Topic: Feeding Fish

[Sprouts]

I haven't fed my 4 pond goldfish for 2 weeks now as instructed by these hallowed pages and numerous other sources. Have read dire warnings of what happens to food in a goldfish's gut when the temperature drops!!
During a rain shower on Saturday  noticed a lot of activity, chasing each other round the pond and backing one into a nook by a plant basket. Realised that it had an earthworm in its mouth with about 2 cm sticking out.  The others sometimes grabbed it but it eventually disappeared into the first fish. It seems OK this morning.
Do the horror stories only apply to artificial food? There is a bog section at one end of the pond and turf on another side so there will be a few careless worms who fall in over the winter.
Should I warn the birds who bathe from the pebble beach that there are ravenous fish in the pond?

[Doris_Pinks]

Sprouts right or wrong I am still feeding mine pellets! They are still eating the small amount I throw in, I am guessing it is because it is still fairly warm, and they haven't "shut down" for the winter yet. Normally by now mine are not interested in food. My Mum's on the other hand, are not interested in eating at all, so she has stopped feeding hers, she only lives 5 mins away from me too!  I am sure someone with more fish knowledge than I will let you know the correct way to do it! DP

[Roy Bham UK]

I notice you are both opposite ends of the country and that may make a difference in the water temperature of your ponds, the theory is that if the water temp drops below 10°C then it is advisable not to feed your fish as generally this means winter is approaching and things will normally get worse regarding colder conditions, when this happens the fish go into a dormant state and rest at the bottom of the pond.
If you continue in feeding them they will be inclined to swim to the surface (not good if they are in a dormant state) and feed so as the water gets even colder the digestive system in the fish slows to almost a halt and the food inside them will rot and kill them.
Sprouts, I wouldn’t be too worried about your fish eating worms as they are easily digested, in fact I often cut a few up at this time of year if I see them looking for food and they love it, as yours did when he decided not to share with his mates.
I would suggest to your Mum DP that she checks the water quality in her pond as you say she lives close by, I got caught out by not doing regular checks on my pond water during winter and lost a few fish.
My pond water is hovering around 10°C at the mo but I’m not feeding them anything other than the odd chopped worm, if that not your thang then you could give them wheat germ fish food that if easy for them to digest.
It’s not easy to give dead accurate advise as you would finish up writing a book about it, as circumstances differ in different areas and sometime the information given by the inquirer does not reveal the full facts of their set-up, but we do our best. ;D 8)

[Margaret]

Hi all.It is a dilemma as the weather can change so quickly but generally i check the water temperature first,and if above 10 degrees c then feed as normal,providing the forecast is for the weather to remain about the same for at least 24hours.If above 8 degrees then i use wheatgerm pellets as they are more easily digested,again checking the future forecast.If in doubt,best not to feed.I am still feeding mine,and check the water temperature about every 3 days.

You need a proper pond thermometer so that you can get accurate temperatures.I have followed this regime now for 13 years and not lost a fish to lack of food ,even when it has been a long winter.

[Sprouts]

Thanks RB and Margaret
It was cold up in here last month and the water temperature was 8 degrees (on thermometer borroewd from work) , but it has been mild  and wet and the fish are up on the surface a lot. Will buy a pond thermometer and will go back to one feed a day till the temperature drops again.  
Given that water temperature will change quite slowly in the depths are you saying that we should feed during mild weather if the water warms up?
Unfortunately I won't see the pond in daylight during the week till February now so its going to be hard to guage what the fish are doing except at the weekend!

[tedd]

Fish in a well balanced pond will feed themselves if hungry on the plant and insect life they find in the pond. So in winter it is better to err on not throwing food in rather than cause problems.

A friend of mine has a quite large pond and NEVER feeds the fish. I think that is extreme, her fish grow slowly and have not reproduced much but the plants grow well and it all looks healthy.

My winter priority is to keep a good area of the pond surface free of ice by leaving the pump running or using a heater. But if you do leave the pump running you also need to check regularily that the filter and water return dont freeze up.

[Anthony]

I think the problem we have in this country is that the weather really doesn't know what it is doing from one day to the next! - When I went out this morning and checked the temp, it was hovering around the 15 degree mark!  A far cry from the minus 2 it was as low as over the weekend!!

I'm still only new at this game but I tend to only feed wheatgerm and bloodworm from Oct-Mar irrespective of the temp.  If it's mild and looks like staying mild (5-12 degrees) then I feed them - If it's cold i.e <5 degrees then they don't get anything!  Not sure if this approach is recommended or not but it seems to work ok for me.