Bonding with and entertaining your goldfish – an update just in time for Christmas!

It’s been a long time since wrote my original post on bonding with my goldfish. In that time, I’ve explored a lot of different options which I thought I would share.

Glass marbles were a real hit. With a bare-bottom tank, my fish are easily able to push them around and sift for food. I don’t put many in the bottom but my fish really seem to enjoy them. They figured out fairly quickly that they could be pushed around and they do so on a regular basis.

The seaweed clip was also a hit. It took a little while for them to understand that the spinach was edible, and I had to rip up the leaves a little bit first, but it didn’t take long for the spinach to disappear.

When things are a little more settled, I’ll buy some more duckweed for my fish to enjoy. They spent a couple of happy hours chasing down the leaves and eating them up earlier in the year, and I loved to watch them. I prefer to buy live plants for my fish to keep things as natural as I can for them, but while I know that duckweed doesn’t last very long at all, I know they enjoy it. I could also spring for some more anubia plants as they look pretty, don’t get eaten, and don’t seem to die on me!

As ever, I keep an eye out for any fun looking items which aren’t necessarily intended for fish. Glass or ceramics are my favourites as I know they tend to be safe for my fish. I couldn’t find anything I liked in an actual pet shop the other day, so I’m going to take a look in the city centre this weekend for more ways to entertain them.