fish don't seem to like new food

[talal101]

i got my goldfish some new pellet floating food and they used to completely eat it but now its like when i put it in the water they go for a complete rampage and then just stop and go away from them what can i do?

 

[addy1]

Laughing talal fussy fish! Do you have some flake food? I find most fish will eat when they are hungry. My pup decides she does not like food I fix now and then, well wait a bit and when she is hungry she eats. (spoiled brat!)

I have a variety of food, just throw in something different if they iggy what I fed them. I also throw in very little until I make sure they are going to eat.

My few little fish have still not even tried to eat but we are cold again, 24 here this am and snow coming this weekend, at least it won't stick around. The pond, (according to the floating thermometer) went from 60 to 44 again.

 

[shakaho]

Where in Canada are you? I suspect your water is not warm enough yet for your fish to be eating. You shouldn't be feeding them if the water temperature is below 55 F.

 

[koiguy1969]

sheesh...i still have a sheet of ice on my pond outside..must be nice to already have an active outdoor pond!

 

[j.w]

My fish are starting to beg for food really something awful now when I walk by.............I feel so guilty for ignoring their pleas..........their little mouths are high up out of the water and they are wide open and their little round eyeballs are glaring at me for mercy

 

[sissy]

you cruel person you lol I can just imagine the names they are calling you and your the one who has to look away .Here I have been feeding them a little spring and fall food waters above 55 but with 4 days of 60 degree days never know what it's going to be since nights are colder

 

[sissy]

move south koiguy

 

[fishin4cars]

LOL, I feel sorry for those of you way up north! My fish have been up and eagerly feeding for almost a month now. Actually witnessed the first Goldfish trying to spawn yesterday morning. may have been a good spawn as they clouded up the water pretty good yesterday. I'm not intrested in raising comets/shubunkins this year so if they live they live if they don't oh well. I'm waiting for the Koi to start which should start next month, Then I'll be trying to recover SOME of their eggs. I ended up with 13 babies last year which of those I kept the three gin rins. Year before that I ended up with 19 koi and 250+ goldfish. I still have two of my first koi offspring also. Traded off all the baby goldfish as I didn't have the room to raise them.

As for your question, Fish will usually start trying to feed at about 40-45 degrees. They really should not be feed at that temp as they can't digest as well. If your going to feed from 45-55 degrees I recommend feeding wheat germ and then feeding only very lightly when they are up looking, DON"T feed hoping they will come up!. Waiting until 55 allows the fish to be more active and eager to eat and they can digest the food at a more constant rate allowing for better growth and nutrition over feeding when it is cold as the fish will eat but can bloat as the food simply does not digest correctly.
Imagine eating a box of cereal, Yes a whole box! Not throw in a pound of cheese NO not halfa pound a full 1 pound block!, drink a gallon of water. NOW, Don't go potty for the next week! UGH, horrible thought huh? But in reality that's what feeding your fish early can and will do. they won't starve, If they aren't eagerly eating, let nature take it's course.

 

[sissy]

I have been slowly giving mine the spring and fall food as the water temps have been up but they go up and down as the weather goes from 70 degrees down to 50 degrees the next day you never know , but get down around 35 and 40 at night .

 

[fishin4cars]

Sissy, I'm sure your aware but it's not really air temp that your concerned with, It's actual water temp. Here the days are up to 80 already but at night we are still getting low 50'.
My water temp has been running about 62-63 in the morning and peaking at about 67-68 in the afternoon. Water temp, even with a 20 degree day to night air fluctuation should only show as maybe 6-10 degrees differenence in the water fluctuation.

 

[talal101]

sorry i should have mentioned that they are still in my holding tank that has a heater which keeps the water at around 70 give or take 3, so it is far beyond the right temp to feed, and hahah addy u have no idea they want frist class service all the time, which reminds me today i need to do a water change, and i do have flaked food but im trying to feed them 4 times a day for maximum growth, but they won't eat anymore after the second feeding which is four hours before the third feeding so im getting kind of annoyed because its like they refuse to grow, i don't want to feed them flakes again because it takes away the purpose of the varied diet.
btw this is how i feed them
first at 8 am flakes
second at 4 pm freeze dried blood worms
third at 8 p.m floating pellets with spurilina
fourth at 12 a.m brine shrimp pellets

 

[sissy]

I have a pond thermometer in the pond so I go by that

 

[talal101]

yeah water is harder to change the temp than air, so even if it is 80 outside the water may still be at 50

 

[addy1]

my pond water is swinging in temperature, but most likely due to the fact it is a floating thermometer and the sun warming of the upper layer affects it. I am watching the night temp more than the day temp in the pond, right now at 44.

 

[talal101]

yup, night temps can drop drastically