Health Fitness

How to feed fish peas: What’s on the fish menu?

Is your fish struggling to swim upright?

Overfeeding, a poor diet, or improperly prepared foods can cause constipation. Lack of fiber in the diet can also create blockages in the digestive tract. These blockages can put weight on the swim bladder, causing erratic swimming. In severe cases, your fish can completely lose its balance and swim upside down.

Elegant goldfish, such as orandas, lion heads, and dovetails, are particularly prone to swim bladder problems. Sometimes particularly sensitive fish will need special diets with lots of green vegetables to prevent the dreaded swim bladder disease.

But what if your fish can’t swim? What can you do to help it?

Feed fish peas!

Peas are very high in fiber, so they do a good job of cleaning the digestive tract of fish. If your fish just can’t stand upright and you suspect constipation, peas can be a quick fix!

Let’s learn how to prepare peas for mealtime.

  1. Pick your peas from the store. Peas come in different sizes, varieties ranging from garden peas (the most common) to peas. You can also buy frozen peas (my favorite), split peas (dried, peeled, and split in half), and canned peas (too much sodium, not recommended!).
  2. Soften the peas for mealtime. You can rinse the frozen peas with hot water for 15-30 seconds. However, if you bought particularly hardened peas, you may want to boil them for a minute or heat them in a microwave safe container (filled with water) on high for 30-60 seconds. Be careful! You don’t want to over-tenderize the peas to mush, but you do want your fish to be able to digest the peas.
  3. Smoothed peas without skin. You can gently peel off the skin or squeeze the peas with your fingers. My preferred method is to poke a small hole in the skin and carefully unwrap the pea. However, do not skip this step. Skin can suffocate fish!
  4. Cut the fresh peas into small pieces. You want each piece to be large enough to fit in your fish’s mouth. I find that cutting my peas into four slices provides the perfect size for mature goldfish. Some fish enthusiasts even like to feed the fish peas whole, without cutting them first. Personally, I find that my fish enjoys its food much better when it is minced.

If your fish are constipated, I recommend feeding them one or two peas for three days. If your fish still has trouble swimming after five days on a pea diet, your fish may not be constipated!

Fresh peas have their limits. Feeding fish peas will not help permanent swim bladder disorders or floatation problems caused by bacteria, internal parasites, or poor water quality.

So if your fish are suffering from more than constipation, feeding them peas won’t help!

However, introducing peas to your fish’s diet every two weeks will give omnivores and vegetarians the nutrients they need for a healthy digestive system.

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