My goldfish pond

[j.w]

I don't have koi but my goldfish sure mess w/ some plants.

 

[CometKeith]

JW, Do your goldfish eat any plants? I've never had that issue. It's been so cold here my fish are barely moving. It got down to 40 degrees Friday night and only hit a high of 55 yesterday. It might be a little warmer today but is is still really cold for this time of the year! brrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

 

[j.w]

They eat all the duckweed and anacharis but only nibble on the hornwort and the Azolla roots. Have seen them ripping up only the old brown rotten lily pads and eating them. I am feeding them once a day too. I did notice in the early mornings here now they are all hanging way down deep and then when it warms up in the afternoon they are up on the top looking for food. I haven't changed to wheatgerm food yet.

 

[addy1]

My pond is down to 66 last night it was a warm 45.

 

[haver79]

JW, Do your goldfish eat any plants? I've never had that issue. It's been so cold here my fish are barely moving. It got down to 40 degrees Friday night and only hit a high of 55 yesterday. It might be a little warmer today but is is still really cold for this time of the year! brrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Same temps here. My pond got down to 55 on Sat. am. but back up in the 60s today. I switched to wheat germ this weekend.

 

[j.w]

I will be switching soon but just not yet. Today is supposed to reach 90 or better!

 

[CometKeith]

I usually don't switch to wheat germ until mid Oct. but I have been only light feeding lately every day or so. Probably because I don't like going out in the rain and cold! It's supposed to bounce back in the 80's later this week. I'm almost out of food again and have decided I'm not going to keep buying 8 ounces of tetra flakes for the $15 or so dollars they sell at the local pet supply store. I was looking at a few places to buy. One is called angelsplus that I bought antibiotic flakes from before but it seems like their food is more for angel fish. I don't know if there is a difference.The other one I decided to go with is Dr. Foster and Smith. I know they are pretty popular. They had a lot of food to choose from and the prices were better.Hopefully my fish like what I ordered!

 

[j.w]

Mine just get Wardleys summer food and Tetra Pond Spring/Fall food. I was gonna see if they liked my cats food cuz my cats like their food. Very soon I will start doing the switcheroo.

 

[CountryEscape]

I get mine from Foster and Smith, Keith. I think one of the others from here recommended it. Just be sure the size of pellet you get is small, since it will be easier for your goldfish to eat. I like the small size anyhow even for my koi. That way everyone can fit it in their mouths. I also got the fall food from F & S.

 

[CometKeith]

JW, I'm not familiar with Wardley's maybe I'll look them up. CE. i got this big box of food today from Drs Foster and Smith. I ordered it Monday night at about 11:00 pm and with regular shipping I got it in two business days. OMG The flake food I ordered comes in this big bucket. I ordered 32 oz.s for $19.99 and the flakes are huge! They were all brown so I gave them to my fish right away to see if they snapped them as quickly as the tetra multicolor flakes, It made no difference to the fish.They snapped them up right away. The larger goldfish seemed to really like the big flakes. It was a lot less work for the fish than gobbling up all the little pieces especially when you are close to the end of the container. So I got a little more than 4 times as much for about 25% more in cost. Huge savings. Now the second bag was Blackwater Farms growth food mini pellet. I'm sure something like this is what you were suggesting CE. They have a nice round shape and even the smallest fish could eat them.A few of the tiny babies tried and couldn't so I'll probably have to mix the food when I give it to them, The pellets all floated and were snapped up in less than a minute. A5 lb bag costs $11.99 ! So basically I got two kinds of food and 7 lbs of food all for $38 including shipping. So my cost is about $5/lb on average and I was paying $15 for less than half lb from the big pet food supply store close to us. 7 lbs of goldfish food from there would cost over $200. So I'm happy with my fish food haul! Now I have to figure out how to keep it because it' way more food than I'll need for this year.

 

[j.w]

Keith, Wardley's is prolly not considered the best in food choices for the fish. It's been around forever and my fish do gobble it right up. They gobble pretty much everything up tho. I keep my food in the freezer over winter. Some say not so good, others say ok so really don't know. Have been doing it this way for a few yrs now w/ no problems. Fish look good and are growing w/ bright colors. Your choice of food sounds good and price is right too.
I paid $10. for Wardleys 5 lbs so you got a good deal in the long run for all your food.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks, I fed the flakes today to them for lunch and the mini pellets for dinner. My fish are not used to eating pellets. A bunch of them crammed as much as they could in their mouths before chewing them and then burped them up a few minutes later! I think next time I feed them pellets I'll cut down the quantity. I noticed more babies.... . This time about a half dozen black comets and multicolor shubunkins all smaller than an inch. The babies from earlier this year are all over an inch so I'm guessing 10-15 babies total so far for this year.

 

[haver79]

Do you guys buy new food every year if you don't use it all?

 

[Lisaebetten]

Do you use the garlic with the wheat germ?

 

[j.w]

I keep mine in the freezer till I'm using it again each year. They haven't complained yet.