Feeding,,

A while ago I gave a friend some 'Spirvlina' as a bit of a change for there two Goldfish.. I suggested that they mix it in with there fish flakes, They have two small gold fish in a Bowl, with a bit of gravel, and a plastic plant,, Every week the fish get a 90% water change a they seem happy. However once they started eating the 'Spirvlina' Dramatic changes started to happen, the fish stayed on the surface, gulping for air, and there heads turned black ?? They where relegated back to there plain old Flakes and things returned to normal. I have been feeding 'Spirvlina' to my Angles without any troubles..

Anyone got any ideas, or thoughts on what happened bassett

no goldfish is happy in a bowl. the gulping for air is because they are suffocating, goldfish need 10 gallons per fish. the goldfish at the lfs i work at get spirulina flakes and nothing bad happens.

They might have been picky - ate the flakes and skipped the spirvlina, or overfeeding causing an ammonia spike. That would explain the fish staying at the surface gulping for air. Also, ammonia burns cause black spots which slowly go away with water changes and time (the time they were being 'relegated back to there plain old flakes'.... Another thing that causes color changes or darken, is the loss of neuroiogical control. Which is likely due to eye or brain flukes. Fluke infections can be because of over crowding or really bad water quality. With two goldfish in a bowl, with only a weekly 90% water change, I would say there would be a good chance of flukes.......Frank