Feeding lesson learned

[Beach Barbie]

First off - I do know about overfeeding and being sure to remove uneaten food to help with water quality. Thing is, I didn't do as I knew.....
A few weeks ago I bought pellets for my goldfish (black moor, yellow lab and three common goldfish and four tiger barbs). I had been feeding fish flakes, but the fish didnt' seem happy/satisfied, so I thought I'd try something else. The only pellets at the store were too big, but the salesperson said that i could just crush them. Sounded good, so I bought them. *GOLDFISH*
What happened was the fish didn't bother with the smallest pieces and I ended up WAY over feeding so had a mess to clean up. Filter was clogged up and when I cleaned out the gravel I ended up doing a 30% water change just to get all the uneaten food out.
The fish do seem happier with the pellets and now that the water is actually clear again, they should stay that way...*BOUNCINGS
I've been reading the posts and see that some people are recommending soaking the pellets first. I'm going try that.

 

[thejava1]

I have tretras and I still crush up the flake food a little, but even then i noticed a lot of really little pices get made that the fish probly wounldnt even see. I "hired" a fleet of ghost shrip to clean up- they're good at it too, and quite funny- you should try some. Or will your fish eat them?

 

[homebunnyj]

A 30% wc weekly is a good idea anyway, especially with the odd mix of fish you have. Do you have them in at least a 55?

 

[MissFishy]

What size is this tank? With that stocking it should be at least a 55gallon. The yellow lab and barbs do NOT belong in there with goldfish. Labs and barbs are tropical, goldfish are cold water, they do not mix.