Winter feeding

[Rip Fantom]

I have stored my koi in my attached garage and the water temp is about 50 degrees. Someone told me not to feed the fish once the water reaches this temp. Is this true? The fish still seem pretty active and come to the surface of the tank for food when they see me.
I was hoping that the fish will go dormant soon but when is the cutoff for feeding them?

Thanks in advance for any feedback, (no pun intended).
-Rip

[Dino]

If the fish have been feeding well thru the summer they will be fine.
I stop feeding here when the water reaches 50F.
As the goldfish/koi ponds are all heavily planted, they still have access to things to eat.
As the water temperature cools, the fishes metabolism slows down, so they need less food.

Best,
dino

[RogerMcAllen]

I agree. If you feed them when it gets too cold, they may be unable to digest the food properly and it can kill them I think.

[pondmom]

I also agree.
I stoped feeding my fish at (55*) when they were outdoors.
But, now that I have them inside, the water tepms are 60* and they get fed a diet of peas, luttuce, pellets and occasionally~crab meat.

[Rip Fantom]

Thanks for the quick response. At what temp. do the koi start to get lethargic or at least slow down? The garage tank water is at 50*, but the koi are still pretty active.

[AngelFishFan]

Originally Posted by RogerMcAllen

I agree. If you feed them when it gets too cold, they may be unable to digest the food properly and it can kill them I think.

This is true, and not true. It depends on the type of food. We stop feeding our fish not because of the digestion rate, but because of filtration. Biological Filtration units are ineffective below 55 Degrees Farenheit. Therefore, we ease up on feeding to reduce the chance of ammonia levels spiking too high. There are special foods for lower temps, but I highly recommend stopping all feeding until spring time now. Its too late, especially for the northern parts of the countries. Next, is there alot of activity around your garage? If so, it will be a natural thing for the fish to be more active. I dont know if you know about the lateral lines, but they are extremely sensitve. And when there is alot of activity around them, they tend to be more active also. Just A Thought.