gettin your fish to try watermelon

[koiguy1969]

this may be the ticket if you just cant get your fish to recognize watermelon as food, or just try it...

 

[j.w]

Clever! My goldies liked it from the start but then I don't feed them much.

 

[HTH]

My fish like it.

 

[Mmathis]

Cool! Might have to try that!

What is the plant that is in a lot of the shots [not the water lily] that has roundish leaves and looks like the leaves are sitting atop the stem? There is a bunch of that growing in a spot in our backyard. Wondering if I should harvest some for the pond and/or bog-to-be.

 

[gardengimp]

Cute, just like training a puppy!

TM - that's aquatic dollarweed, or marsh pennywort. I've given up trying to keep the dang stuff out of my one gardens, and yes, I tried it in the pond - it died. There are lots of varieties of dollarweed, there is even one that grows on the sand dunes along the beach, with dry, heat and salty wind. Marsh pennywort grows like crazy in the St. Johns River.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

It looks like that method might work with raisin bagels and chocolate doughnuts too.
I'm sure you could get them to eat just about anything, but I gota ask, why would you want to teach your fish to eat watermelon anyway?

 

[koiguy1969]

they really enjoy watermelon once they try it. but some take a while to recognize it as food. many ponders, many on this forum in fact, feed watermelon to their fish as a treat!

 

[Mucky_Waters]

I'm aware that people feed their koi (goldfish) things like peas and watermelon. I imagine peas have some nutritional value, but I can't see watermelon having much food value, so I'm wondering if there is some reason you would give watermelon to them over something like apples, grapes or mangoes, or any other fruit for that mater? Why is watermelon so popular, is what I'm asking?

 

[Mmathis]

I'm aware that people feed their koi (goldfish) things like peas and watermelon. I imagine peas have some nutritional value, but I can't see watermelon having much food value, so I'm wondering if there is some reason you would give watermelon to them over something like apples, grapes or mangoes, or any other fruit for that mater? Why is watermelon so popular, is what I'm asking?

Maybe they're Southern fish.....? Could try fried chicken, greens, and cornbread and see how that goes over. []

 

[Carolyn22]

Watermelon and other melons are high in nutritional value (for people). I think I might give it a try this summer and see if I can get my koi to eat watermelon.

 

[fishin4cars]

Mucky, It and citrus are both high in vitamin C, Watermelon also has antitoxins that can benefit both humans and supposedly fish. I haven't seen a study or literature this is 100% fact, but many koi people have reported this, It also contains beneficial fiber. So for a treat it's really healthy. PLUS, The fact that Watermelon and Citrus both are high in water there isn't very much waste being produced after they eat it, so far more of the nutrient have a chance to be absorbed than with some prepared type foods.

Notice that there is really only one koi in the video that is really eating it. Even when I feed it to mine, only a select few will eat it. but those that do really seem to like it. Orange pulp is about the same way but it seems like more like the oranges and satsumas that the watermelon.