Fish not eating food.

cr8tivguy

Tim Thompson
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Hi there Fish Friends.
My pond has been up and running (post winter) now for about a month.
Water temps are around 55 degrees.
Water tests are all within normal limits.

The problem is my fish aren't eating when I put food in the pond. I end up scooping it out after 5 minutes or so. I have put garlic extract on the food to entice them and they may eat one or two pellets.

I do notice them eating algae on the sides of the rocks and liner. I wonder if they are just full from the algae.

Should I discontinue feeding them for a while longer until I notice the amount of surface algae has reduced?

My theory is the water is still cool and the algae is easier for them to eat.

Thoughts?
 
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Sounds like they are pigging out on your algae Tim however what is 55 f in cellcius m,mmm let me think oh thats right its around 14c so that is the right temperature what are you feeding wheatgerm ?
If not that may be the reason, if so try pre soaking them adding the extract at the same time and see how they get along then

Dave
 
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My personal opinion is that if they're eating your algae, cut down on the food so you're not stuck scooping any out and let them eat the algae in the pond! I had to buy snails for that! If they're looking well-fed on the algae, I wouldn't worry much (but I'm far from an expert on this matter).

Also, every spring, my fish take awhile to get back into the habit of eating food I throw in again. I start off slowly with the food. Then as they get used to eating the floating food I toss in, I increase how much I give them.
 
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im guessing that your pond is established and the fish are not new - this was not their first winter?
could be they are not ready to eat your food and are happy with the food they are getting in the pond...
in my personal experience with our fish - they like to eat whenever, how ever much we give them...

a question came to mind while i was reading this thread...

do fish forget who fed them/where to find food from humans?
since we dont feed them over the cooler months, is that too long for them to remember that we mean food?
if so - do we need to remind them / train them again?
 
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We had a harsh winter and it took my fish longer to "wake up" this Spring. They began to swim around slowly and munched on algae, and seemed quite content. When we had some warm Spring days, I fed them some cool season, wheat germ based food....very lightly. Now they are ready for dinner each evening, but I'm still feeding the wheat germ food, and not to heavily, although daily.
 

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