This winter in NJ has been warmer than most and I also now have a pond deicer. I know the conventional wisdom is to stop feeding in Nov, but when I throw a little food in they eat it. Shouldn't I let the goldfish themselves be the best judge of whether they want to eat or not? Anyone else feeding in cold weather and their experiences?

Thanks,
Edgar

I would put a thermometer in the water and test the temp. of the water. If it is below 45 f., I wouldn't feed. Over that, I would feed very sparingly, only a bit once per week. Some people say the cut off point for feeding is 50 f., however, I have found my fish still quite active at 50 f., so I feed very sparingly, once per week, when the temp. is between 45 and 50. If it is over 50 f., I feed sparingly, twice per week. Under 45 f., I don't feed.

Hope this helps.

i dont have a pont but my unk dose and i no he dose not feed the fish in winter

Thanks touchofsky. I've read other of your posts and you seem very knowledgeable and always give intelligent, detailed and to the point replies. Would like to know more about your pond and fish etc. If you wish you can email me direct at EdgarOwen@att.net

Re winter feeding, I am just thinking that if in their natural environments they want to eat a little in winter then that must be what is good for them, no matter what the temp.

Thanks again.
Edgar

The reason it is suggested to not feed in winter is that the fish will eat, then because their digestion is very slow, it will rot in their intestines. That is what I have read, anyway.

If your pond if naturally planted, there is probably enough natural food in the pond, if the fish want to graze.

I am in Canada, and it usually freezes to a depth of 4 ft. in our area, so I have to bring my fish in from the pond in the winter, and I house them in an unheated basement. The temperatures have been hovering around 50 f. in the water in the basement this year, so I have been feeding the fish as I mentioned above, and they have been doing very well. Of course, because they are in containers, I can see that they are processing the food.

I currently have 11 commons/comets in a pond that is approx. 5' x 10', with a depth of about 30". Here is a picture of the pond last June.

Sorry to change the subject but nice pond lol.

Thanks, Black Oranda. The pond was a kind of spur of the moment thing about 7-8 years ago. I got a great deal on a pond liner at the end of the summer that year, and so we had to build a pond. We had a really horrible looking lawn, so we dug it up and put in the pond, and did gardens around the pond. It looks so much better without that pathetic grass

Here is another reason for not feeding your fish in cold water:
The bacteria responsible for the nitrogen cycle become impaired at around 60 degrees. Once we hit around 45 degrees they no longer function so if you keep feeding in cold water you will be poisoning the water.
However if your temps are suitable for feeding you should be giving them a low protein diet. Normally wheatgerm based feeds are recommended. The more protein in the diet = the more ammonia the fish will produce and this is not what we want too do in winter since our good bugs are not functioning optimally, if at all.

Thanks touchofsky for the photo of your beautifully planted pond. But where do you sit to watch the fish! I have a big flat topped rock next to mine I sit on.

Edgar

Your biofilter will likely slow down in colder temps (I've seen them work wonderfully at temps just under 40* on a pond where the fish were still being fed, not that I'd recommend that), but ammonia is less toxic at colder temps as well and it takes a much higher test reading for the amounts of uniodized ammonia (NH3) to be problematic. Not that this is particularly relevant, since feeding when your biofilter isn't working well is a dangerous practice because ammonia levels will continue to rise - just thought I'd throw it in.

Colder temps (<50*) aren't favorable to the production of digestion enzymes and the longer the food stays in the fish, the more chance there is for rot/infeciton. Fish may still eat. Heck, a carp needs to be dead or in torpor (state of inactivity brought on by extremely cold temps) to not want to eat, but personally I would resist the urge, or at the very least feed *very* sparingly.

touchofsky, just a few words about your pond.
Wow, great, beautiful, your are lucky to have
the room for that wonderful pond.

Edgar,
Yes! I could use a nice garden seat, couldn't I? I usually end up kneeling or sitting on the edge of the pond to watch the fish. However, the pond is right in front of our verandah, and I have wicker furniture on the porch, so I have a lovely view of the garden and pond, albeit from a few feet away .

New to Golds,
Thank you for your compliments. I am lucky to have acreage, so space constraints are not a problem. Time, money and energy, now those are issues