PatriciaH

Things have been going well, and I think I've found a good balance. In another topic: has anyone heard of adding baking soda to the water to increase calcium hardness? I know products like Wonder Shell are used to add hardness, but a friend told me she used baking soda instead.

Thank you StanF! That's super helpful. Good to know that fish can be individuals just like other pets!

Hey StanF: I've been experimenting with how many pellets I've been feeding my fish, and the frequency. Since my last post, I started watching them eat from the top of the water, swim down and "chew", like you said and then go up for another mouthful, for a total of two mouthfulls, then I don't feed them any more pellets. For a few days following, that seemed to still result in a long hard poop trail. So I reduced their feeding to one mouthful, once a day, and that seemed to be the perfect amount for about three days. Then Carol (the smaller of the two) had a super long (4 inches!) white stringy poop trail, which I read was a sign of underfeeding. So that day I gave her two mouthfulls at her regular feeding, and continued that amount for two days, watching her every day. Then she produced another long hard poop. So the past three days I've gone back to one mouthful, and today she's got another long hard poop. I can't seem to find a good balance, and I'm getting pretty frustrated! Maybe she's just a unique fish that has different poops than other fish?

Thank you so much everyone! I test the water weekly and nitrate levels are low and under control. Is it a good idea to make them fast for a day or two so their digestive systems can normalize? Or should I simply keep feeding them but change the amount/type?

Hello! I have two goldfish, Firebolt and Carol Queen of the Coral. We just got them three weeks ago and I've been feeding them pellets. I've been feeding a pinch twice a day, and recently Carol had a long dark brown poop so, at the advice of the internet, I let her fast for a day, then fed her a pinch of pellets. Then the next morning I noticed she and Firebolt were eating the live plants in the aquarium. That night (tonight) she had a long stringy green plant-looking poop. What do I do? More fasting? Is eating the plant bad for her? I have two little girls 3 and 7 who have grown really attached so I want to make sure I'm being proactive and doing what's best for these fishies. Thank you to everyone!