winter feeding

[Nick]

When should I stop feeding my Gold fish? Everytime I walk past the pond,
they surface and watch me, expecting food. At this time of year there can be
very few flies, grubs etc for them to eat. I live in suburban London. The
average air temp is around 10 to 12 deg C

Nick

[Ka30P]

Hi Nick,

That converts to 50 degrees F on our
side of the pond so I'd say no. Wait until your temps stay above 13 degrees C
for the season. Reason being that fish can not produce their own heat like we
do (with our meals) and rely on their surrounding temperatures to raise their
body temperature. If they were to eat now their bodies aren't warm enough to
work so the food would just sit their in their tummies and that's not good.
They will nosh on any algae they find and that's okay.


kathy :-)
3000 gallon pond
800 gallon frog bog
home of the watergardening labradors
zone 7 SE WA state

[John Hines]

"Nick" > wrote:

>When should I stop feeding my Gold fish? Everytime I walk past the pond,
>they surface and watch me, expecting food. At this time of year there can be
>very few flies, grubs etc for them to eat. I live in suburban London. The
>average air temp is around 10 to 12 deg C

When the food stops being eaten immediately. Any food fed needs to be
totally consumed within a few (like 5) minutes.

[Phisherman]

On Wed, 8 Dec 2004 15:06:44 -0000, "Nick" >
wrote:

>When should I stop feeding my Gold fish? Everytime I walk past the pond,
>they surface and watch me, expecting food. At this time of year there can be
>very few flies, grubs etc for them to eat. I live in suburban London. The
>average air temp is around 10 to 12 deg C
>
>Nick
>


Either do not feed at all or a small amount. The fish's metabolism is
slow right now and they can live a long time without food. Be extra
careful about any uneaten food.