Winter feeding

[agoura2327]

The problem with Southern California is that the weather during the winter can have hot and cold spells. We got married 12/11/92 and on our wedding day it was 95 degrees. If the water warms up do I resume feeding and at what temperature? As this pond is only 6 months old I have no idea how quickly the water temp will fluctuate. Excuse me for being paranoid but I find it rather cool that a good share of the fish in the pond were born there and I would really like to see them survive to adulthood. I have no problem with not feeding as apparenty you can easily overfeed in the winter and kill them that way. Also they did initially feed only on algae and survived so obviously they can survive on it. I am just not used to something going for months without food. If I didn't feed the dogs all winter we would have a big problem.
Thanks to all for putting my mind at ease with this concept.

 

[HARO]

In our climate, my fish are unfed from around the end of September until late March or even April. Their body processes slow right down in the cold, so they don't need much. They generally survive, but DO have a good appetite in the spring!
John

 

[gardengimp]

Careful what you wish for there Dwight or you will soon find your pond overstocked! But it is fun is it not?

You will want to watch the responses you get based on geography. Many parts of the country are not use to people with winters that are shorts temperature. I am in central florida and my daytime temps are like yours. My night time temps are usually a bit warmer than you. I feed my fish a bit of floating food every few days. Just a bit though. If it is colder and greyer than normal, or if the fish are not up near the top screaming for food, then I skip a meal. I do dump all mosquito larvae I find in the fish pond.

What kind of dogs?

 

[sissy]

feeding fish or not feeding them is a choice you have to make .I go on water temps for my decision and never use air temps out side .I built my pond not to far from the septic tank and get heat from it so pond does not get as cold .

 

[agoura2327]

Careful what you wish for there Dwight or you will soon find your pond overstocked! But it is fun is it not?

You will want to watch the responses you get based on geography. Many parts of the country are not use to people with winters that are shorts temperature. I am in central florida and my daytime temps are like yours. My night time temps are usually a bit warmer than you. I feed my fish a bit of floating food every few days. Just a bit though. If it is colder and greyer than normal, or if the fish are not up near the top screaming for food, then I skip a meal. I do dump all mosquito larvae I find in the fish pond.

What kind of dogs?

Bichon Frise. Emilee Kate and Charlton Heston. When Charlton had his championship photo taken I wanted to strap a side arm on him but they wouldn't let me.

As for overstocked I do not believe that there will ever be another hatching because this one happened when I went through the string algae stage. All of a sudden I had a major algae growth which gave the female a place to hide the eggs and gave the hatchlings a place to hide. When I got the algae under control low and behold there was a whole school of really little fish. When I say little, when I first saw them I thought they were misquito larvae until I put on the glasses and took a really close look. I also have a couple of friends that are more than willing to take some off of my hands.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

i know this is old but here we go.
1st if water temps are below 50d, change your protien mix to a wheat
2nd if water temps are below 38d DO NOT FEED.
When spring comes your casted out food will be more nutrients for pests, string algae, higher nitrates, and nasty smells. if your fish do decide to eat it, highly unlikely, the food will sit in their stomachs and rot, not digest, and then you will be spending a lot of time treating your fish. there is plenty of things for koi, shubunkin, and snails to eat that will not effect them like the man made food will like the winter algae that is formed. come spring time wait, i know you want to do the best thing for your fish, but DO NOT FEED. Wait until the temp is over 50d and slowly introduce food. i typically run melafix for a buffer for slime coat and microblift for filter enhancement. i dont feed my fish typically from late oct to mid april. no loss of fish for 10 years.
If worried about coons, try running hard heads around the perameter of pond with sharp drop offs. i tend to broadcast feed to not train them to come to the surface when they hear a sound. that is how to keep your fish safe

 

[Carolyn22]

Generally I don't start feeding my koi until the water temps are consistently above 50 degrees and then I use a food that is high in grain. Cheerios will even work well for this. When the temps are consistently above 60 degrees, I then start adding some of the higher protein foods, with complete switch over by the time the water temps are 70 and above. I always did the same when I had goldfish, however I had koi at the same time when I had goldfish. I don't know if their requirements are any different.

 

[j.w]

That's pretty much the way most all of us do it here. I've yet to see if my goldfish will eat the Cheerio's but have heard others say they like them. I use a wheat germ kind now for when Fall arrives and when Spring hits in the 50's steady.I know they love watermelon!

 

[Carolyn22]

JW - I have found the fish seem to like Fruit Loops too.