Question on spring diet

[Jersey_Marine]

Well all my fish survived the brutal North Jersey winter and now there are finally some warm days...My pond was cleaned today and my question is about their spring diet. I assume when the water hits a consistent 50 degrees to start feeding them. Do I feed them the spring/fall food? If so for how many weeks? When do I turn them over to the normal summer food? This was my first winter with my pond and now my first spring opening. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[Dave 54]

Well all my fish survived the brutal North Jersey winter and now there are finally some warm days...My pond was cleaned today and my question is about their spring diet. I assume when the water hits a consistent 50 degrees to start feeding them. Do I feed them the spring/fall food? If so for how many weeks? When do I turn them over to the normal summer food? This was my first winter with my pond and now my first spring opening. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Hi We feed our koi a diet of wheatgerm and Garlic to our koi from temperature 11c and upwards start off feeding small amounts to start with then as the temperature rises increase the amount fed.
Continue to feed your fish in this way till about the second week of summer then swop over gradually to a higher protien food until fall when you should swop back to wheatgerm and Garlic again .
Weve just started ours off for the season they are in great condition wolfing down their food, at the moment we are only feeding a small handful and aim to work up to four handfuls daily .

Dave

 

[Tula]

I use a wheat germ based spring / autumn food, when I begin feeding. I'll probably begin light feedings later this week. Congrats on the your fish making it through your winter!

 

[sissy]

I started feeding weeks ago and it was the new food and have to say i do not see as much waste on the bottom of the pond as I did with the old food .Plus it has garlic in it

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I started feeding weeks ago and it was the new food and have to say i do not see as much waste on the bottom of the pond as I did with the old food .Plus it has garlic in it

It hasn't been warm enough to start feeding here yet (pond water hasn't even hit 50 degrees) I did start my filter though.

@sissy Is that the Blackwater cool water formula food? I ordered a bag of it and it has the wheat germ and garlic already in it. Can't wait to try it out, or well I mean can't wait for the fish to try it

 

[sissy]

HMMMM yummy your new diet should work I bought the cool water and the regular and the price was great and if you look at the ingredients on the label ,that says it all .I have seen a big change in the bottom of the pond in fish waste .Plus it has krill in it and I used to hate hydrating krill for my fish ,it stinks bad

 

[Jersey_Marine]

I started feeding weeks ago and it was the new food and have to say i do not see as much waste on the bottom of the pond as I did with the old food .Plus it has garlic in it

Can you please tell me exactly what food you bought with the garlic in it? Id like to order it

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I bought mine at http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23810 for $14.99 or $15.99 for 5 pounds but it looks like they are out of that size. You can get it here as well http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Pond-Wheat-Germ-Foods/I/Blackwater-Cool-Season-Fish-Food.aspx

 

[sissy]

I started feeding weeks ago and it was the new food and have to say i do not see as much waste on the bottom of the pond as I did with the old food .Plus it has garlic in it

This is the food you can get it at petsolutions and dr foster and smith

 

[Jersey_Marine]

I bought mine at http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23810 for $14.99 or $15.99 for 5 pounds but it looks like they are out of that size. You can get it here as well http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Pond-Wheat-Germ-Foods/I/Blackwater-Cool-Season-Fish-Food.aspx

If I purchase the 40lb bag I probably wont use all of it before I change over to the normal summer food. Will it stay good till fall and possibly the spring after?

 

[CometKeith]

It's been pretty cold here so no man made food yet for my fish. I just have my two pumps running off my waterfall and no bio-filter yet. I would caution you to not overfeed unless you have a serious filtration system going. Since my pond is more of a watergarden I rely on my pond to cycle to covert ammonia and nitrite to more inert substances. My pond is at least a month away from cycling so I give very little food to my fish so these harmful substances don't build up in the water. If this is your first spring I would routinely check for nitrite, ammonia, and nitrate and make sure your readings stay okay. There is plenty of food in the pond for your fish such as algae and bugs and they will not starve if you don't feed them or just lightly feed them for the first month or so of spring.

 

[DrCase]

If I purchase the 40lb bag I probably wont use all of it before I change over to the normal summer food. Will it stay good till fall and possibly the spring after?

I just seal the bag good and keep it in the freezer until I need some,

I just ran out of spring food , so I started summer food yesterday , the night and day temps have really gone up the last 2 weeks , it's summer all ready here

 

[DrCase]

my water is 68 this morning my air conditioner is running hard

 

[bettasngoldfish]

If I purchase the 40lb bag I probably wont use all of it before I change over to the normal summer food. Will it stay good till fall and possibly the spring after?

Unless you have a lot of goldfish or koi I would buy the five pound bag (drfostersmith is out of that size) try the other link to petsolutions as they still have the five pound bag (which costs a lot less too)

To answer your question about how long the food will be good. I don't like to use any opened fish food after six months. Others will say it's good as long as it is stored in a sealed container. I think it's really what your comfortable with

 

[sissy]

I just store it in a cool dark place for the summer .I double bag it and use the vacuum to suck out the air in the bag .I buy 5 lbs ,but I share it with my neighbor and the pond at the other house .