Fish Feeding

[Priscilla]

Hello,

I'm a month into my new pond.

A few articles I've read say to feed the fish three times a day, as much as they will eat in five minutes, scoop the rest out.

Then after posting a few pond clarity questions on this site feed back has been to feed the fish once every few days.

The problem for me is my dad walks over here every day to feed the fish at least twice (along with my kids), yes, he probably does over feed them, but they do eat all the food. He's getting up there in age and this seems to be a joy for him watching the fish and this is why we all have ponds right, for the joy of watching the fish.

My pond was very clear, then I cycled into the green water stage, started having some really fine algae floating during the day, sinking at night. I just hooked up my UV light yesterday but still can't see the bottom (3 feet deep at the deepest point). I wonder how long before the UV kills the algae? The instructions call for a 1 1/4 hose, but I could only get 7/8, so I would say the water is running slower past the UV light. Which is a good thing, right?


Should I expect to see the bottom of the pond? Am I overfeeding the fish? What can I do to counteract that? I'm still in the early stages of planting in the pond (for a number of reasons), I think more plants in the pond will help.

Thanks,
Priscilla

 

[sissy]

I only feed mine 3 or4 times a week as to feeding them that much can really cause them more harm than helping them .It can make the water quality bad and that kills fish .I help my fish by adding a little garlic to there food as it helps them fight off disease and helps them digest there food better .I bought my fish 11 years ago and still have them all and aggie and bert my biggest koi were a couple of inches long than and now over 2 feet long .I have given lots of babies away and helped ponders around here to succeed .I just want new ponders to be happy they built a pond and not regret there choice

 

[sissy]

Never used a uv and never felt I needed one .I just use quilt batting .I know from here the water cannot go through the uv to fast .

 

[addy1]

Make up measured amounts of food they can feed, it is a joy to watch someone enjoy the fish. I wish I had my pond done before my dad passed.

 

[Dave 54]

I feed ours up to three times a day but then again we have the filters to handle the fish waste , its always better to underfeed than to over feed .
You have to get it through to your Dad that he risks not only water clarity issues but problems with water perameters, algae and ultimately the death of the fish he seems to love so much .
I'm sure he'll understand this , an idea I've just had would be to have one designated feeder for your fish only and nobody else .

Dave