When to stop feeding?

[BarbAZCA]

I had one fish winter over last year - I never saw it or new one had survived. Shortly after he surfaced, raccoons got him.

This is the first year I've had all the goldfish survive the raccoons (I now put on a cover each night). And the first time I've fed the fish two times/day; previously they lived off algae on the rocks. I put feeder goldfish in the pond at the end of May. With the feeding they got a lot bigger than any I've had before. And they have four babies that surfaced about six weeks ago. The pond temp has been hovering around 50° at the end of each day. We've had a few lows iin the 30s, mostly the 40s for a few weeks. Daytime temps have been in the sunny 70s and will continue for 10 days per the weather forecast.

What kind of feeding schedule should they be on until they hibernate? I see so many variations on websites.

Thank you in advance for your input.

 

[Mmathis]

I don’t feed mine at all (well, maybe a few times) and they do fine. I have tons of plants and algae. I don’t know the particulars, but there is a formula to go on based on water temperature — NOTE that’s “water temperature“ and not air temperature. I’m sure someone on here can give a better answer.

 

[brokensword]

as TurtleMommyQueen says, they'll be fine snacking on underwater vegetation but I usually stop feeding when water temp gets to 50F.

 

[poconojoe]

My fish were not as enthusiastic about eating lately. They are usually eating machines. I checked the water temperature, and sure enough, it was just below 50F.
Time to stop feeding. 50F water temperature is usually the time to stop, as others have stated.

I'm kind of glad. Their appetite this year has put a huge dent in their food supply! Hungry buggers!

 

[brokensword]

My fish were not as enthusiastic about eating lately. They are usually eating machines. I checked the water temperature, and sure enough, it was just below 50F.
Time to stop feeding. 50F water temperature is usually the time to stop, as others have stated.

I'm kind of glad. Their appetite this year has put a huge dent in their food supply! Hungry buggers!

so, what you're REALLY saying is...the PJ household (humans) went on a family diet this summer, right?

 

[poconojoe]

so, what you're REALLY saying is...the PJ household (humans) went on a family diet this summer, right?

View attachment 143688

Yep, the fish have stopped eating, now we can afford to feed ourselves! Ha!

 

[brokensword]

Yep, the fish have stopped eating, now we can afford to feed ourselves! Ha!

ya know, they say koi food is VERY nutritious! jus' sayin' !!

 

[poconojoe]

ya know, they say koi food is VERY nutritious! jus' sayin' !!

View attachment 143689

There's not much left. Those hogs ate most of it. They didn't leave much for us!
I'm thinking a bowl of wheat germ fish food with milk would be quite nutritious!

 

[brokensword]

There's not much left. Those hogs ate most of it. They didn't leave much for us!
I'm thinking a bowl of wheat germ fish food with milk would be quite nutritious!

how many flsh (all koi?) and approx what size do you have? I think I went through about 50lbs this summer, give or take. Most of my koi are still under 10" with 3 being close to 16". Just wondering what MY outlay might be in the near future! (I feed once a day in the summer, sometimes twice, with a 'serving' being 4 handfuls or until all are eating at the same time).

 

[poconojoe]

how many flsh (all koi?) and approx what size do you have? I think I went through about 50lbs this summer, give or take. Most of my koi are still under 10" with 3 being close to 16". Just wondering what MY outlay might be in the near future! (I feed once a day in the summer, sometimes twice, with a 'serving' being 4 handfuls or until all are eating at the same time).

View attachment 143696

One huge mama koi that is at least 30", maybe more.
Three more at least 24".
One koi about 10"
Two full grown shubunkin.
And I lost count of all the goldfish.
The goldfish are the worst, they multiply like crazy.
It's way stupid overpopulated. There's about 50 fish. For now, most of the goldfish are very small, 2"-3", but that's obviously going to get worse.

It's the bog that keeps the water clear. Before the bog, I had solid green water due to overpopulation.

From what I'm figuring, we went through about 10 pounds of growth (Summer) food and about 10 pounds of wheat germ (Spring and Fall).
Damn, you used 50 pounds, maybe my calculations are off. We feed twice a day in the Summer. Maybe 4-5 handfuls.

 

[brokensword]

One huge mama koi that is at least 30", maybe more.
Three more at least 24".
One koi about 10"
Two full grown shubunkin.
And I lost count of all the goldfish.
The goldfish are the worst, they multiply like crazy.
It's way stupid overpopulated. There's about 50 fish. For now, most of the goldfish are very small, 2"-3", but that's obviously going to get worse.

It's the bog that keeps the water clear. Before the bog, I had solid green water due to overpopulation.

From what I'm figuring, we went through about 10 pounds of growth (Summer) food and about 10 pounds of wheat germ (Spring and Fall).
Damn, you used 50 pounds, maybe my calculations are off. We feed twice a day in the Summer. Maybe 4-5 handfuls.

yeah, I had half a bag (25 lbs ) left of small pellets and went through 25lbs of the larger pellets. I'm now up to 37 koi but still have about 100 gf, so yeah, sounds like your finny babies ate more than you think! Especially with the larger koi which I don't have (yet!).

 

[addy1]

I bought 4.5 lbs, probably have 3 lbs left. The fish got fed a bit this summer, quite often not at all.

 

[poconojoe]

yeah, I had half a bag (25 lbs ) left of small pellets and went through 25lbs of the larger pellets. I'm now up to 37 koi but still have about 100 gf, so yeah, sounds like your finny babies ate more than you think! Especially with the larger koi which I don't have (yet!).

View attachment 143704

Day-um! 37 koi! Yikes! You're gonna go broke when they grow up!

 

[poconojoe]

I bought 4.5 lbs, probably have 3 lbs left. The fish got fed a bit this summer, quite often not at all.

You have plenty of veggies growing on the bottom of that big pond!
There's a forest of anacharis down there, if I remember correctly.
Plus, shubbies don't eat as much as koi, I think.

 

[Catrunner]

I’ve been trying to figure out winter feeding, being a virgin goldfish mumma! I’m in southern England. My biggest goldies are 5-6” with lots of babies from this summer of various sizes. With the most recent frosty mornings they are not interested in food, water temp 7-8degs C, but as the day warms up they then start looking for lunch!! So do I feed or not?? Tried wheat germ but they haven’t gone for that. Confused!!