Author Topic: When should I feed pond fish? (Read 5148 times)

hopalong · « **on:** September 12, 2008, 18:20:39 »

I did not intend to have fish in my pond but about half a dozen have appeared there recently - gold, black and a mixture of gold and black. I think they must have come with some weed that a friend gave me (it had some newts eggs in it and I was keen to have newts along with frogs). I am very ignorant about pond fish and would welcome expert advice. When should I feed them, if at all? Daily? Weekly? When they are close to the surface? From spring to autumn but not in winter?

Many thanks in anticipation.

Carol · « **Reply #1 on:** September 12, 2008, 22:08:03 »

I take it the fish are very small? They can still be fed in the pond until the temperature drops to below 10c. If they are small fish, flakes or small pieces would be better for them. They get fed once a day.

hopalong · « **Reply #2 on:** September 12, 2008, 23:35:19 »

Quote from: Carol on September 12, 2008, 22:08:03

I take it the fish are very small? They can still be fed in the pond until the temperature drops to below 10c. If they are small fish, flakes or small pieces would be better for them. They get fed once a day.

Thanks Carol. They are indeed quite small - fairground goldfish size or smaller. I'll start feeding them once a day as you suggest, until it gets too cold. I hope the frogs and newts will be able and willing to cohabit with them.

Paul

labrat · « **Reply #3 on:** September 13, 2008, 20:31:55 »

It would be best to feed them a wheatgerm based food at this time of year. It's easier for them to digest as their metabolism slows as it gets cooler.

caroline7758 · « **Reply #4 on:** September 13, 2008, 20:51:36 »

We hardly ever feed our fish and they have grown from normal goldfish sizeto about 5" long in a couple of years.

Sparkly · « **Reply #5 on:** September 13, 2008, 21:08:07 »

As has been mentioned keep feeding until the water temp is below 10 degrees C. Don't feed them too much at each time. Put a small amount on and add extra if needed. You don't want excess food left in the pond.

hopalong · « **Reply #6 on:** September 13, 2008, 23:05:30 »

Many thanks to you all for the helpful advice. They seem happy, so I'll give them minimal amounts of food and stop altogether when the temperature drops.

flowerofshona2007 · « **Reply #7 on:** September 19, 2008, 17:39:58 »

Down here hubby has a koi pond and he feed all year as its never that cold !! if they stop coming to the top we dont feed and will start the wheatgerm food in a few weeks, we found not feeding all winter caused big problems in the spring with 'bunged up' fish :-\
Slugs and snails are greatly recieved by our lot but they are huge and we have a 3ft catfish in there to clean the bottom up of any missed food.
Go by the fish, if they are up the top asking for food feed them :)

hopalong · « **Reply #8 on:** September 21, 2008, 10:45:45 »

Quote from: flowerofshona2007 on September 19, 2008, 17:39:58

Down here hubby has a koi pond and he feed all year as its never that cold !! if they stop coming to the top we dont feed and will start the wheatgerm food in a few weeks, we found not feeding all winter caused big problems in the spring with 'bunged up' fish :-\
Slugs and snails are greatly recieved by our lot but they are huge and we have a 3ft catfish in there to clean the bottom up of any missed food.
Go by the fish, if they are up the top asking for food feed them :)

Thanks, that's very helpful advice. I am anxious not to overfeed them so I'll wait till they ask! Yesterday they were at the top with their mouths open, so I fed them. Today, they are swimming happily below the surface. But they are nothing like the size of your fish, which sound magnificent. Any chance of a photo?

Andy H · « **Reply #9 on:** February 15, 2009, 17:50:16 »

I know this is an oldish post but you can feed fish if they want it, they will know when to stop feeding in the colder weather and its not always the magical 10C when you stop feeding.
It is best to start them off again slowly when the weather warms up to allow your filter bugs to start multiplying to the population needed to keep the water safe.
It does depend though, on many things. filter or not, type of bottom(clean or mud) amount of fish etc.

hopalong · « **Reply #10 on:** February 15, 2009, 18:24:52 »

Thanks again for advice. A grey heron (magnificent to see, but a pest) nicked most of my fish a few weeks ago. A couple were roaming around quite close to the surface today, but I don't think I'll feed them just yet.

shirlton · « **Reply #11 on:** February 15, 2009, 18:56:54 »

Tone doesn't feed his until the temperature get to about 30degrees and then he only feeds them wholemeal bread until it gets warmer cos they can't digest it. Our koi always have a feast of frogspawn at the beg of March then we know they are ready to eat. Better to play safe than to lose fish.

Andy H · « **Reply #12 on:** February 15, 2009, 19:28:05 »

Not sure bread is good for them too much. As I believe it, contrary to popular myth, the food doesn`t rot inside them, they know when to eat(Koi)
I must admit I am not sure if tht is all foods or wheatgern.
I give mine about 4-5 mins to eat then I stop.
Always keep an eye on water parameters Nitrite, PH, NH3&4.
always do 10% water change each week ALL year. always now add dechlorinator when adding tap water.
they stopped eating 2 weeks ago so when they show interest I will htrow 5 pellets in and if they eat it then they can have some more. I will gradually increase the feed as the water warms, currently at 11c according to cheap thermometer.

will watch parameters as feeding increases.

As for Herons, ours has a net/frame over it but alot of people have a pergoda over it which herons dont seem to fly under and they have way better fish than mine so it must work, looks better than a net too.

shirlton · « **Reply #13 on:** February 16, 2009, 17:11:04 »

Hi Andy. 15 large Koi have to share 1 thin slice of strictly wholemeal bread. So far this year they haven't had anything and probably won't until the weather gets a lot warmer. We have planters all the way round the edge of our pool as well as marginal plants all around the pool. In 20 years we have only lost 1 fish and that was when Tony left one of the pots off the surrounding path. We don't net but I would like a pergola over ours but due to its informal shape it would look a bit silly.

hopalong · « **Reply #14 on:** February 16, 2009, 18:21:41 »

Your pond sounds great Shirley. Do you have photos?

A pergola wouldn't suit my pond either. I'll try boosting the number of pots and marginal plants surrounding it but, to be honest, I never intended to have fish (they were imported on some weed a friend gave me) and would not be too unhappy if it went back to being for frogs, newts and wild pond life as originally intended. It's great to see small birds bathing in it, but I'd rather not have any more grey herons.

Andy H · « **Reply #15 on:** February 16, 2009, 18:36:39 »

No ours is silly shape too but maybe one day I can make it all neater and cleaner!

shirlton · « **Reply #16 on:** February 16, 2009, 18:48:10 »

This is just a part of it. As you can see I love waterplants

Andy H · « **Reply #17 on:** February 16, 2009, 19:38:17 »

It looks nice, you probably have enough in there for them to fend for themselves food wise.

hopalong · « **Reply #18 on:** February 16, 2009, 23:45:19 »

Beautiful, Shirley. Thanks for sharing that.

Paul

News:

Author Topic: When should I feed pond fish? (Read 5148 times)