Most tropical fish can safely eat spinach. If prepared correctly, spinach is an excellent dietary boost for your fish that comes along with several health benefits. In this article, we will discuss how to properly select, prepare, and feed spinach for your fish.
Things To Avoid When Selecting Your Spinach
Pre-cooked Spinach: One of the most important things to avoid is prepared spinach. Spinach that is either frozen or comes in a can should definitely be avoided. These are generally prepared and sold with salt having been added in the cooking process.
If you introduce salty foods into your aquarium, then you will not only affect the balance of your water parameters that you work so hard to stabilize, but you will also affect the health of your fish. Freshwater fish can be sensitive to sodium, so definitely avoid pre-cooked spinach, both frozen and canned.
Preservatives on Raw Spinach: Sometimes, spinach that is found in your local supermarket will be sprayed with preservatives that will help keep the spinach leaves looking fresh for longer. If the supermarket is your only option, just be sure to rinse the spinach leaves thoroughly before preparing.
Things to Look For When Selecting Your Spinach
Local Spinach: The best option is to buy your spinach from local farmers, through a farmers market, or some other local source. Not only will this help to support your local farmers, but it will also provide you with fresher, healthier, and safer spinach.
Another benefit of this method is getting to know your source. If you can talk with the farmer, then you can explain that you are using the spinach to feed your fish and they may be able to sell you smaller quantities or for a discount, they may be able to sell you the ugly looking spinach that would otherwise end up in the compost pile.
Grow Your Own: If you do not have an option to buy locally grown spinach in your community, then growing your own spinach in an aquaponics system, a plant pot, or a garden could be a good option as well. Spinach is a pretty hardy plant that grows easily. This way you will see your spinach go from the seed to the fish, and you might even find a little extra to throw in your salad now and then.
Can goldfish eat spinach?
Yes, goldfish can eat spinach, goldfish are opportunistic omnivores and will eat nearly anything they can find near them that has not been treated with chemicals or pesticides.
The major downside to spinach is that it contains a chemical called oxalic acid which interferes with calcium absorption making the calcium in spinach nearly impossible for goldfish to absorb.
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So feel free to feed spinach once in a while along with a carrot and lettuce, but remember too much oxalic acid will lead to swim bladder problems.
Goldfish can eat spinach, just not too much of it.
Preparing Your Spinach
When we eat spinach, most people will make sauteed spinach with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. This tastes great for us, but you should not just toss your scraps into your fish tank.
Fish don’t need seasoning and flavor as humans do. They are simply interested in a leafy green snack and a change from their normal diet. The salt and oil in the sauteed spinach will not do good things for your fish or their water quality.
The type and size of your fish will determine the best way for you to prepare your spinach.
Large Fish or Species With Teeth
For larger species or stronger species with teeth, you may be able to serve the spinach raw. When serving it raw, it will help to keep the spinach from breaking apart and dirtying your water, which can cause imbalances in your water parameters.
However, raw spinach will float to the top of the tank, so if you have bottom-dwelling fish, then obviously this won’t be the best option for you. Soaking in warm water can help to “waterlog” the spinach and make it sink so that your fish can reach it easier while keeping the spinach firm to prevent it from dirtying the water.
Small Fish or Species Without Teeth
If you have smaller fish, fish that don’t have teeth, or fish that are more “lazy” eaters, then boiling the spinach will be your best bet. This will make the leaves softer so that your fish can easily eat them, but it will likely cause them to break off smaller pieces that will float around your tank and decompose.
If you boil your spinach, then it is important to let it cool to room temperature before serving it to your fish. Also, you should rinse it again to help break away any loose pieces that may break away during feeding.
Feeding The Spinach To Your Fish
When To Feed: Feed the spinach right before a water change will allow less time for the scraps to decompose and affect your water quality. Using a gravel vacuum to pick up the excess will also help.
Make sure you do not feed spinach too often. Consider it as a treat for your fish and don’t feed it to them more than once a week. Too much fiber, iron, and calcium will not be healthy for your fish, no matter how much they look like they enjoy it.
Spread It Out: If you have food-aggressive or territorial fish, then you may want to spread the spinach around in the tank to prevent a turf war over a few leaves of spinach. Spreading it out will help the feeding go more smoothly and peacefully.
How Much To Feed: Don’t overdo it. What looks like a little bit of spinach to us will be a ton for a small fish. It is not necessary to put a human-sized portion of spinach in the tank.
Depending on how many fish are in the tank, you will only need a few leaves. If you want, you can gradually add more pieces until the fish stop eating. This way you can avoid adding too much spinach and creating a mess in your tank that your fish won’t eat.
Now You Are Ready!
So hopefully this article cleared up some questions or confusion that you had about feeding spinach to your tropical fish. Now we know how to source, clean, prepare, and feed spinach to our fish and they are sure to enjoy their new treat. Give it a shot and see how your fish react to a little bit of variety in their diet!
Hi, my name is Sean, and I’m the primary writer on the site. I’m blogging mostly about freshwater and saltwater aquariums, fish, invertebrates, and plants. I’m experienced in the fishkeeping hobby for many years. Over the years I have kept many tanks, and have recently begun getting more serious in wanting to become a professional aquarist. All my knowledge comes from experience and reading forums and a lot of informative sites. In pursuit of becoming a professional, I also want to inspire as many people as I can to pick up this hobby and keep the public interest growing.
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