Should I really not feed my fish?

[Shdwdrgn]

Might as well throw in my two cents... Like dieselplower, I also feed when the fish appear hungry. We have weird weather patterns here -- we just had over a week of temps near 0F, and this week we are in the 50's and 60's. However there are plenty of times when the fish are active, but not actually feeding. Over the years, I've noticed that my fish really only seem to feed when the water temp gets well into the 40's. You certainly don't want a lot of extra food floating in the water and causing more problems, so I try to keep the feeding to a minimum, but I don't think my fish have ever gone more than a couple months without eating.

On the other hand, I also agree there is never a shortage of microbial foods for the fish to snack on. I had my waterfall cleaned up pretty nice recently, then we got this cold spell and the waterfall was completely encased in ice for over a week... When I broke the ice free, the bricks were completely coated in dark green algae again! The stuff doesn't care about the cold, but apparently being sheltered was enough for it to take off growing again. I also have more plant roots in the water than the fish can eat, so they certainly won't go hungry... but I still like to give them a little processed food through the Winter just to vary their diet.

 

[sissy]

I go by water temps ,but even though my water is warmer I figure they can clean house and by spring my pond should be nice and clean .Less work for me plus no poo on the bottom to net up and no worries about water quality .I want to make it easier on me since I really don't have the time .It has been warm during the day but at night it is cold .They can rest and so can I :cheerful:

 

[DOUBBLE TAP]

I don't feed in water below 50. Can you with out any adverse affects? maybe. I am sure that there are both fish who will be just fine and some that will die because a cold snap slows down the metabolisim too much and the food rots. I have read and researched both sides of the story and both are compelling and have good points. some ppl say that the fish know when not to eat so if they do want to eat and eat they will be ok. some ppl say that they are just gready little pigs and will eat food whenever its presented to them and suffer for it. My reasoning not to feed below 50 is at that temp there is practically 0 beneficial bacteria and what goes in one end comes out the other and without the good bacteria to deal with that you can throw off the balance in the pond when the fish are at there most vulnerable state. Worst case one dies best case come spring time you could have some sick fish. I chose not to worry about that at all by not feeding.

 

[dieselplower]

That's a fine reason not to feed the fish. If anyone is worried about their water parameters I would simply say test the water. It only takes a couple minutes.