question about freinds goldfish

[blazeyreef]

well my moms freind has an outdoor pond, and she was wondering if she needst to "overfeed" her 8 goldies for the winter before the water freezes over? she wont come online herself so she asked me to ask
thanks

 

[WaterPond]

nope. Feed less as the water gets colder because as the water gets colder the fish's metabolism slows down greatly. You dont want food stuck in their stomach is it mill sort of rot and kill the fish.

Im going by what i have read and been told by members of my local pond club.

 

[roka64]

I am very far from expert on FW or ponds, but Jason is right, it is best to underfeed them, as their metabolisim slows down greatly. I have seen this question in this section quite a few times...

 

[kennef]

WaterPond is right about feeding, when overwintering fish you cut back on their feeding, more because they wont eat it and it will foul the water than any other reason. the really important part to overwintering is if the pond ices over is keeping some portion of the surface clear of ice for gas exchange to take place.

 

[piranha]

Start feeding wheat germ when the water temp reaches around 60 degrees. This will strenghten their immune systems prior to the freezing temps. When water temp reaches 50 degrees discontinue feeding and do not start feeding again until the spring season when temps rise and become stable. Make sure to do a spring cleanup and partial water change before resuming regular feeding.

 

[fijiwigi]

my father in-law has an outdoor pond. He put 1 koi an some feeder gold fish in about 2 years ago now they are huge, The pond is probably only 75 gallons maybe less it has a return pump that pumps water into a 5gal bucket with charcoal and then waterfalls over a bunch of rock work and back into the pond with 10+ goldfish and a pleco(or something similar) all of the fish are at least 5-10 inches. During the colder months he puts an aquarium heater in the pond to keep the temperature up and prevent freeezing. Still feeds as normal. I told him that he had too many fish and did not beleive they would make it but he has proved me wrong so far.

 

[theotheragentm]

I feed my fish twice a week as my water temperature in So Cal is 55F. I did this last year as well. Fish seem to do fine with. During the summer when my lilies are growing like crazy, I can then again dump food in and not worry about how much my fish are going to poop.