The 4 BEST Foods to Feed Imperial Goldfish (2024)

What do Imperial Goldfish eat?

Making sure that your fish eats the proper foods is a big part of providing exceptional care.

And surprisingly, Imperial Goldfish eat a wide variety of foods!

Naturally, goldfish are omnivores, and they eat a combination of insects, zooplankton, small crustaceans, and plant matter.

So the best way to keep your Imperial Goldfish in peak health is to make sure to feed them an array of different items!

Today, we’re going to go over 4 foods that Imperial Goldfish eat!

#1. Flakes

As you may have guessed, using flakes to feed your Imperial Goldfish is both easy and highly recommended.

Fish flakes are typically made out of dried ingredients like fish meal and a host of other foods, minerals, and vitamins. They are designed to float on the water for a short time before eventually slowly sinking to the bottom of the tank.

Flakes are a great food to use daily and should provide your fish’s base nutrition and calories. In addition, this lightweight food has a high carbohydrate count, which is important for your Imperial Goldfish.

There are many brands of goldfish flakes on the market, but here is the one that I recommend:

TetraFin Plus Goldfish Flakes Check $$ on Amazon

This food is specifically made for goldfish and even includes added algae flakes to provide some vegetable matter.

#2. Pellets

As the name suggests, pellets are tiny balls of food and they make great food for Imperial Goldfish.

Just like flakes, pellets provide the base food and nutrition that your fish needs. Therefore, most people pick to use either pellets or flakes as their daily food.

Deciding between pellets or flakes is mostly a personal choice. Many hobbyists prefer pellets because it typically generates less food waste in your tank since the fish must eat the whole pellet.

Here is a great pellet food, which is specially made for all types of goldfish:

Omega One Goldfish Pellets (4mm) View $$ on Amazon

Please note that these pellets are designed to sink. The reason is that Imperial Goldfish regularly forage and graze for food on the tank’s bottom. If your fish are small, you may want to use the 2mm Omega One Goldfish Pellets instead.

#3. Vegetables

As I mentioned earlier, Imperial Goldfish are omnivores and feed on a variety of plant matter.

So periodically, you should offer vegetation to supplement either the flakes or pellets.

Here are just a few different vegetables to try in your tank:

Lettuces, kale, or spinach.
Peas. But you will want to remove their shell first, then chop them into smaller chunks.
Cucumber

It is recommended that you briefly boil or microwave vegetables before feeding them to your Imperial Goldfish. Doing this will help soften the cellulose in the plant’s cell walls.

#4. Bloodworms

When someone says bloodworms, they are typically referring to a few different types of small worms or larvae that are found in marine environments. This food is common to feed to a huge variety of aquarium fish.

Although it’s not required to supplement your Imperial Goldfish diet with bloodworms, this food will certainly provide some variety and hopefully amplify their color and growth. Think of bloodworms as a treat, as they should not be used as the primary food source!

There are THREE ways to buy bloodworms to feed Imperial Goldfish:

A. Freeze-Dried (pictured above): Super easy to store. It helps to soak them in aquarium water before feeding.
B. Live: Yep, they are alive and wiggling! You need to use them within a few days of buying them. Washing them first is also important since live food has a higher risk of carrying diseases.
C. Frozen: Typically come in small blocks that need to be defrosted before putting into the tank.

Imperial Goldfish eat MANY more types of foods too!

While the list above provides some of the most popular foods for Imperial Goldfish, there are many more you can try.

Seriously, let your imagination run wild!

A few quick examples that other aquarists have had success with include waxworms, earthworms, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, mealworms, oranges, daphnia, krill, tubifex worms, and any soft boiled vegetable.

Do not OVERFEED your Imperial Goldfish!

Since their diet is so varied, it is a lot of fun to try different foods to see what they enjoy eating.

But…

You must be careful NOT to overfeed! Having too much uneaten food in the tank can cause all the fish to perish.

A good rule of thumb is only to feed Imperial Goldfish what they can consume in 2-3 minutes. In addition, they should be fed 2-3 times per day.