Too soon to feed koi?

[Rip Fantom]

I have been storing my koi in my attached garage all winter and they have been doing well. I stopped feeding them when the temp went below 50 degrees. Over the last couple of days the outside air temp. has increased and the koi are much more active. How soon should I start feeding them? And should I start off with pellet food? Someone suggested frozen spinach.

Thanks,
Ripley

 

[Guest]

http://www.sfbakc.org/koienews/feedingtemps.html

This site has a handy-dandy chart with feeding instructions for Koi, depending on temperature. I only keep goldfish in my pond, but this chart looks pretty good to me.

 

[AngelFishFan]

DONT FEED FISH UNTIL TEMPS REACH A CONSISTENT 60 DEGREES!!! LOL Just a warning. Any less, and you take the chance of basically clogging the fish's digestive system, and well, bye-bye fishies

 

[Rip Fantom]

Thanks for the advice. The water temp is just under 50 degrees now. I was just getting nervous because the fish are moving around more and I don't want to accidentally starve them. I'll be patient.
-Rip

 

[tommiejr]

I have found that my fish let me know when they want to eat. I still will not feed them but once a week between 50 and 60 degrees. Under 50, they don't eat. On warm days they come up to the surface when I walk by and give me one of those "feed me semore" looks. If the water temp is above 60, I will give them a little bit, but below that, they have to wait. They seem to get a little piffed and won't come up for a few days. Guess they do not know what will hurt them.

Tommie in NC

 

[Guest]

Since I have planted tanks, I always have a supply of duckweed on hand. My goldfish love duckweed, and I believe it is one of the easy to digest foods. Starting around the end of march, I start throwing duckweed in the ponds, when they start eating it, I know it's time to start (slowly) with the spring/fall food.