it depends on there species and much more; dont compare it to other fishes.. they all have different eating habbits even though they go up to eat there food and might be from the same species.

Answer 10

Give him time, he will soon.

Answer 11

It differs from fish to fish. Each fish has a different level of intelligence. For this fish, it would be best to get him some sinking fish food. Some fish are naturally more "shy" than others. For instance, my Striped Damsel is typical of it's kind; it hides frequently, darts around almost all the time, and rarely goes up to eat. My clownfish, however, was the same. My Copperband Butterflyfish, however, could eat from your hand.

Answer 12

Maybe he's tired ;-)

As long as he's eating, I wouldn't worry about it.  

Answer 13

My goldfish used to do that too, unless they were really hungry..then they would rush up. i dont think that it is anything serious. my goldfish did that and they lived longer than most other ones and i just kept them in a regular fish bowl..of course cleaning it every week. its is just his own way of eating and as long as your fishy is eating then you have nothing to worry about. =)

Answer 14

what kind of gold fish is it? an orando? some goldfish dont eat floating flakes sometimes they jsut wait for it to sink  its pretty normal nothing to worry it eats the food some way so its fine

Answer 15

as long as he eats it is ok, but what happend with one of my tetra's it was afraid of the little bubble thingy at the front of the 2.5 gallon tank and it was scaring it away fromt eh food.

so we changed it back to the back and to a different bubbling thing and the fish started eatting...but since it hadnt ate in like a week or more it ended up dieing...:( o well..

Answer 16

i think its a really neat thing that he does that

just let him continue to eat it like that i mean its not affecting u is it

and plus its a neat trick

Answer 17

yea i got  a fish like that  the problem is probably  its not use of swimming up to the top to get its food to eat its pretty much not use to that, but the good part about this is as long if it is eating it shouldn't be nothing to worry about, my fish is still alive and very heathy

Answer 18

nah some  new fish tend to do that way but in the end they will get used to eat at the top try starve them for 3 days.  Maybe you overfed them.  Goldfish are scavengers when they are hungry they will search from top to bottom.

kOi keeper & goldfish keeper